
Client
Challenge
Sector
Bonzah, start up company
insurance, car rental insurance
Create the UI for an MVP app that can function as a sidekick for the existing website for all Bonzah users –especially return users– to easily and successfully purchase a Bonzah insurance and improve the overall user experience of the app and accomodate successful completion of orders.
My role
UX/UI design. We performed individual and group research and synthesis, every designer had their own individual visual exploration and prototype.
Reading time 14 minutes and scannable in 40 seconds

Bonzah is Australian slang for something that is good, even extraordinary, a great feeling.
BACKGROUND
Third party car rental insurance
Bonzah wants to help car renters in the US by offering a cheaper form of insurance that' available at the car rental counter. Three types of rentals can be covered by Bonzah; docked rental cars like Hertz, undocked car-share like Zipcar, peer to peer rental similar to Turo. The stakeholder for this project was Steve Sherlock, the founder, and CEO.
Bonzah insures the person for the duration of their car rental and does not insure the car itself. As long as the user doesn’t violate the terms and conditions. A Bonzah insurance can be purchased by people who are 18 years and older, the car is worth less than $40.000, and the trip takes less than 45 days.

PROBLEM STATEMENT
Designing a sidekick
My role
Bonzah is developing their mobile application and wanted our help designing the UI for the already existing MVP prototype. The design brief was to design the UI for the new app, which should be in line with the existing brand, but not mirror the website.
The current website is not providing users with easy accessibility and a streamlined purchasing process.
How might we create a UI that is in line with the Bonzah brand for return users to easily and successfully purchase Bonzah insurance and improve the overall user experience of the app and accomodate successful completion of orders?
Our UI team consisted of 3 designers. Every designer in our team had their own visual exploration, direction and final prototype design for this project.
Teamwork
Sprint presentations
Carrying out user interviews
Competitive analysis
Analysis- and synthesis of test results
Deciding the MVP user flow
Individual work
Sprint presentations
indivisual visual exploration
Wireframing
Competitive analysis
Moodboards and
style tiles
Hi-fi prototype
Approach
To begin this project it was necessary to develop an understanding of the vision of the client and the needs of the user. We used the Stanford D-school design process, layed out in 4 sprints, 4 weeks in total.
RESEARCH
1. Understanding brand vision– and goals
2. Analysis of the existing MVP






3. Desirability tests




Understanding the brand
vision– and goals
After our kick-off meeting with the client we identified a number of areas we needed to focus on to ensure the project goals were met. After a design exploration excersize we gained some insights about the:
Visual direction for the app: The app should feel state of the art, innovative and modern. It should not look like it’s 'trying too hard' or look like the big insurance giants. Steve, the founder, was drawn to clean lines and a modern high end feel.
Measure of success: A succesful product would be one that is the single source of trust for potential Bonzah buyers and return users.
Project goals

Become an established brand in the US market

Create an app with the look and feel of the Bonzah app, without it being a copy.

Create a loyal customer base, and accomodate return users.

Be a trusted alternative to the other ways of rental insurances (creditcards, car-rental-offered inurances)



The Bonzah website, not my design

Analyzing the existing website
By analyzing the website, I became familiar with the existing look and message of the brand. It was good to know that Bonzah did not perform any user tests on their current website. This made me even more excited for our user tests.
The UI of the app can differentiate from the website with better glance-ability and a consistent layout when it comes to color use, photography and overall feel. To stay in line with the Bonzah brand, I planned on used the colors of the logo, and photography with the same feel of the website.
Visual competitive analysis
With the Steve's feedback in mind we looked at direct and indirect competitors to Bonzah, as well as non competitors for inspiration.
I noticed some trends in visual design: most insurance companies use a clean and minimal design: white and bright colors, minimal tasks per screen and a prominent call to action. I noticed that the bigger insurance giants stuck to with what the client is expected to see, a more dated and serious look, feel and tone, while newer insurance companies, often times geared towards a younger target audience, used a more energetic look and feel with a casual tone and voice.
Less traditional style

Lemonade

Cover
More traditional style

Allianz travel

Allstate

GO car insurance
Inspiration

Sweetgreen

Analyzing our inherited MVP wireframe prototype
Before our team started the project, a UX team at Designation worked with Steve. Through research and user testing they created a set of wireframes that laid out the user flow for return users to purchase an insurance. These wireframes were our initial framework into creating the visual design for Bonzah.
We organized a meeting with the UX team to find out the reasoning behind their design decisions. Our main takeaways were:
Users value the flexibility of booking last minute, and they will go for whatever is cheapest in their research — fast quotes sway decisions.
There is distrust among the users because of the cheap insurance price. That's why the Bonzah user needs to be able to understand the rental policies at a glance to understand its value.


Target audience
Since Bonzah is a 2 year old start-up, their customers range in age, and Bonzah wanted to focus on a broader target audence, the previous UX team did not construct a persona. I did some research on the target audience and I found some important info to take into account for our following research.
60% of Bonzah users, is between the age 25–44 (drawn to the sharing economy where car ownership is in decline).
65% of all users are male.
15% of all users are return users, representing 64% of all revenue.
It was good to know about these majorities, so I could create a more effective design based on these statistics, with keeping the broader audience in mind.




UNDERSTANDING THE USER

Three diverging style concepts

UPFRONT INFORMATION
Insurance shoppers are wary of being taken advantage of and look for honesty. Clearly prioritized policy information builds trust.
Simply structured and easy to read information will reassure users through the quote and purchase process.

BONZAH IS YOUR BUDDY
Budget conscious travelers are concerned about the price of insurance and know the value of customer service. Appearing knowledgeable and friendly makes users feel that the company cares for them and that they can afford the product.
Bright colors, friendly language and personalized touches will build connection with the customer and reassure them they’re in the right place.

