top of page

HUB Insurance

Internal Water Quoting Experience

HUB Insurance needs a new quoting experience for watercraft insurance within its internal broker platform. Brokers and agents required a faster,  more efficient way to generate quotes for clients across multiple insurance providers for products such as boats, jet skis, and yachts. 

​

At the time, obtaining quotes often required contacting underwriters directly, creating delays, inconsistencies, and operational inefficiencies. 

​

I led the redesign of the end-to-end quoting experience, creating a guided workflow that simplified complex insurance requirements and enabled brokers to generate more accurate quotes in real time. 

Duration

7 Months

April 2023 - October 2023

My Role

  • Led the design process from discovery through high-fidelity prototype delivery

  • Defined UX strategy and interaction patterns across complex quoting workflows

  • Collaborated with product, engineering, and underwriting teams to align business and technical requirements

  • Simplified complex insurance ligic into intuitive, user-friendly workflows. 

​

Lead Product Designer

The Problem

The existing quoting process was heavily dependent on manual underwriting support, making it time-consuming and inconsistent for brokers and agents. 

​

This created several business and operational challenges:

  • High abandonment rates during the quoting process

  • Increased reliance on underwriters for quote support

  • slower turnaround times when assisting clients

  • Competitive disadvantage against providers offering faster digital quoting experiences

 

This created several business and operational challenges:

  • Complex insurance terminology

  • Long and repetitive question flows

  • Limited visibility into progress throughout the process

 

Constraints & Considerations

Designing the experience required balancing several real-world constraints:

​

  • Regulatory requirements: Insurance language needed to remain legally compliant while still being understandable to brokers and agents

  • Complex quoting logic: The flow required collecting detailed information while minimizing friction

  • Operational efficiency: The experience needed to reduce reliance on underwriters without sacrificing quote accuracy

  • Consistency: The redesigned flow needed to align with HUB's existing design system and internal platform experience

 

Approach

I focused on creating a guide quoting experience that simplified complexity while maintaining accuracy and compliance. 

​

Key goals included:

  • Reducing abandonment throughout the quoting flow

  • Increasing user confidence during quote generation

  • Simplifying technical insurance terminology

  • Improving clarity through stronger visual hierarchy and structured workflows

  • Reducing the need for external underwriting support

​

​

 

Key Decisions & Design Thinking

1. Redesigning the Quoting Experience

A key challenge was understanding why brokers and agents were abandoning the process and relying on manual underwriting support instead. 

​

To better understand the problem:

  • I reviewed the existing quoting experience and workflows

  • Conducted usability testing using similar insurance quoting flows

  • Identified areas where users experienced confusion, hesitation, or fatigue

​

Based on these findings, I redesigned the flow into a more structured and guided experience that allowed brokers to generate quote estimates more efficiently and confidently. 

​

​

 

2. Simplifying Complex Insurance Questions

The original flow contained technical insurance language that increased confusion

and slowed completion times.

​

To improve clarity:

  • Partnered with underwriters to reinterpret technical questions into more accessible language

  • Simplified and reorganized question groupings

  • Used typography, spacing, and hierarchy to improve readability and comprehension

​

This reduced cognitive load and improved the overall usability of the experience.

​

​

 

3. Reducing User Abandonment

One of the primary goals was to reduce abandonment during the quoting process.

​

I introduced:

  • Clearer progression through the workflow

  • Improved visual hierarchy and layout structure

  • Simplified form patterns and question sequencing

  • More consistent UI patterns with user expectations

​

These changes helped create a smoother experience and improved user confidence when completing quotes.

​​​

4. Structuring the Flow for Clarity

The quoting process was designed as a single-page application wth multiple dependencies and edge cases. 

​

To improve navigation and usability:

  • Partnered with underwriters to reinterpret technical questions into more accessible language

  • Simplified and reorganized question groupings

  • Used typography, spacing, and hierarchy to improve readability and comprehension

​

This helped users better understand where they were in the process and what information was required next.​

​

 

Validation & Iteration

I​ conducted usability testing using existing insurance quote flows and low-fidelity prototypes to validate early concepts and interaction patterns. 

User Testing

Key Insights

  • Users struggled with insurance terminology and unclear questions

  • Long sequences of questions increased cognitive fatigue

  • Lack of progress visibility created uncertainty during completion

​

Iteration 

Based on testing feedback, I:​

​

  • Simplified and restructured question flows

  • Improved information grouping and layout hierarchy

  • Added clearer review and confirmation patterns

  • Refined navigation and progression cues throughout the experience

Solution

The final solution was a fully integrated internal quoting experience that:​

  • Guided brokers through a structured and intuitive workflow

  • Simplified complex insurance processes without compromising accuracy

  • Reduced friction and dependency on underwriters

  • Maintained consistency with HUB's platform and design system

What I Learned

  • Simplifying complex operational workflows requires close collaboration with subject matter experts

  • Small improvements in structure, hierarchy, and language can significantly improve user confidence and completion rates

  • Internal enterprise tools benefit greatly from the same user-centered thinking applied to customer-facing products

  • Early stakeholder alignment helps reduce friction throughout implementation and delivery

Outcome

The redesigned quoting experience was successfully delivered and launched within the planned timeline. 

​

Post-launch feedback indicated:

  • Improved clarity and confidence during quote generation

  • Reduced abandonment throughout the workflow

  • Faster quote completion for brokers and agents

  • Better alignment between user expectations and the quoting process 

Ongoing testing and iteration continue to refine and optimize the experience.​

bottom of page