Peak Reinsurance
Redesign the corporate website for a reinsurer start-up
My role
I worked on this project as a UX/UI Designer for Sedgwick Richardson. Our team consisted of a content strategist, a digital design director, project managers and developers. I took part in the stakeholder engagement and was responsible for synthesising the findings gathered from the interviews with the stakeholders. I was responsible for the IA design, visual design and interaction design of the project.
Background
Peak Re is a young reinsurer which provides modernised reinsurance solutions to support the needs of emerging middle-class society in Asia and around the globe. The company launched the new brand internally, but it is yet to be unveiled properly to external stakeholders on the corporate website. The original corporate website did not amplify the new brand yet, and the look and feel of the website was outdated.
Project goals
Research
We interviewed 7 internal stakeholders from different teams including management, underwriting, finance, human resources, etc... across the company. Engagement with stakeholders is important to understand their expectations and how the redesign of the website can support the business. We also understand more about who are the user groups of the website and their specific needs.
We evaluated the existing website to understand the strengths and weaknesses of it. We also did a content audit on it to understand what content was available and what was absent to achieve the goals of the website.
Insights from the research
We gathered the following insights from our research:
Working process
Before starting any design, we spent time making sense of the website structure and existing content.
The site map illustrates the new structure of the website in a clear and easy to understand way for the client.
We laid out more details of each page in another document and indicated different levels of content gaps. This provided the copywriter a good skeleton to work on the content as well.
Design solutions
A number of major design solutions were proposed and developed. I was responsible for the UX, visual and interaction design throughout the process.
Improve discoverability and presentation of the insightful content
Peak Re has a decent amount of insightful content that is written by their professional and diverse teams. The content gives fresh perspectives, in-depth analysis and unique global experience to the insurance market. However, all content was buried in pdf formats within the Newsletter section of the website, which did not match the mental model of users. Moreover, there was no way for users to know what were in the pdf files without downloading them.
The new “Knowledge Centre” section on the website houses all the insights of the company. Whether it’s a think piece, a video or a comprehensive research report, the audience can find and explore the content pieces covering a wide range of topics in various media formats easily in the “Knowledge Centre”.
Beef up the insights and put them foremost on the website.
We gave more visibility to the content pieces throughout the website. When the insights are being put first and foremost on the website, the corporate information is still easily accessible.
With the new pre-designed content blocks in the CMS, content creators can easily layout and publish the insightful content by selecting and organising the content blocks, without the need of knowing any design and coding skills. Each content piece is published on its individual page in a structured and compelling way.
We proposed a content strategy that feeds the website, along with all the social media channels of the company. The company constantly updates their social media channels to share latest insights with clear and concise messages. The channels direct the audience to the website where it covers the full extent of the story. The website and the social media channels together empower internal thought leaders to interact with the external.
Promoting company culture and its people
The culture of the company and the uniqueness of its people are not being promoted clearly enough in the existing website. We put the people forward and provide a more transparent outlook of the company in the redesign, so that it can reflect how the company differs from the peers. We also enhance the careers section to facilitate the consistent recruiting of talents in a rapidly expanding start-up.
A new timeline design to present the milestones and achievements of the company.
Improve the synergy between the website and social media platforms to support the company events and conferences
Seminars and conferences are significant channels for the company to deliver insights to the reinsurance market. Lack of synergy between the website and social media platforms to support the company's events made it difficult to attract the right audience to participate in the events.
We proposed a content publishing flow for company events. The website, and all digital channels, can be better leveraged to make conferences even more productive. They can help attract the right people to conferences, setting up the right appointments and make the organisation of the conference more efficient.
With a proper event section created in the website, the company can announce and promote events more effectively than before.
Convey the personality of the brand with animation
We would like to very quickly tell the visitors about what the company does and form a positive and progressive impression.
The brand purpose is communicated at the beginning of the homepage, supported by an animation designed using the main brand element (a forward moving arrow). Overall it gives a smart and nimble feeling which reflects the brand personality.
Hero animation on the homepage
I created storyboards to communicate the motion details with the client and the animator.
I also used some functional micro-transitions to communicate meaningful feedback to the users throughout the website.
Meaningful micro-transitions happen when the audience interacts with the UI elements.
Layers of objects create depth and dynamism in the layouts. They move at different speed when they appear to reveal the content and create an agile and nimble impression of the brand.
Global experience language
Consistency is what makes a brand trustable and believable. I carefully maintain the visual consistency of the website to ensure PeakRe comes off as smart, confident and professional.
I collaborated closely with the developers to ensure the visual design is translated to the final experience across different devices and established a style guide to facilitate the design and development process. The interaction states of the UI elements, rules and logics of different components are well defined and documented.
Throughout the design process, we had continuous engagement with Peak Re on the iterations of the design solutions. I created an interactive prototype using Invision to show the flow of the website and created a mock-up of the animation with Invision Studio to communicate with the client and developers.
Before launching the website, we provided training and advice to start the client team off in using the new CMS to create and publish the content so that they can keep the website alive with fresh and insightful content. It took about 6 months for the new website to get launched.
Results
It has been four months since the launch of the new website. There has been a significant increase in the number of new users visiting the website, the number of page views and the average time spent on the website. There has been a slight decrease in the bounce rate. This could imply an improved effectiveness of the website.
Selected Works
City University of Hong KongUX/UI, Web
handyUX/UI, Web, App
Peak ReinsuranceUX/UI, Web
YOUJIUX/UI, App
© 2021 Vicky Chiu (chiuching)