Users, consumers, agents, stakeholders, site visitors—as practitioners of human-centered design the Cake & Arrow team always begins by recognizing the individuals who will use and benefit from the experiences, products, and services we design. Since we’re in the business of improving business outcomes through better customer experiences, it’s easy to make the leap that our job is to design for “the customer.”
But we know from years of experience that great CX takes more than just fixing what the literal customer directly engages with. If CX is the sum of the “interconnected experiences, interactions, and journeys” of the many individuals who help customers along their journey, great CX also requires supporting all those who support the customer. In insurance, improving CX and business outcomes can require moves like investing in data to prefill forms, increasing call center capacity to troubleshoot with a human touch, or developing self-serve quote and bind apps for consumers. It can also require improving the employee experience so internal resources can focus on helping customers rather than battling outdated, inadequate workflows and systems.
Repeatedly in our work, we’ve seen the remarkable strides our clients make when they make doing business easier for internal employees. Our work has resulted in stats like:
- A 15% reduction in the time it takes for plan administrators to complete a task
- A 95% reduction in underwriting time for agents – what used to take 6 days now takes 2 hours
- A 22% reduction in call times for customer service agents
We’ve designed portals, workbenches, and other custom platforms tailored to their specific situations. When tools and workflows fit the needs and behaviors of those doing the job, employees are more productive and efficient, and appreciate that their employers recognize and address their pain points. We’ve witnessed the impact firsthand.
Centering an employee experience
The assignment was straightforward: improve the way agents sell life insurance to potential and existing customers. Our goal was to simplify and streamline the sales process so agents could focus less on data entry, and focus more on connecting with people to provide the best service possible to the customer.
The existing software was a disaster—everything you’d expect from an antiquated, enterprise-level sales platform. It embodied a complete lack of understanding or respect for the individuals trying to use it to do their jobs each day. Data entry was split over 12 steps, and agents couldn’t see or access the quote until every step was completed. They had to enter the same information multiple times on screens that took forever to load. They had to reference multiple systems in order to answer simple customer questions. It almost looked like someone was trying to make the agents’ jobs harder.
To help our client disprove that assumption and simplify the work, we followed our typical process. First, we interviewed and observed agents using the current sales tools, identifying blockers and opportunities. Then, we applied those insights to design intuitive interfaces and interactions that kept them in the flow of their sale with the customer.
“Is this for real?”
During our second round of remote user research, we went back to those agents to get feedback on our design work in progress. The evaluation was going well—participants were able to navigate the proposed interface and complete their tasks quickly and accurately. Functionally, everything was as we’d expected. And then after a few minutes, we got the emotional validation we’d hoped for. One of the agents piped up, “So what’s the deal here? Is this for real? Like, will I actually be able to use this? Because Oh.My.God., this is so awesome! Do you realize how much easier my job would be? I’m so excited right now. Ok, I just had to say that.”
To human-centered designers, this authentic, awestruck reaction to a prototype is pure gold. Awards and industry recognition are great, but nothing comes close to the joy and satisfaction a designer feels when seeing firsthand the impact their work has on another person.
Still, however inspiring those rewards may be, the truth is that the distribution of great design, particularly in the world of enterprise software, has not exactly been even. When we talk about the ‘user’ in user experience, most assume we mean the end customer. And for good reason. Customers are the ones who exchange their dollars for our donuts and impact the bottom line. Because of that, we’ve seen less investment in the improvement of other, related experiences, most notably, the employee experience–despite the fact that when employees thrive, businesses thrive.
And maybe that’s why those OMG moments with employees are so special. When we design for internal users, we’re not just simplifying things for consumers; we’re making it easier for workers to create and contribute value. By cutting down on one more repetitive task, finally fixing that one bug, or implementing that awesome improvement that the veterans have been asking for, we’re acknowledging the dignity of the work by helping the workers be their best selves.
“I’ve been working with our existing app for years. To be honest, I never realized how terrible it was until this. It’s just how it’s always been.”
These agents rarely complained or asked for a better tool. Most hadn’t even imagined that a better experience was possible. That’s what makes designing for employees so special.
In recent years, we have seen design transform our personal lives. It’s made it easier for us to stay connected, get things done, and enjoy our free time. But while consumer software has advanced by leaps and bounds, enterprise software still lags behind. Employees—especially those on the front lines—often have to adapt to the outdated, clunky tools they are given, tools that make their jobs harder than they need to be.
“You made my day. I can’t wait for this to come out.”
By taking the time to understand the challenges employees face and designing solutions that address those challenges, we can help them do their jobs better and more efficiently. Equip employees with the right resources and tools, and in return see an increase in quality. Even better, see an increase in productivity and job satisfaction. Our work is evidence of this:
– A RegTech platform design that simplifies the complex, making it easy for employees to leverage the power behind the platform
– An intuitive agent portal for Main Street America, which one employee described as “about a billion times better, not just a million…”
– A sales enablement tool for agents in Japan that significantly streamlines agent workflows, eliminating the need for time-consuming “hacks” or “workarounds”
Beyond the clear improvements in business outcomes, in an industry that often finds it challenging to compete for top talent, focusing on the employee experience can be a game-changer. By providing modern, user-friendly tools and a supportive work environment, companies demonstrate that they care about employees with concrete action. A positive employee experience can lead to a sense of belonging and loyalty, reducing turnover rates and building a more engaged and motivated workforce. This not only benefits the employees but also the organization as a whole.
