Desired Agency Experience

Role:

UX Researcher

Team:

1 Information Architect

Methods used:

Task Analysis, Contextual Interviews, Process Mapping, Scenarios

Consolidated task flow map for an agent's experience in an application

The Challenge

We were tasked with determining how to design an ideal experience for Nationwide Insurance agents for their key tasks.

The Approach

Scope Setting

Previous research had been conducted that identified the high-level task categories in an agent's current experience, themes of pain points, and themes of a desired experience. We first conducted a prioritization exercise with our business partners to determine which task categories were most important to focus on. We decided to focus in the first phase on the activities relating to quoting and selling auto and property policies.

Task Analysis and Interviews

I facilitated individual sessions with 14 agents who used 4 different sets of quoting applications. The agents were spread across different markets around the country.

I had agents walk me through each step they conducted as part of the tasks (both digital and physical actions as well as cognitive processes), using screenshots as prompts.

I used pre-made cards, as well as some created on the fly, to capture and order the steps as they spoke.

I laid all the cards out sequentially, creating a large map on a wall.

I interviewed the agents to probe on specific issues, needs, and opportunities relating to the tasks, using consistent language from the themes from previous research.

The Outcome

After the agent visits:

I analyzed each task flow map individually.
I looked for patterns across the maps within each of the four sets of applications, and created a consolidated task flow map for each set (an example is shown above). The maps contextually showed information such as pain points, actors, and systems.
I then used the 4 maps to identify a high-level process across all applications, and create a 5th map. This map included opportunities and design criteria.
I also created a detailed report which documented all task flows, pain points, scenarios illustrating a typical agent experience with each set of applications, and design criteria.

This research revealed a plethora of opportunities to form the basis of future projects.

A second phase of this project was conducted with similar methodology, where we focused on the tasks of handling policy changes, billing activities, managing trailing documents, and marketing.