Creating MetLife's First Online Claims Center | 2016-2017
In 2016, MetLife customers could only file claims offline through a paper-based system, resulting in high operational costs and frustrated self-service portal users.
Minimal claim status information was available to customers online, and the data was typically outdated or unclear - leading high Call Center volume and a low NPS score.
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Our challenge was to create a responsive claim center that met user needs while working with very limiting data and technical constraints.
Understanding the Claim Journey
We first set out to understand the customer's mental model. We created journey maps to illustrate the range of emotions and tasks a customer goes through during the claim process for all of MetLife's products.
We also referred to existing MetLife personas to develop empathy for our users and understand their individual needs and potential areas of friction.
During interviews with real customers and CSRs, we learned users expected to be able to file claims online since other providers allowed this. They also expected to see real-time claim status and payment information, and to have the ability to upload supporting documents and setup electronic payments.
Through a series of workshops with Business Sponsors, Product Owners and Development, we mapped out the new user journey for filing and managing claims online by product type.
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The journeys were informed by competitive analysis, call center data and customer interviews.
Future State Journey Map
My Role
I led the team responsible for UX, Creative and Copy. I worked closely with the Product Owner and BA to create, prioritize and groom the backlog based on our research, data analysis and business goals. I also partnered with Development to ensure our ideas were technically feasible before we began detailed design. I received a MetLife Core Values Award for my contributions to this project.
Our team worked in four week design sprints ahead of development. We conducted usability testing at the end of each sprint to identify improvements that were added to the product backlog for future sprints. We also participated in the development sprints - providing support and user acceptance testing.
"...Michelle has taken high level requirements & conceptualized them in ways that I thought were impossible."
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- Metlife, Senior Business Analyst, 01/2016
Rapid Prototyping & A/B Testing
Once the team was aligned on the overall user journey and high level features, we quickly concepted card-based clickable prototypes that were tested with customers both in a lab and online. We iterated over the course of a week to refine the design based on feedback.
Design Sprints
Once the overall concept was agreed to, we worked closely with the Product Owner and BA to formalize and groom the backlog, working a sprint ahead of development. On a parallel path, we worked with the team responsible for offline claim kits to ensure messaging and process were aligned, and that a link to the self-service portal was included in their offline communications.
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Each design sprint was usability tested as either low or high fidelity prototypes, sometimes resulting in the addition of features or revisions that were added to the backlog and prioritized for future releases.
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Feature Breakdown
Claim Detail Page
Bubbles up the most important information about the customer's claim with placeholders for promotional and educational content.
Claim History Page
Customers can filter this claim history table by product, insured and date.
Each row of the table is expandable and provides a relevant information about the claim, with a link to the claim detail page.
File a Claim
The amount of information needed to file a claim is overwhelming. Progressive disclosure layout was used to present the form in digestible chunks. The user can always see where they are in the process and go back to prior steps to add or edit information.
Promotional & Educational Content
Generic card templates were designed to house any content our product partners would want to showcase to customers including educational video and promotional messaging.
Responsive Design
Each page was designed in tablet and phone views to ensure the best responsive experience across platforms.
Learnings
One Size Does Not Fit All:
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MetLife's insurance offering is diverse, covering areas including auto, disability, and life
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Our technology partners pushed for a templatized claims solution to reduce costs and launch times
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We worked very hard to justify why these users' mental models would be different thereby requiring some unique components within the experience
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When it comes to major insurance claims such as Life and Disability, ​most customers still want to talk through the process with a live person, while customers had no concerns filing Auto, Dental, and Vision claims online
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The claims experience continued to diverge across products as we learned how users were interacting with the production experience and what their unique needs were
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For Auto, we designed a component that allowed customers to upload photos of their accident when submitting a claim through a mobile device
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For Dental and Vision, we allowed the physician's offices to upload claims through their portal so customers didn't have to
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For Life claims, we initially included a significant amount of grief content. Analytics data revealed users were not accessing these pages, so we removed them
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The Claims Center launched as I was exiting MetLife, so I'm unable to provide any metrics. However, I was happily able to see and use the features as a MetLife customer with much delight.
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