Increasing Online Auto Insurance Purchases

Turning a complex, high-friction insurance purchase journey into a faster path to quote and purchase.

With over 1 million members and access to 4.6 million Albertans, the Alberta Motor Association (AMA) is a leading local insurance provider. To stay competitive, AMA focuses on offering quick online quotes and the option for customers to purchase auto insurance online.

Client
Alberta Motor Association

Impact

Duration
8 Months

1,500
Online policies sold in the first month of re-launch

Customers were dropping out of AMA's online insurance quote journey before reaching a purchase decision.

The funnel required customers to provide detailed vehicle, driver and insurance information before receiving a quote.

The challenge wasn't simply reducing the number of questions. It was: How do we collect the information required to accurately price insurance while making the experience feel fast, understandable and worth completing?

The Problem: User wanted to an easier way to purchase auto insurance without having to book an appointment or avoid lengthy phone wait times but Customers abandoned the journey before receiving a quote or completing purchase.

Why did this matter?
Every abandoned quote represented lost digital sales and potentially pushed customers toward assisted or competitor channels.

10%
Reduction in Operational costs

The Challenge

What I Owned

I owned the end-to-end UX strategy and product design for the insurance purchase funnel.

Discovery
Identifying funnel friction through analytics and research.

Validation
Testing prototypes and iterating with users and stakeholders.

Strategy
Defining the experience architecture and purchase journey.

Core Decisions

Designing Within Real-World Constraints

We couldn't simply make the funnel shorter as there were regulatory and underwriting requirements — we had to make a required process feel shorter.

Context
AMA needed information required to accurately generate an insurance quote.

Constraint
Removing questions could compromise quote accuracy or downstream processing.

Decision
Instead of eliminating required information, we redesigned when and how it was presented.

Trade-off
The funnel still required substantial information, but users didn't have to understand the entire complexity upfront.

Outcome
The experience became progressively personalized and more efficient.

How could we shorten the path to purchase?

Evidence: Analytics + competitor time trials

Customers were being asked to complete a significant amount of information before receiving a quote.

Decision:
Optimize the sequence and progressively reveal information rather than presenting the entire complexity upfront.

Design system
Establishing reusable patterns to support implementation and consistency.

Trade-offs

Simplicity vs. Required Information
Couldn't remove required insurance questions → made them contextual.

Speed vs. Accuracy
Couldn't sacrifice quote accuracy → used autocomplete and progressive disclosure.

Digital Conversion vs. Human Assistance
Didn't force every customer to purchase online → created advisor/callback pathways.

Flexibility vs. Complexity
Supported multiple ways to enter driver information → added complexity but accommodated different customer situations.

Personalization vs. Predictability
Dynamic questions → more relevant experience but less predictable journey.

What We Learned from Competitors

Not every question needed to appear immediately

Evidence: Card sorting + usability research

Some questions only became relevant based on previous answers.

Decision:
Use progressive disclosure to reveal questions contextually.

Role & Responsibilities

  • Digital Project Lead, Designer, Researcher

UX
Designing the information architecture, interaction model and form experience.

Competitor Analysis
Understand how competitors have made their path to purchase simple by studying common patterns.

Edge Cases Considered

What happens when...

  • a customer doesn't know their VIN?

  • the vehicle can't be found?

  • the driver's licence can't be validated?

  • the customer has multiple vehicles?

  • information doesn't match AMA's records?

  • the quote can't be completed online?

  • the customer needs help understanding coverage?

  • the customer wants to change coverage after seeing the price?

  • the customer starts a quote and returns later?

Outcome
Provide Omnichannel Support by allowing the user to schedule an advisor appointment or request a callback.

Vehicle information was unnecessarily difficult

Evidence: Competitive analysis + usability testing

Users had to navigate large sets of vehicle options.

Decision:
Move toward contextual search/autocomplete rather than forcing users through multiple dropdowns.

Usability & UX Considerations

Understanding the Competition

We conducted a thorough analysis of various competitors, examining the sequence and number of questions posed, the duration users took to navigate the funnel, and adherence to UX best practices for both desktop and mobile interfaces.

Unveiling the New Auto Insurance Sales Funnel

In pursuit of a competitive advantage, AMA aims to offer an omnichannel experience for purchasing auto insurance online. Users can navigate through the sales funnel online in 5 minutes to receive a quote. Beyond the quote, the user can choose to continue to purchase online, engage with an advisor by scheduling an appointment, or request a callback at their convenience.

Getting Started

  • The user can start an insurance quote with a logged-in account, continue with a different account, create an account or continue as a guest.

  • If a user has started a previous quote, they can choose to resume or start a new quote.

Vehicle Details

  • Progressive disclosure is used to only reveal additional questions that are contextually relevant to the user’s previous answers. This reduces cognitive load and increases efficiency.

  • Single-form fields are used (e.g. make, model, year) rather than multiple fields to pull information from databases. As the user types, the results auto-populate and are contextually relevant which reduces the vehicle options available in a dropdown.

  • Tooltips are placed next to form fields that may cause friction for the user to add more context.

Driving History

  • Users can choose to enter their driver’s licence or enter their claim details manually.

Coverage Summary

  • The price is the most important information on the coverage summary screen and therefore holds the most visual weight.

  • The user was made aware of any information they could update to get a more accurate quote with a yellow notification bar in proximity to the areas that needed updated information.

  • Users can update their recommended mandatory coverage levels to best suit their needs as well as add additional coverage options to their quote before proceeding to purchase.

Business Goals

Competitive Edge

Granted users the ability to make online purchases, providing AMA with a competitive advantage over rivals lacking this capability.

Collect & Analyze Data to Identify User Challenges and Optimization Opportunities

This insight empowered strategic marketing, ensuring that the right questions are posed in the funnel to effectively engage the appropriate target audiences.

Increase Revenue with Ease of Purchase

Provided a more convenient method for obtaining and purchasing insurance quotes online, eliminating the need for customers to visit a physical centre.

68%

Conversion Rate Goal from 48%

5-7 Minutes

Average Quote Completion Time

Building Blocks to a Better User Experience

To discover where users had the most trouble completing the online quote

Heap Analytics Review

Competitor Analysis for UX & Marketing

An analysis of key features from competitors as well as time trials were conducted.

To determine the sequence of questions that users felt made intuitive sense to them.

Card Sorting

Before diving into design, an IA structure was created for design and development to follow.

Information Architecture

Usability Research (NNG & Baymard)

UX research of potential features and best practices were collected and implemented

Iteration, Prototyping, and Design System

Initial screens were designed in an iterative fashion that included UX best practices and research then prototyped to validate with stakeholders and users. A design system built on atomic design principles was established to create design consistency and meet user expectations while interacting with the product.