UI DESIGN & DESIGN SYSTEM
FOXO Technologies is pioneering the transformation of the life insurance industry by merging epigenetic technology and AI to identify biomarkers of human health and aging. Using non-invasive saliva testing and their Longevity Report, FOXO streamlines underwriting and offers insights into health patterns, where machine learning predicts risk for tailored life insurance solutions. Their growing IP portfolio focuses on epigenetic biomarkers, empowering consumers to enhance their health span.
Product Goals
Piles of paper forms, invasive blood and urine samples, and a slow underwriting process could be reduced if AI underwriting could create quotes from health study data inputs alone. On the frontend, language should be straightforward and users should feel absolutely confident in every step they take.
Policy information should not be obscured behind customer service calls or the postal service. Users want their insurance company to be more accessible and transparent, but at the same time, feel secure and trustworthy.
Picking an insurance company is a matter of pennies between premium prices or an extra bullet point of a benefit. We aimed to provide an experience that was compelling and kept users coming back.
Question to be answered
Seeking an acquisition, FOXO was looking to ship this product within a year of my start date with the team for the lowest development cost and the most compelling output. This called for thoughtful interactions that made a complex process feel easy, a reason to keep users coming back, and a foolproof design system to boost design efficiency and support engineering.
Another SDG product consultant and I partnered with FOXO’s lead UX designer. We had a capable, though entirely remote, agile team which included a PO, systems architect, and 5 developers. Constructed in React, we were encouraged to dream up an innovative interaction experience with minimal technical limitations.
PRIMARY USER
Goal: Research and decide which term life insurance company should hold my policy.
Pain points
Motivators
SECONDARY USER
Goal: Understand and maintain my current term life insurance policies.
Pain points
Motivators
The existing mockups were in various stages of ideation, so our first step was to consolidate the hundreds of designs set for handoff. All text styles, button styles, form fields, and interactive states were pulled apart, analyzed, and scrutinized for inconsistencies, so they could be corrected and documented for developer rework.
We built a design system that referenced "atoms", "molecules", and "components". An atom was the smallest unit, and molecules comprised of atoms, and components comprised of molecules. Each piece worked in an ecosystem.
Once we found every component and variation, we added organization and structure to define a design system that could constantly be referenced and replicated by any designer or developer.
This is an application that can be completed in any location, on the prospect's own time. Progress can be saved if they need to come back to it later, and it can be accessed on any device's browser.
We presented only a handful of questions on each page to avoid information overload. A progress indicator to the right of the application shows exactly how many pages are remaining to finish.
The best part? Any information needed to make a decision was provided right when the user needed it. No fine-print microscopes here.
The application included friendly, personable text with clear price callouts and delightful data visualizations. A quote's current status is constantly communicated and users are given actionable next steps to take at any point.
Both users groups feel that accessibility and transparency is important in a life insurance product. The “Documents” section is robust with quote or policy data, documentation, and adjustable billing options.
There is never a question about the current state of a policy, and for most things, users don’t have to get on the phone with a customer service rep — skip the dreaded hold music.
Insurance is not a deeply interactive product; for most people, it’s a “set it and forget it” process. Once the insurance exists, most policyholders check up on their policy, at most, once per year. How do we keep FOXO users positively engaged with the product on a more regular basis?
Because FOXO collects saliva samples, the company can go above and beyond for policyholders by providing a Longevity Report. This report is a customized guide for improving health by identifying areas for growth and giving proactive suggestions.
“When shopping for life insurance, this is something that would tip me in your favor. I found it to be super interesting and would totally purchase this in the future.”
Testing revealed that users loved the look and feel of the landing page and Longevity Report: "I've never seen a life insurance company look like this"; "very cool, very tech."
Users quickly understood that this was a life insurance product with a living benefit. The images of the saliva kit and mock-ups of the product were very beneficial in helping the user get a picture of what they would use.
Users thought that the Longevity Report was what they expected to see after reading the landing page. Some even thought it was more detailed and better than expected calling out the success strategies. "This gives you things to work on. Not just results like other companies."
Users thought the language about the Longevity Report not affecting their premium was really important as well as seeing they have the right to their data. "This reveals a lot about the values of your company."
The transaction was approved overwhelmingly by Delwinds' stockholders, with over 91% of votes cast in favor of the business combination proposal.
This project also proved my ability to be confident in an uncertain, fast-paced startup environment, increased my communication skills with developers, and demonstrated a capability to create order out of complex file structures.
