The most striking aspect of USAA’s new Life Insurance page, redesigned recently, is that its whole purpose has been changed. It has evolved from being a page on which no tasks could be started, to one where one could be actually be completed and two more could be started.
Plus, you get an overview of the process to get insured, with four clear steps listed.
The four stages of getting insured are clearly outlined
USAA has recognized that site visitors are impatient, and that pages like this are ideally not just a collection of links to more detailed information on other pages.
Life Insurance pages, generally one level below the home page on insurance sites, have traditionally been stop-off points en route to more content. The trend now, however, is to get more use out of this page and allow visitors to do more without clicking down to lower levels in the site. In other words, they are becoming more task-focused.
The main content area is dominated by a comparison table. This allows visitors to complete one of the fundamental tasks—which type of life insurance do I need—with an option to drill down for more detail at the end of the page.
Further up the page (albeit as part of a graphic featuring a tremendously happy family) there is a list of the four key benefits of life insurance.
The quote button (with important words such as ‘personalized’ and ‘in minutes’) is prominent at the top right, with the calculator button just below. (Other sites—such as State Farm and MetLife—allow people to enter information for a quote right on the home page, but at least the USAA button is prominent on this page.)
Another feature is that the left-side menu has disappeared. No more links to RV Insurance or Medicare Solutions, and we’re pretty sure they won’t be missed. The space saved has been usefully filled with good information.
USAA has placed a clear quote button at the bottom of the page with three links to get more information, thereby not wasting the opportunity to advance prospects to the next stage.
Having a call to action at the bottom of a page can strongly influence user behavior
The ends of pages are often wasted. They can be prime real estate, if a prospect has taken time to read the content and arrive there with intent. Studies have shown that offering a call to action at this position can have a dramatic effect on the behavior of site visitors.
Task-orientation, as demonstrated on this page (and others), is not a fad. It is an evolution of customer-centric design that separates great websites from failing ones.