BONZAH ON THE GO
Traveling customers purchasing insurance on their mobile device need to complete tasks right away with minimal distraction.
Centralized, bright CTAs and one task per page will guide users to complete their goals. A clean, consistent layout that’s glanceable will give them confidence that they can complete this via mobile without missing details in a hurry.
Core user needs Bonzah
After individual– and group synthesis of our research, client meeting and user test results we came up with the following design principles.


User testing
With the previous research and the design principles in mind I created three diverging concepts of style for Bonzah.
Our approach was to test our different style tiles with the Bonzah users and find the right design direction as soon as possible. With our client feedback from sprint one and the user feedback we were able to choose one visual direction, after which we started prototyping.
We performed three rounds of tests with 15 (potential) Bonzah users, five users per round. In those 15 interviews we interviewed with 4 return users, and the age varied from 26-72 years.
From those 15 users 25% are male.
The age varies from 26-72 years.
In those 15 interviews we interviewed with 4 return users.
From those 15 users 25% are male.
The age varies from 26-72 years.
Visual direction test

Prototype test

Iterated prototype test
20 second gut check
desirability interviews during prototype walk through
A/B testing
Card sorting
In our first round of user testing, we tested our style tiles by the look and feel. We used two methods to find out what
You are looking at the 'evolution' of the policy summary screens. Testing on high fidelity screens helped us get better feedback quick.
You are looking at the 'evolution' of the policy summary screens. Testing on high fidelity screens helped us get better feedback quick.
Policy screens: low–fi to hi–fi
You are looking at the 'evolution' of the policy summary screens. Testing on high fidelity screens helped us get better feedback quick. Users needed to feel reassured and comfortable to buy the Bonzah insurance when looking at this screen. The policy summary as a whole needed to look and feel transparent and clear to our users.




“This reminds me of a friendly company that isn't trying to be like the big corporate insurance companies, more down to earth. Not a bunch of old guys running around behind the scenes”. – Luis, 27, male
A SELECTION OF FINAL SCREENS TO EXPLAIN SOME KEY DESIGN DECISIONS
3




1
2






The colors 'quartz' and 'french wine' were extracted from the Bonzah logo to keep a consistent look with the Bonzah brand. The 'french wine' fuchsia is used for personal messages and price information. The light gray (middle color swatch) is a lighter shade of the 'quartz'.
KEY FOCUS AREAS
Finding the balance between a conservative– and an unconventional look and feel, while keeping the app accesssible and understandable for a broad target audience.
Making the users feel comforted and reassured with the right photography.
Designing for users on the go and being a 'source of trust'.
Creating a UI that conveys that 'Bonzah' feeling.
PIVOTS AND CONSTRAINTS
Designing without a persona for a broad target audience.
Realizing that finding the right photography with the right feel and a cohesive look is harder than I thought. I felt this might not make the design system cohesive and streamlined. I threw in a screen with an illustration instead of a picture to test.
As a beginning UI designer, I was hesitant to divert from my style tile, but backed with a good explanation (user test results) and client feedback, it was a win for the users as well for the client.
I think the amount of users we tested on was high enough to find certain patterns, but those patterns could be confirmed with even more users. I think it is a great idea to test with more users, specifically male return users in the future.
Following our user interviews, we synthesized our findings and were able to create prototypes which were presented and discussed with the client, and iterated afterwards. These are my the final designs.


HOMESCREEN AND MENU
A reassuring, personal and welcoming message for the user. Delivering that Bonzah feel on the home screen. Allowing users to view their past policies and claims, their rewards or give a referral by clicking on the menu.
A clear, direct connection to the idea of cars and travel is appreciated when it comes to using imagery, especially when it is human, personal, optimistic and relatable.
GETTING A QUOTE
The Bonzah feeling, a personal message and a quick easy to understand quote form should get the users on their way.
The carefree Bonzah feel is translatable in a variaty of different ways for users, like going on an adventure, excitement, open space, bright colors.
Some users were comfortable with less conventional design elements, such as illustrations or retro photos, while other users preferred a more traditional approach.


A quick sign up–with a modern feel–for the return user to get a quick quote.
LOG-IN




CHECK OUT
A quick and clean check out flow, with icons that were clear for the users we tested this prototype with
Clear policy information and no hidden, or hard to find info: No fine print, asterisks. This makes users feel reassured that this company is 'legit' and can be trusted.
Future recommendations
More research on the needs and behaviors of Bonzah users when they buy a Bonzah insurance? Are they home on comparative websites or do they buy it after a long trip at the airport? Do they buy it on the spot or in advance?
Custom photography with the exciting, positive, adventurous Bonzah feel. Users appreciated realistic, human, relatable imagery.
It might be a good idea to have a more focussed target audience to create a more effective design.
Research to find out if there are any key-problem-areas left in the MVP product. Where people stop and leave the app and why.
I documented all the elements that are repeatable a scalable to ensure a cohesive experience that is easily understood by users, and faster because it gives designers and developers a common language to work with.
DESIGN SYSTEM







Learnings
I started with a style tile that could not be farther away from the final product. In this case, the client was closely involved and I could explain my design decisions backed by test results for a better-designed product with every sprint.
I learned that photography is not the easiest way to create a concise design system, I quickly tried illustrations, but because of time constraints I could not iterate and test on those. I learned how to make a 'sidekick' for an existing website. Using a different color scheme, but by extracting the look and feel of the website, I made the app still feel brand– and subject appropriate.
I learned how to find the right balance when it comes to traditional and unconventional design for an insurance app.
This case study, was another learning curve in speaking and writing English as a new resident of the US and non native English speaker, and I have become more confident in presenting in English.