Why good design matters in Life Insurance.

Our Managing Director and CEO, Chris Powell, was recently at a dinner, sitting next to the head of a large dealer group. He was chatting to Chris about our Adviser Portal and our next biggest competitors’ portal. He had decided to do a timed test between the two. Same case, same data – portal against portal. One took 45 minutes, and one took 14. Chris relays that, at this point in the story, he was thinking confidently to himself “ours will be the quickest”. Of course, it was, and in this story, we have our first example of why good design matters. How much it matters, is about to exponentially increase.

Advisers have had a tough year in 2019. The combination of changes in commissions, exams, increases in fees from some dealer groups, the Royal Commission and bad press driving down trust (even for the good guys) it’s no wonder many are leaving the industry. For those who stay, they’re going to need a shift in focus and new ways of working to maintain the same levels of business. Operational efficiency is going to be part of the way that Advisers are able to do more with less. Focusing on margins will mean that all processes will be under the microscope. Enter, good design.

What is ‘design’ anyway?

When we talk about ‘design’ we’re not talking about how lovely our logo looks (although we certainly have our admirers having won both the Sydney and Melbourne Design Awards for brand) we’re talking about a process by which everything from forms, to buttons, and every little digital behavior is tested and optimized. Why? Because we have a simple goal in design. Make it as simple, easy, and quick to use as possible. 

Can design effect lives?

In our earlier anecdote, you can see how good design can save you time and money, but can it go further? If you’re in Australia, then you may be familiar with plan packaging for all tobacco products. We made history in 2012 as the first country in the world to introduce such a measure. To make sure we got it right, the Department of Health and Ageing hired market research company GfK Blue Moon to find the ugliest colour in the world. After seven studies involving 1,000 smokers, the researchers chose a particularly nauseating shade of brown known as Pantone 448C, or ‘opaque couché’. It was associated with death, tar and dirt – and now it’s been coupled with cigarettes, too. The measure is attributed to reducing the number of smokers by significant numbers. It’s not difficult then to see how poor design could have a detrimental impact on someone’s life if they fail to disclose critical information or believe they are covered for something they’re not – and it can all come down to design.

The final note.

This year, we were fortunate enough to win a Good Design Award – the only Life Insurance company to ever win one. It was awarded for our Adviser portal based on how easy and simple it was to navigate and use. Like us, the people at Good Design Australia have seen the power of good design first-hand. They believe that good design doesn’t just exist for aesthetic reasons, although they are important, it’s about solving human problems, driving innovation and ultimately making life better. And that’s why we’re in Life Insurance!