Technology is Not Enough

By Harry Williams

Business Designer, Fjord

With insurance being the latest industry to be enriched by technology-driven investment, there are risks arising. There's a risk that technology will be used for the sake of it. There's a risk that technology will lead to even more complexity. And there's a risk that technology will result in overwhelming uniformity, changing the dynamics of competition.

Design can provide the answer. To make sense of this, it's essential to look beyond any misconceptions that design is just about making stuff look good. The fundamental reason why design is such a powerful tool is the emphasis that's placed on people – whether that's your customers, employees, or the rest of society. In this chapter, we'll look at three ways design can be used to create products and services that users love, and your competitors hate.

Design as a Problem Solver

Focusing purely on how technology can be used to create a new service is the first step on a journey to creating a service that nobody wants.

Following a design-led approach overcomes this by thinking about the user and their needs first, not some cool new technology. The first stage of any product development process should be figuring out the problem you're going to solve. This should involve talking to your users to understand their behaviour and feelings throughout their insurance journey. By mapping this out, you can begin to understand the highs and lows of your user's experience. ...

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