I was hired by a small business CEO to explore and visualize a business opportunity. I can’t share the actual industry due to NDA, but I created an analogous scenario about travel.
The Problem
There are many stories of travelers buying insurance and still not being covered:
How might we prevent this or help the customer through this kind of situation?
Business Opportunity
My client’s business would help people in financial difficulty. The ask was for a concept mockup to share with a larger team to drive very early discussions. I also created a preliminary service blueprint of an emotionally charged situation: Susan cancels an expensive trip and her insurance doesn’t cover it.
Wireframing and Crafting Value Proposition
I designed a concept and wrote copy to connect the business idea to a strong customer story. The client appreciated the story-driven approach, which encouraged them to engage with real customers sooner. In past projects, similar advocacy led my clients to incorporate testimonials and eventually move to photos and candid videos.
User Advocacy
Clients are rarely eager to get user input to validate assumptions or get new perspectives. I always have to initiate those discussions.
Here’s an example email where I start to raise these issues:
To: Client
You asked me to think through the employer-side of the travel insurance service. How might we get insights from actual "employers"? What past experiences may encourage them or deter them from using a service like this?
Identifying Points of Potential Breakdown
My objective was to encouraging the team to seek real customer feedback and gain a more holistic understanding of the customer experience.
When the big problem hits, Susan is dealing with multiple issues: a stressful event, canceling her trip, losing money, limited time off work, and exhaustion from fighting with insurance. She feels powerless when she discovers our service.
Empathizing with her situation can influence how the service is organized, marketed, and how customer service staff are trained. Instead of focusing only on the end result, like Susan getting a partial refund and us getting paid, it’s important to recognize that the solution for the customer begins much earlier, such as finding a service that offers hope.
Opportunities
A broader definition of the job-to-be-done encourages the team to view the service from the customer’s perspective. While we may think we’re selling a refund service, Susan is actually seeking guidance through a stressful situation. This broader view reveals additional opportunities:
- offering flexible flight options
- creating a ticket resale marketplace
- providing financial counseling
- software for independent insurance claim evaluations
Next Steps
Continuing to get a clearer picture of the target audience, defining constraints (e.g., what type of user story to focus on), and moving along an idea of the solution.