Improving the user experience of AXA US website

AXA is a global insurance company with customers in 50 countries around the world. Its individual and group life insurance policies include savings and retirement products, as well as health and personal protection options. One of the projects I got to work on was the US branch website where the goal was to improve conversion rate and optimize the claims filing flow.

Discovery phase

Problem

We were tasked with addressing two key issues: a low overall conversion rate and a high bounce rate within the claim-filing experience. Given technical and business constraints, our approach focused on identifying high-impact opportunities that could be implemented with minimal disruption to the existing website.

User research/competition analysis

For user research I, along with one of my colleagues, conducted several interviews to work out how new and existing users move through the website. I also studied GA metrics to identify the bounce areas and did some market research to analyze competitors' usability and opportunities for differentiation.

Something that stood out to me was when one of interviewees mentioned that they just had a baby and were looking to get an insurance but couldn't agree on what plan would work best for them. Other concerns were that most participants never heard about AXA before and were hesitant to trust the company with their finances.

After analyzing the findings, three main changes were proposed: organizing content in the main navigation around user intent rather than company structure, increasing trust with prospective clients by adding information about the company and its history to the home page, and adding tracking to reduce bounce rate in the claim filing flow.

User profiles

With the input from stakeholders, six existing personas were updated and two new personas generated, including a user with disabilities, to help define accessibility goals and guide decisions about new features and navigation. We decided to focus on three of them, choosing those that represented major user groups experiencing issues outlined above.

Card sorting

To helps identify logical groupings in the main navigation and to improve information architecture, we used a closed card sorting method where participants sorted content into predetermined categories.

Journey mapping

Taking the time to map out how users interacted with the existing website provided a clear list of touchpoints and revealed new opportunities we hadn’t previously considered. It was helpful in visualizing the narrative and in creating a shared understanding with multiple stakeholders.

Journey map for persona named Bruce

Development phase

Low-fidelity wireframes & testing

At this stage my role was to conceptualize solutions, create mockups and perform usability testing. I started my design process by creating wireframes of the main page to establish the layout that aligned with the key personas and addressed the primary issues uncovered during the research phase.

I proposed a restructured navigation that was tailored to the life stages of the main personas, and the landing page that included a section illustrating company’s history and client’s quotes to establish trust. The claim filing process was broken down into several steps.

We tested prototypes with users and had them complete multiple tasks, including exploring coverage and finding the right plan, locating specific information on the website, and filing a claim. What was measured at this stage: the first click accuracy - to understand how intuitive the new navigation and information architecture was, success rate - to see where improvements were still needed, time to completion - to identify bottlenecks in the flow. From observing their behavior during these tasks, the key findings were:

  1. Targeted user groups would benefit from multiple entry points on the new landing page

  2. Key trust-building information was easily located and played a significant role in the decision making process

  3. Filing claims flow was improved but the status needed to be more clear, especially around the necessary paperwork. Also, the access to the claim process was hidden within the navigation and was not easily located

To address these issues in the final design, additional entry points were placed within the content of the landing page. Submitting claims link was permanently placed in the header outside of the main navigation. List of steps and necessary documents was added to the beginning of each flow. Status tracking added to provide a clear, real-time update on the claim's status.

Design ideas and high-fidelity prototypes

At this step I finalized design ideas in high fidelity mockups. We also conducted A/B testing to evaluate how different layouts influenced users' perception. In it we asked participants to list several words that describe each design. Our goal was to find which option felt more trustworthy and personal.

With close collaboration with developers the navigation was updated and the new landing page was built. After that I conducted extensive testing of the visual elements and functionality to ensure a high-quality user experience.

I also updated the components library to include new components.

Impact

By implementing changes to the main navigation, the home page, and the filing a claim flow, the conversion rate increased by 21%, bounce rate in claim filing process dropped from 72% to 43% which also resulted in reducing call volume to Help Center regarding claims by 14%.