Home valuation web app

Product Brief

A web-based valuation and risk assessment tool that allows insurance agents to quickly estimate reconstruction costs and provide home insurance estimates for customers. The portal is also used by underwriters to verify that agents’ quotes are accurate.

 

Goal

To update look and feel of portal’s front end UI to improve trust in data sources that power the technology behind the tool and to improve navigational experience and speed up workflows for users.

Users

  • Agents

  • Underwriters

 

Requirements

  • Pull out search functionality to create a more visible and visual experience

  • Improve valuation form layout to make it more scannable and easier to move through field options

Constraints

  • Every user engages with the form differently - no one form layout to satisfy every user

  • Abundance of data sources and form fields

 

Landscape analysis

The client owns approximately 60% of the market share with only two other major competitors making up another 30-35%. The technology behind their product is by far, the leading data source with the highest rate of accuracy but user trust in the tool didn’t match it because of the dated design.

Competitors also approached language in a friendlier, less technical way so that new agents and underwriters didn’t have a steep learning curve to adapt into their role when using the portal.

 
App map: Majority of the engagement focused on the experience from Log In > Dashboard > Valuation > [Report Type]

App map: Majority of the engagement focused on the experience from Log In > Dashboard > Valuation > [Report Type]

Dashboard flow: Autocomplete component within search bar needed to balance many details, data types, and hierarchy

Dashboard flow: Autocomplete component within search bar needed to balance many details, data types, and hierarchy

UX

We conducted user tests within various sprints to validate some of our assumptions, based on user feedback. We created an app map of the platform, which allowed us to ideate future iterations of the tool (including a more robust admin portal) and documented flows for different screens, which generally remained the same throughout the engagement.

Further exploration into existing UX uncovered that we needed to focus on adding visual cues and micro-interactions. Speaking to users with different years of experience in the industry as well as technical proficiencies informed many design decisions in the product re-skin.

Changes needed to be made to copy structure and iconography and typography styles were enforced to surface insights that could reinforce trust in the data and enhance knowledge growth (e.g. Slope Style can be found in the Structure section of the valuation form).

Solution(s)

🪧Section updates would include:

  • Custom icon representing that section of a home

  • Unique input style for verified data to differentiate it form user inputted/estimated data

  • Re-organizing button styles to add more white space between data types

  • Displaying availability of other fields in each section that are not initially displayed on load (to maximize space - show more sections than all of the input fields)

🔍Search bar placed in a more strategic location

🔦Search autocomplete would include:

  • Section iconography

  • Section name

  • Quick action icon to create a new field or scroll to an existing field

 
Structure section

Structure section

Interior Section

Interior Section

 

Participation Notes

  • Assisted researcher in conducting task-based user tests

  • UX design (app map + flows)

  • Wireframing and prototyping alongside UI designer to collaborate on visuals