Aviva and Vitality rank highest amongst UK life insurers for digital user experience

San Jose, CA – May 18, 2022 — UserZoom, the pioneer of the Digital User Experience (UX) Insights category, today announced the findings of its 2022 UK Life Insurance Digital Experience Study, revealing that Aviva and Vitality rank highest for digital user experience amongst prospective UK life insurance customers. 

This mixed-methods study is based on responses from 500 prospective UK life insurance customers of Aviva, Vitality, Direct Line, Legal & General and Zurich. The study examines a prospect’s revenue critical journey through these insurance providers’ websites; as well as ratings across usability, trust, appearance and loyalty. These critical journeys include understanding life insurance; understanding life insurance options; finding a local life insurance agent; and receiving an initial quote.  

Each insurer is ranked on UserZoom’s proprietary QXscore benchmarking system, which combines observed behavioral task success alongside attitudinal measures across usability (ease of use), trust, appearance and loyalty (NPS) into an easy-to-understand grade from 1-100. This is the only experience grading method (QXscore) that combines both attitudinal and behavioral data, allowing business leaders to easily quantify the impact of experience performance, so they’re able to make digital investment decisions that drive customer satisfaction and revenue.

Based on the 100-point QXscore scale, the companies scored as follows:

·       Aviva: 79

·       Vitality: 78

·       Direct Line: 74

·       Legal & General: 74

·       Zurich: 70

Aviva and Vitality’s digital website UX received the highest QXscores of the five sites evaluated. Both companies’ websites were classed as giving a good digital user experience. The QXscores of Direct Line, Legal & General and Zurich were found to be on the high end of an average digital user experience.  

UserZoom’s 2022 UK Life Insurance Digital Experience Study, follows the release in April of the company’s 2022 US Life Insurance Digital Experience Study, which found Mutual of Omaha ranked highest for digital user experience amongst US prospective life insurance customers. 

Thoughtful UX design still key to purchasing life insurance

Just like the US Study in April, the UK Study found that simplicity is key when it comes to designing self-service websites for buying life insurance. Straight forward language and clear descriptions help avoid insurance industry jargon that may be unfamiliar to those shopping for life insurance for the first time. ‘Jump buttons’ also help customers to navigate long pages and make it easy to find pertinent information without excessive scrolling. And visuals (such as charts or tables) are appreciated – helping users to identify sections of interest and gain a better understanding of the content. ‘Contact Us’ options were also tested in the UK Study, with users preferring contact options specific to life insurance rather than a general phone number. And whilst chatbots and virtual assistants can be helpful, some still prefer to connect directly with a live representative. 

UserZoom’s UK Study found prospective life insurance customers reported increased levels of confidence when the history and backstory of a company were easily found on their website. Furthermore, statistics about a company’s financial stability - as well as customer reviews and awards information - helped to increase confidence too. A friendly, non-corporate tone throughout a life insurer’s website increased customer confidence. In fact, according to Deloitte, the ability to leverage emotionally intelligent platforms to recognize and use emotional data is one of the biggest, most important opportunities for companies going forward.

“Congratulations to both Aviva and Vitality’s website user experience for attaining UserZoom’s highest QXscores, following the release of our first UK Life Insurance Digital Experience Study,” said Kuldeep Kelkar, SVP of Global Research, UserZoom. “Life insurance companies with well designed websites are more likely to have customers sign up for policies, showing first-hand the direct link between good UX, customer preference and revenue. Simplicity is key. UserZoom’s QXscores help life insurers measure both the attitudinal and behavioral data of prospective customers, so they can build the best self-service websites for generating insurance quotes.”

Methodology

The UK Study is based on responses from a nationally representative sample of 500 adults in the UK between the ages of 26-60, who have not yet purchased a private life insurance policy, have a household income of £15,000 or greater, and identify as either the primary decision-maker or share the responsibility in making financial decisions for their household. The study was fielded in November 2021. The brands that were scored include: Aviva (n=100), Vitality (n=100), Direct Line (n=100), Legal & General (n=100), Zurich (n=100). 

With access to attitudinal and behavioral user experience data, UserZoom’s 2022 UK Life Insurance Digital Experience Study  measures brand awareness, customer expectations, and website user experience for five of the largest life insurance companies in the United Kingdom to learn how their digital experience compares.

About UserZoom:

UserZoom is the leading Digital User Experience Insights System. Its all-in-one platform, participant recruitment engine and professional services provide the in-depth quantitative and qualitative insights essential to testing, measuring and improving digital product experiences at speed and scale throughout the product development lifecycle. UserZoom helps businesses connect insights to their most important performance metrics, so they can make confident, customer-focused decisions that drive growth and deliver competitive advantage. With operations in North America and Europe, the company helps global brands such as Google, Oracle, Aetna, Santander, Kimberly-Clark, and half of the Fortune 100 raise the bar for an outstanding digital experience.

UserZoom press contact: 

Douglas Keighley – dkeighley@userzoom.com