Progressive Answers Redesign

Overview

Progressive Answers is an online hub of insurance related content to help users understand a complex subject matter. Like all things at Progressive, the goal was always to provide our customers with as much transparency as possible, to help them in their insurance decisions.

Problem

The primary challenge faced was poor discoverability and navigation on the website, resulting in a high bounce rate of users arriving from Google to articles and promptly leaving. The homepage lacked effectiveness, and the absence of category pages further compounded the issue, hindering users' ability to explore and find relevant content

Usability Study Findings

• Users tend to go back to their search engine instead of staying at insurer’s site to address new topics.

• Users unaware of, but appreciate, Answers. An FAQ page was expected but the article library was not. Header navigation of “Answers” unclear on Progressive.com.

• Opportunity to improve Search functionality on Progressive.com as well as within Answers to yield more accurate results.

• 50 topics with descriptions from Progressive Answers were provided for participants to organize into groups that make sense for finding the information in a redesigned site other than “By Product.”

• By Product categories remained the dominant mental model. Of the 106 participants, 63% still categorized the cards this way.

• Other categories included: Categorizing by Questions, How To’s, Tools, Education/Learning, General/Basic Info, Specific Info/Questions, Tools , or People/Family Related, Vehicle/Transportation Related, Home/Possessions Related, All Others

A key takeaway from usability was to improve search functionality within Answers and making it easily accessible from anywhere in the experience

Content strategy and wire-framing

Defining how to navigate Answers based on usability findings

Answers Homepage Version 1, Curated Journey
Here we promote the depth and breadth of Answers through a curated journey. This journey starts with broad categories and as a users scrolls down the page gets more refined in how the content is organized—setting the stage to the entire site structure.

Answers Homepage Version 2, Path to Answers
This version aims to simplify the path to an answer by using products & topics as entry points. It relies on establishing a clear and distinct organization of content that will efficiently guide users deeper into the site where users will benefit from the additional functionality on those pages.

User Interface

Creating a unique identity within the overarching Progressive.com architecture

Curated Journey
A familiar grid structure, type scale and modular approach that made the Progressive.com Redesign a success—but adding in branded Answers elements and trying a darker UI throughout gives this experience it’s own flavor while still feeling like part of the Progressive family.

Path to Answers
Keeping the visuals light and airy create a sense of unity and familiarity between the two experiences. The colors maintain their bright and playful nature, keeping with the original essence of Answers.

Ultimately, the broader team decided the more simple and airy approach presented in the Path to Answers wireframe was the best route to go. When it came to the UI, many felt the dark interface felt too heavy and preferred the lighter version with weaving in moments of the dark.

Outcome

The navigation and categorization issues are solved by high level buckets of information for users to scan and understand from the homepage. There’s more context into what Answers is, allowing a more clear guided experience for users.