How I Cut Claims Calls by 44% in 12 Weeks
TL;DR - Turning the dreaded claims journey into a clear, confidence‑building experience. In 6 weeks we shipped an MVP; by week 12, inbound calls dropped 44%, whilst also designing a reusable, high‑contrast design system powering future tools.
The Context
My Role
Senior Product Designer
Team
PM. David Piesse, FE. Fabricio Cunha, BE. Harvey Massey
Space
4th Dimension Innovation, Insurtech, Motorcycle claims
What I walked into
Claimants (often injured, stressed, or out of work) had no idea where their bike was.
Internal teams were drowning in calls, also missing updates through many channels.
The case tool (Proclaim) wasn’t built for motorcycles or our workflows.
Many claimants were mobile‑only (≈60%) and non‑native English speakers.
The Problem
Nobody knew where the bike was — not the rider, not always the team.
That single truth created a loop: anxious riders call → support chases departments → updates get lost → riders call again. We needed to show location in the journey, not just push fragmented, individual updates.
The Discovery
My starting point
Shadowed the call centre; sat with stakeholders, technicians, logistics.
Analysed extremely technical swimlane charts (every fork for every claim type).
Interviewed past/current/potential claimants to learn expectations and coping styles.
These mindsets shaped everything
Reassured
“Just tell me it’s under control. Keep me updated”
Impatient
“How long, what’s next, what’s blocking, where is my bike?”
Confused
“I don't understand the jargon. I don't know where I'm at”
The non negotiables
Real‑time beats batched email. Phone queues increase anxiety.
Mobile‑first or we’re invisible to ~60% of users.
Simplicity is not a nice‑to‑have it gives understanding to our users.
“I just need to know someone’s dealing with it.”
"An update every few days is enough if I trust it’s moving.”
“If there’s a delay, I want to know immediately.”
“Just explain it in normal words, I’m lost.”
The Strategy
We adopted Basecamp’s Shape Up: What can we ship in six weeks that improves clarity, confidence, and internal efficiency?
This killed scope creep and forced intent: build only what changes experience now.
My guardrails
Design for thumbs and plain English.
Patterns that feel familiar to apps like Deliveroo (many claimants are couriers).
Transparency over beauty.
The First Attempt (MVP)
Swipe me
IA Bet
Make the home about the current status.
UI Bet
A linear progress bar with predicted dates.
Updates
One feed for status updates, micro‑events, and staff messages.
What worked?
People finally saw something move.
Predictive dates reduced “when will this be done?” calls.
What fell short?
Proclaim triggered a late event and the linear bar jumped backwards. Panic.
Mixing support messages & system updates, caused confusion over actions.
Way to much information. Helpful intent, overwhelming execution.
Decorative imagery ate space without adding clarity.
The Pivot to V1.2 (Key Decisions)
Progress over status
The home page stopped fixating on just the current status and started showing the whole journey: where you’ve been, where you are, what’s ahead.
New timeline
A sheet reveals umbrella stages (e.g., Getting started, Repair progressing) with nested micro‑events that can append without regression.
Reduce clutter
Keep to Headings + tappable cards → detail in modals.
Inbox
One feed for support and staff messages, to reduce confusion.
The Real‑World Mess
Claim types
Non‑fault (+hire).
Fault (+hire).
Theft/Fire/Damage (rider absent).
+ Private Investigator.
Delays
Logistics collecting/delivering vehicles.
Large influx of bikes, technician backlog (summer).
3rd Party Estimators booking slots weeks away.
Parts can sometimes take years to arrive.
The fix
Show where you are, what changed, and why it matters, without causing confusion or panic.
The Impact
44% Reduction in inbound queries
Hundreds of hours saved across support staff
Reusable, high contrast design system for new products
MVP in 6 weeks, v1.2 in 12.
What next?
We replaced manual onboarding with a picture upload journey that verifies driving license, address, bank details, and V5C using a third-party AI service. This update continues to cut back on support staff tasks, and improves the speed/experience for claimants.
Learnings
I entered insurtech with no background and quickly had to decipher jargon and branching claim workflows that impacted real people’s lives. By shadowing staff, mapping processes, and interviewing claimants, I uncovered core issues: lack of visibility, poor communication, and tools not fit for motorcycles. The solution was clarity, an append-only timeline to prevent regression panic, clear separation of system vs. human updates, high-contrast patterns, and plain language.
The biggest lesson: in high-stress journeys, design isn’t about polish, it’s about building clarity, confidence, and trust.