Why design thinking is essential for digital transformation in insurance

Digital transformation is often thought of as a purely technical endeavor. But if you want your digital transformation project to be successful, you need to prioritize the user experience design.

Design thinking is a customer-centric approach that can help insurers to stay ahead of the curve and remain relevant in a rapidly changing digital world. 

User experience design is all about creating products and services that meet the needs of your users. It's not just about making things look pretty – although that's important too. Good user experience design makes things easy to use and understand, while bad user experience design can make even the simplest task difficult.

In insurance, digital transformation projects often focus on efficiency and operations. The goal is to make your internal processes more efficient, save costs and improve customer service. That is all well and good, but if you don't take the time to design a good user experience, your digital transformation project is likely to fail.

That's because customers are demanding more and more from their insurance providers. They want digital experiences that are easy to use, personalized, and convenient. If you don't design your digital transformation project with the customer in mind, you're likely to end up with a product that nobody wants to use.

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Different approaches to digital transformation

There are two broad approaches to digital transformation in insurance: the first is technology-driven, and the second is customer-centric.

The technology-driven approach focuses on adopting new technologies based on the processes, workflows, and requirements of the business.

The customer-centric approach, on the other hand, starts with the customer and works backward from there. It's all about understanding the customer's needs and pain points and then designing solutions that address them. This approach often leads to more efficient use of technology and a better overall customer experience.

Of course, it's important to have a balance of both approaches. But the customer-centric approach is the one that's most likely to lead to digital transformation projects that are successful in 2022 and beyond for several reasons:

1. It's all about the customer

The first and most important reason is that it's all about the customer. In order to succeed, digital transformation projects must be designed with the customer in mind. And that's exactly what design thinking does.

2. It leads to better results

A second reason why the customer-centric approach is more likely to lead to successful digital transformation projects is that it simply leads to better results. When you design your project with the customer in mind, you're more likely to end up with a solution that they actually want to use.

3. It's more efficient

Finally, the customer-centric approach is also more efficient. By starting with the customer and working backward, you can avoid wasting time and resources on solutions that don't address their needs.

4. It's the future of digital transformation

The customer-centric approach is the future of digital transformation. As customers become more demanding and digital-savvy, insurers must focus on delivering excellent digital experiences. And that requires a different way of thinking – design thinking.

What is design thinking?

This is especially important in the insurance industry. The insurance sector is under immense pressure to digitize in order to remain relevant and keep up with the pace of change. Consumer behavior has shifted dramatically in recent years, and insurers must adapt or risk being left behind. Customers are used to the superior online and digital experiences from companies like Amazon, Netflix, and Uber, and are expecting the same from their insurance providers.

But digital transformation is not just about insurance companies adopting new technologies – it's about changing the way they do business from the ground up. And that requires a different way of thinking, the  one that puts the customer experience first.

This is where design thinking comes in.

Design thinking is a human-centered approach to problem-solving that puts the needs of users first. It's all about understanding the user, their problems, and challenges and then designing solutions that are both user-friendly and effective. 

Why insurers struggle to adopt a customer-centric approach to digital transformation

It is often difficult to adopt a customer-centric approach to digital transformation. Insurers are experts at managing risk, not at creating user-friendly digital processes.

Paperwork-intensive industry

One of the main reasons for this is that insurance is a paperwork-intensive industry. There are tons of forms and documents that need to be completed, and this can often be a deterrent to creating frictionless experience for customers.

This isn't just a problem for customers – it's also a problem for insurers. The process of collecting and managing all this paperwork is time-consuming and expensive. In fact, it's estimated that the insurance industry spends over $200 billion a year just on processing paperwork.

Inefficient legacy systems

Another reason why insurers struggle to adopt a customer-centric approach is that they are often hampered by inefficient legacy systems. These systems were designed for a different era and are not well-suited to the needs of today's digital customer.

As a result, insurers often find themselves in a catch-22 situation. They know they need to upgrade their systems in order to improve the customer experience, but they can't do so until they've first digitized their processes.

Lack of UX expertise and resources

User experience design is a field of its own, with its own methodologies, tools, and processes. It's a complex discipline that requires specialized skills and knowledge. This is why most insurance companies struggle to adopt a customer-centric approach to digital transformation – they simply don't have the expertise or resources necessary to do so. 

Traditional insurance companies tend to be very product-focused, and they don't always have a good understanding of their customers' needs and wants. As a result, they can find it difficult to design digital solutions that meet their customers' needs.

Hiring all the necessary User Experience experts in-house is often prohibitively expensive, and outsourcing to a third-party comes with its own set of challenges.

Even large insurance companies struggle to keep on top of the latest UX trends because it is not the core of their business. They often rely on outside consultants to help them with digital transformation, which can be expensive and time-consuming.

Design thinking is essential for digital transformation in insurance.

When it comes to digital transformation, design thinking is not a nice-to-have – it's a must-have, but many insurers are struggling with how to adopt it.

The good news is that there are ways to overcome these challenges and adopt a customer-centric approach to digital transformation. And that's why EasySend is such an important partner for insurance companies embarking on digital transformation journeys.

We take a no-code approach to digital transformation, which means we provide organizations with tools and solutions that bring the best UX practices without the need for resource-intensive development.  This means that insurers can quickly and easily digitize without having to invest in new resources or hire expensive consultants. As our platform is based on design thinking principles, digital solutions built on our platform are always customer-centric. 

Our team of UX experts has the skills and knowledge necessary to help you create digital experiences that your customers will love. What's more, we have a deep understanding of the insurance industry, so we can help you navigate the digital transformation process from start to finish.

In the end, digital transformation is a journey, not a destination. It's an ongoing process of continuous improvement, and design thinking can help you to navigate that journey successfully.

EasySend helps insurance companies adopt design-based thinking to successfully navigate digital transformation projects from start to finish. If you're looking for a partner to help you with digital transformation in insurance, contact us today. We can help you to create digital experiences that your customers will absolutely love.