Publications

Insurance in the age of the Gig Economy

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What happens to insurance when business gets personal?

By 2020, 40% of the U.S. Labor Force will be comprised of independent workers. As more and more workers leave their full time jobs and/or supplement their incomes with Gig Economy work, what does this mean for the future of  insurance?

This white paper discusses the findings of a survey we conducted of Gig Economy workers and provides insights for insurance carriers into:

  • To what extent Gig Economy workers are insured for their independent work
  • How Gig Economy workers understand and assess their own risks 
  • How the insurance industry as a whole might better meet the changing needs of Gig Economy workers

Designing for the Nth Persona: Stakeholder Management for UX Designers

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I deeply care for the end user and designing the right experiences that meet their needs.  But the end user is not the only audience we need to think about designing for.  The Nth persona is  that person who is internal at a client or company who works on behalf of the end user.  An important Nth user is actually stakeholders.  Stakeholders are also some of the hardest personas to crack.  Effective stakeholder management can really make the design process go well.  Here are my tips for how to get to know your stakeholders better. 

Image courtesy of Cake & Arrow

Image courtesy of Cake & Arrow

A Transformation from Within: A Step-by-Step Guide to Transforming Digital Culture and Making Your Organization Truly Customer Focused

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In the Insurance and Financial Services industries there is still lots of chatter on how to transform companies to be more innovative and customer centric.  Banking, insurance, and private equity all fall below the global average when it comes to their ability to effectively transform and deliver on customer experience. And in the age of digital transformation and customer centricity, their ability to do so is critical to their survival in the 21st century.  While most organizations are aware of the need to transform, many are held back by organizational structures resistant to change and cultures of “business as usual.”

This white paper provides insight into how insurance and financial services organizations can:

  • Enable customer-centric digital capacity from within their organizations
  • Use Design Thinking, User Experience Methods and the principles of Adult Learning to seed change that will increase risk taking, agility and creativity
  • Thoughtfully scale change over time to infuse every level of the organization with a spirit of innovation, design thinking, and customer-centricity

Debunking the Myth of the UX Unicorn

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So much talk about the UX unicorn.  But its not reality.  You don't have to be able to do it all!  Read my blog post on how you can actually craft a career that you love.  And the secret is about knowing a little bit and choosing where you want to focus. Long live T-shaped people!

Image courtesy of Cake & Arrow

Image courtesy of Cake & Arrow

Getting Down to Business as a UX Designer

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Learn how you can go from being a good UX designer to a great UX leader by learning a thing or two about business.  Propelling your career is possible when you focus on not just your craft but also your leadership skills.

Image courtesy of Cake & Arrow

Image courtesy of Cake & Arrow

4 Tips for Making a First Impression that Lasts

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As we continue to hold Archery Club meetings, we are getting some great topics!  Read my write up of Katie Gray's presentation on making first impressions.  It focuses on how women can make a lasting first impression in the workplace, with practical tips for how to present one’s self in meetings, interviews, presentations etc.

Image coutrsey of Cake & Arrow

Image coutrsey of Cake & Arrow

Finding Your Voice as a Woman in Business

The best thing I can do in response to our current political climate is to help women develop their careers and leadership skills. With that in mind, at the end of last year I started an initiative at my company for a dialogue around gender equality in the workplace. We have monthly meetings where we explore topics, share strategies and create connections. We had our 2nd meeting about a week ago and the topic was Finding Your Voice. I wrote a blog post on our company's website on the details of the meeting.

Closing the Digital Divide Between Boomers and Millennials

After a lifetime of observing human behavior and attitudes via research and testing, I'm finally starting to share those nuggets with the world! Check out my blog post on the Cake & Arrow site where I talk about closing the digital divide between Boomers and Millennials.

Image courtesy of Cake & Arrow

Image courtesy of Cake & Arrow

The Future of Customer Experience in 2017: The Return of the Pyramid Scheme

As it turns 2017, leaders at my agency have been sharing our predictions!  Mine is that we will see a return of the pyramid scheme.  It will be repositioned to prey on Millennials and appeal to their sense of social conscious and desire for authentic experiences.  Check out Emily Smith's write up of my idea:  a new incarnation of multilevel marketing is on the horizon. This time, millennials are the target.

Image courtesy of Cake & Arrow

Image courtesy of Cake & Arrow

Creating Consumer Faith in Online Insurance Quotes

I've been working on property and casualty insurance for MetLife for over 2 years now.  In my initial user research, I uncovered that consumers were reluctant to actually purchase their insurance online as they have been taught to not trust the insurance companies.  As MetLife was working to bring a direct to consumer option to market, this mindset was the biggest barrier to their success. Trust continues to be a barrier to online insurance purchases, for all carriers. How can insurance companies build consumer trust while mitigating risk? Check out this article on my agency's blog that discussed over coming this issue.  I contributed to Emily Smith's great writing. 

Image courtesy of Cake & Arrow

Image courtesy of Cake & Arrow

Success: How 4 Brands Are Winning With Millennials

MediaPost, Engage: Millennials published my article on how four brands are successfully engaging with millennials.  Learn how these four brand,  are tailoring their experiences to appeal to millennials and succeeding:

  • Refinery 29
  • Taco Bell
  • Pokemon Go
  • Vice

Inc. on Paul Rand

Inc. Senior Writer Ilan Mochari interviewed me for his piece on famed designer, Paul Rand.  I've never been in such good company as he quotes the great Rand and Steve Jobs.  Here are some of my quotes from the piece:

"The thing that, in my mind, separates designers from artists is the ability to work within, and in most cases be made better, by constraints."
"People can't fully tell you exactly everything that they need. They can only talk to you in terms of how they think and what they currently know."