2024 Bravel and YAS Microinsurance - case study
UX research low-fidelity prototype
3 weeks Hong Kong
finding opportunities in the existing Bravel site to enhance connection to YAS Insurance site
backgroundYAS Microinsurance and Bravel travel blog
YAS is a blockchain based insur-tech company based in Hong Kong. They offer on-demand micro insurance that is affordable and mobile accessible. YAS insurance covers public transport, sports, and travel. One of YAS’s products is their travel blog website, Bravel.
During the pandemic, the Bravel saw a lot of traffic and as travel restrictions were lifted, there was an opportunity to promote YAS’s travel insurance, FLY, through Bravel.
By increasing engagement within the Bravel site, more traffic can be directed towards YAS’ insurance website.
Given our time limit, the project’s scope was culminated to a final low-fidelity prototype. The main focus of the project was to conduct user research and pinpoint major pain points.
research discovering the travel and insurance habits of users and exploring the site experience
We could identify the motivators of buying travel insurance and align them with our solutions for the website.
We interviewed 10 people on their travel habits and attitudes towards insurance. In order to increase engagement, we focused on the users’ experience on Bravel and their understanding of YAS as an insurance service. How are users navigating the site and what are the areas of opportunity?
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What are the users’ pain points, needs, and behaviours when they are planning their travel?
- How do users perceive the association between Bravel blog and YAS Insurance?
- What are the factors and motivations that encourage users to buy travel insurance?
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Imagine you are planning a trip to Japan. Demonstrate how would you find traditional restaurants to visit during your travel on Bravel.
- Through the Bravel website, find a way to initiate the purchase of YAS FLY insurance.
view the full affinity map here
what did we find?
- When looking for travel information online, users usually look for food and activity-related content
- For logisitical aspects of travel, users like to find deals on flights and hotels online
- All users found the website to be overwhelming and awkward to navigate
- All users were unaware of Bravel’s association with YAS
- Half of the users were more inclined to purchase insurance in general when recommended by a friend or family
- The fear of potential risk when travelling and discount deals were the most common motivators to buy travel insurance among users
We created 2 user personas and a user journey map to visualize and consolidate our findings.
With our personas in mind, we were able to further analyse and interpret our findings from the interviews and tests to determine the main concerns to address in order to achieve our goal. How can Bravel and YAS evolve given what was learned? What can we do for someone like Finn or Tiffany?
finding opportunity through insights
ideation
aligning solution to research
I rephrased the above questions into goals to focus on a more solution-oriented mindset. For each goal we determined several features and/or improvements for the website. There is some overlap given that these goals are intertwined.
Improving the website's navigation will make it easier to find things like food tips or deals, making the site seem more trustworthy given the aesthetic usability effect. This could make users more likely to visit linked sites like YAS Microinsurance and engage with content they weren't originally looking for, including insurance info. Even if they don't buy insurance right away, they'll know about YAS Microinsurance and possible discounts through Bravel, increasing awareness and potential interest.
goal #1 increase the ease of finding relevant information
- Simplify menu with less links and focused on popular topics like food, cities, and activities
- More links can be viewed when hovering over links
- Increase breathing space between content
- Move search bar to the header so it is easier to locate
- Decrease the amount of text on homepage
- Organize blog articles by popular topics
- Added footer with popular links and info
goal #2
reform the appearance of Bravel to make it more trustworthy
- Content is more spaced out to not overwhelm the user
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Recommended articles also placed to the side rather than within the article
- External links are embedded into the blog so users know it is part of the article
- Tags are visually standardized and simplified
- Added comments section for each blog article
goal #3
strengthen YAS’ presence on Bravel site
- Add a designated page for YAS insurance in navigation menu
- Widen header and increase size of YAS logos
- Ads for YAS Insurance can be embedded
goal #4foster unexpected engagement with information on insurance to build purchase intent
- Highlight/Banners to put YAS in spotlight on homepage and topic page, such as a Tokyo page, or food page
- Ads that are sticky in the sidebar to not disrupt blog content
low-fidelity prototype
challenges and next stepswhat were the obstacles in achieving our objective?
One of our biggest challenges during the project was the lack of existing user research and data analytics for the Bravel blog itself. This made it difficult to narrow our scope of research as the target audience of the Bravel site was difficult to determine.
Given limited time, we were unable to find available existing users of Bravel blog and instead focused on previous purchasers of insurance and YAS Microinsurance. Furthermore, the language barrier was an issue given that most users were Cantonese-speaking. Interviews had to be translated carefully to express user findings accurately.
In order to achieve YAS’s goal, there may also be marketing and branding opportunities on top of renovating the site’s UI.
The next step would include usability testing with the low-fidelity prototype before finalizing website features and creating a high-fidelity prototype.