The company objective was to use rich customer insights, advanced technology and data science to build cloud-native InsurTech solutions to bring down insurance prices and improve driving experience.
PAIN POINT
Customers are constantly seeking lower prices for policy, faster and effortless access to information about their policy, and in the event of making a claim, the process needs to be as hassle-free as possible for them.
THE SOLUTION
By leveraging tools such as machine learning and automation, insureds can be given real time updates to effect behavioral change and lower their policy costs and real-time data can be used to process claims faster and provide a better customer experience.
MY ROLE
As Product Owner for the auto-insurance product, my goal was to translate the vision of "rewarding good driving with insurance" into reality in the form of a product that users will love.
I worked with our multidisciplinary team to launch the iOS and web app versions of the product. I conducted research, user interviews, managed customer onboarding, oversaw AI training, and worked closely with teams like underwriting, actuaries, product designers, marketers and engineers.
PRODUCT
The primary product is an app based insurance product that rewards users for mindful driving.
When the user downloads the app, the user's driving behavior is tracked by the app and analyzed using machine learning models. Factors like hard braking, excessive speeding, time of day and mileage driven determine the discount (reward).
EVOLUTION
The original concept behind the app based insurance revolved around funder's extensive research on new technologies available in the insurance space. Being a veteran in the insurance industry for over two decades, he could sense that tech-based innovative insurance products were about to disrupt the industry.
After months of brainstorming on the new disruptive ideas, reward based insurance was identified as a disruptive idea that'll have the mass appeal for people (as people see insurance as commodity, discounts are always preferred) as well as the ability to replace the age old actuarial models in place for pricing insurance products.
On our path to an interactive mockup, it was clear there was still too many assumptions with high risks. We decided to approach our problem with a different method and used a design philosophy called Object-Oriented UX (OOUX), which puts object design before procedural action design, and enables you to think about a system through the lens of the real-world objects.
The success of this exercise allowed us to fully group think through all aspects of the platform. We were able to grow the original idea into a product that was capable of having regular engagement. By focusing on location specific driving tips in real time, the users could be made to engage with the app.
We built the platform to help users understand their insurance and get a driving score based on real-time driving data and not just be another insurance app that sits idly on their phone . This system enabled us to overcome a challenge; we were able to actively improve the driving experience instead of just selling insurance. It encouraged users to track their driving scores and strive to be a better driver.
METRICS
Understanding the LTV for insurance customers for various segments and deciding on a benchmark LTV.
Process over 10MM data point from insurance customers' preference for covers, types of claims, geographical distribution of claims etc.
Experimenting with rewards (discounts) and eliminating a discount tier using A/B tests to increase lifetime value by 18%
KEY TAKEAWAYS
As a product from early in my Product Management career, it taught me the importance of understanding defining the scope of the product.
This process taught me how to balance the creation of a complete "perfect world" product while understanding what features are required for a successful MVP.
Strengthened my understanding of UX, giving me the ability to work start to finish with a talented Product Designer who helped to push the product vision forward.
How to best manage a remote engineer team when the individuals are hard to reach and lack communication and progress.
How product management and product ownership contrasts to project management within a consulting company.