The General
Serving The General’s nonstandard customer base with a redesigned quote experience and communication strategy.
Cake & Arrow—Senior Product Designer
I joined Cake & Arrow's product team to help The General reimagine their auto insurance quote process by improving user comprehension of quote flow questions, decreasing drop-off, and increasing conversion. A second track of work involved strategizing the content communication and design approach of the site's homepage. My primary role consisted of developing validated concepts and establishing design direction.
- Wireframes & user flows
- Prototyping
- User research
- UI design
- Component system
- Content strategy
- Managing designers
Explored personal data gathering patterns to prepare for research
Following a competitive review of auto insurance providers and generating some insights from The General’s analytics, I explored various paradigms of user data gathering, motivations, interest in coverage plans, and financial context around payment options. Primarily collaborating with the UX Lead at this stage, we performed multiple rounds of user research to validate these ideas.
Users would be willing to provide personal information and loved discounts
Learning user motivations for a quote, and their desire to understand all coverage options, we began to strategize a few flow variants.
Developed flow concepts to gauge user intent and level of comfort
Collaborating on user flows, version A assesses an anonymous user’s intent to buy, monetizing low-intent users with ads. I hypothesized that a second version, B, requesting vehicle information first before personal information, would be more comfortable for users, easing them into a process they'd become more invested in. This research also tested discounts mid-flow, and multiple quote reveal pages.
Low barrier information before personal data was best
Most participants were more comfortable with revealing vehicle info first, and were also eager to compare quote plan results.
Led UI design across several project areas
This included providing direction to two UI designers as we designed iteratively across both the quote flow and homepage initiatives, and further testing that was focused on usability.
Built for comprehension and speed
Aware from research that users are obtaining quotes from multiple carriers, one design philosophy I employed was to consider the entire experience as an interface that provides feedback, but also to reduce time by advancing screens intuitively where possible.
Evidence-backed design decisions
Insight from research sessions was leveraged throughout the design process to keep users engaged and their expectations met upon completion.
Orient and navigate
An interactive progress bar orients users and lets them traverse sections to edit or review their information.
Celebrate savings
Fullscreen discount notifications mid-flow highly motivates users.
Animate purposefully
Horizontal transitions indicate advancement to next or previous screen.
Assist contextually
Microcopy explaining questions helps users provide accurate responses.
Led homepage communication strategy, design, and validation
Developing a new homepage value proposition began with two key goals; attract target customers and reflect The General’s values. This was collaboratively defined with the client as quick access to the quote process, responding to issues users care about, and demonstrating that The General is trustworthy and stable.
Following my competitive and comparative reviews, I designed a series of à la carte content screens and concepts for a round of user research to learn what resonated most with the nonstandard audience, and what offered the best decision support to influence their purchase.
Savings and education prominent
These themes surfaced through the research and were highlighted as key points throughout the design process.
Communicating value to the nonstandard audience
Beyond starting the quote process, the homepage needed to portray the perspective of the user and build trust.
Showcase customer endorsements
Testimonials from real customers resonates with users, depicting situations familiar to them.
Inform on relevant issues
Surfacing information on hot topics (e.g. coverage amounts, payment options, privacy) preemptively answers common questions.
Elevate brand perception
A clean and consistent design not only reduces cognitive strain but conveys that The General is modern and the experience of its customers is a priority.
OutcomeDelivered a validated quote flow experience, homepage, and design system
My contributions shaped how users complete the task of getting a quote, and how the homepage will attract The General’s target customers. Through research and design, we delivered an evidence-backed vehicle-first personalized experience that celebrates discounts and accounts for user preferences around entering personal info and their financial context.
I also created the groundwork for a component-based design and build process in a collaborative environment. I established the design direction and design system, enabling agency and client teams to carry out additional design work and build out the frontend, completing this phase of the project.
The General
Serving The General’s nonstandard customer base with a redesigned quote experience and communication strategy.
Cake & Arrow—Senior Product Designer
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