Allstate Hail Damage Estimator

Intro

Allstate was working with an emerging technology to automate hail damage estimation. A vehicle drives into a large trailer, gets analyzed by lasers, and out comes a damage report.

As the lead product designer, I worked with Allstate to design and build an application to ingest the damage report data, allow insurance adjusters to make necessary modifications, and get their customers paid.

“Allstate is on the frontline in using this latest technology,....” according to Allstate claims Senior Vice President Mark McGillivray “The Mobile Assessment Center allows for an almost touchless process for evaluating damages, settling claims, and getting customers back on the road as quickly as possible.”

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In twelve weeks, we were able to successfully research, design, develop, and deliver an MVP for the upcoming hail damage season. 

This project was a quick turnaround, a chance to work with an emerging technology, and an opportunity to make life easier in a frustrating situation. 

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My Role

As lead product designer, I was responsible for research, strategy, execution and delivery. I was also responsible for coaching agile software delivery processes. I worked directly with an Allstate designer, as well as an Allstate product manager, teaching human centered design, and lean product management. 

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The challenge

When Allstate came to Pivotal Labs, they were in a bind. They hired a company from overseas and had sent over project requirements months earlier. They were now in possession of an application that did not meet their needs and could it be integrated correctly with the automated estimation system.

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Allstate needed a fast turnaround for a new application. We needed to quickly understand business requirements, user needs and pain points and design a solution to achieve the outcomes that Allstate was looking for.  

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With an aggressive timeframe, we needed to be aggressively lean in our approach.

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The application needed to ingest data from the hail damage machine and run it through critical business logic to accurately reflect cost. We then needed to display the data in a way that insurance adjusters, body shops and customers could understand. Additionally, Allstate was looking to innovate the existing process in which estimates are created, forecasting cost savings on a large scale.

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There were a variety of end users to serve

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The secondary goal, was to enable in-house employees with agile development processes. Allstate wanted product teams enabled to design and build applications themselves, rather than hiring outside companies with varying results. 

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The solution 

We started building low risk features immediately, de-risking integrations and setting up our path to production.

Through our just enough research approach, we got a clear picture from both a user and business perspective. Working hand in hand with a balances team, I designed and tested user flows with real insurance adjusters, gathered feedback from subject matter experts, and vetting designs with developers for feasibility. 

My methods included: 

• Balances team workshops
• User interviews
• Wireframes
• Rapid prototyping
• Persona creation
• Subject matter expert interviews
• Usability testing
• Roadmapping
• Story mapping
• Story writing
• Story acceptance

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Discovery learnings

Although insurance adjusters wanted more control to fine tune the estimates, when we spoke with the business, it became clear this was an anti-goal. In fact, the business was looking to change the way insurance adjusters were coming up with estimates. 

Insurance adjusters were spending weeks going back and forth with body shops to come to an agreement on the exact price of a repair. The process of simply reaching an estimate was proving to be incredibly costly. Allstate was willing to pay more for repairs in order to save time and money on the estimation process. 

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Rather than nickel and dimming, they wanted a price based on data

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Allstate believed this strategy would save money in the long run and could be expanded to other parts of the business. Our application would take part in testing that theory. 

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Design System

We worked closely with Allstate design guidelines to ensure our designs were well within the Allstate family. Because the design library was marketing focused, we began to develop a digital design system library for future teams. 

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Beyond MVP

Along with delivering MVP on time and on budget, we were able to exceed expectations by including a dynamic PDF output visualizing the vehicle damage and related costs. Using svgs, we could color code vehicle panels on multiple vehicle types. It was an unexpected and beneficial addition to the project, enhancing the user experience for Allstate customers. 

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The Results

The application was used in the field that very year as tornadoes and other weather events left their marks. The Allstate hail damage estimator provided quick estimates resulting in: 

• Higher customer satisfaction
• Cost savings
• Increased accuracy  
• A data driven strategy

I'm so glad I had the opportunity to work on the pilot application for Allstate hail damage. It allowed me to delve into the insurance domain, work with innovative technologies, and make life easier when dealing with those pesky dents.

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