Reshaping Nan Shan’s insurance platform. From door-to-door sales to eCommerce.

Direct door-to-door selling of insurance policies which limits Nan Shan’s capacity to expand in Taiwan and abroad. The ability to stay competitive with other insurance companies and attract new customers to Nan Shan’s offerings. The lack of a polished visual brand that will attract new customers.

Senior product designer crafting the UX and visual re-brand of Nan Shan’s online e-commerce platform. Develop how new and existing customers purchase services, learn about different product offerings and re-shape the visual identity.

The final result is a new e-commerce platform allowing Nan Shan to be part of a competitive market. Now for the first time, users can search for insurance quotes online, be able to purchase insurance digitally and have access to their policies anytime online. The platform allows Nan Shan to better serve their customers and allow new customers to learn about additional offerings and purchase insurance quickly and easily.

During my engagement with Nan Shan, they attempted to produce a platform thinking it will resonate with users. Instead, the old platform failed to capture their goals and communicate to a larger audience outside of Taiwan. Nan Shan has a few goals, 1) to expand internationally deeper into Asia and into the West, 2) allow anyone to search online for any type of insurance in addition to receiving a quote with minimum steps & 3) advertise additional insurance offerings to new users.

The old platform does not meet the business objectives they set out to complete. The look-and-feel does not communicate what Nan Shan is or their point-of-view of insurance. Users want to know who a company is and what they have to offer. The visual appeal of a company can represent how they value their customers and how they view their products. The opportunity to communicate a message to their users and customers is missing. The product offerings are almost non-existing and users are forced to search throughout the site to find out what Nan Shan has to offer. With its current state, Nan Shan has difficulty communicating with users outside of Taiwan due to its lacking modern look-and-feel and complexity in purchasing insurance.

The new platform is bold and invites users to engage with the site. The goal is to provide the user only what’s necessary, getting an insurance quote. Companies only have a fraction of a second to engage with users, the new platform uses bold imagery to draw the user into the site and gives users an insurance quote in 1 easy step. The bold visuals give Nan Shan a fresh look-and-feel that feels fun and easy to use.

In transforming Nan Shan’s online presence, it was necessary to redesign their company logo. Stylistically, the old Nan Shan logo had issues fitting into a contemporary design. The redesigned logo uses traditional Chinese lettering giving Nan Shan a humanistic quality otherwise missing in the old logo. In Chinese, Nan Shan means southern mountain but I decided not to use pictorial images of mountains due to its overpowering symbolism of nature; instead, I wanted to add a human aspect to the Nan Shan through the use of handwritten lettering. Overall, the new logo design feels deeply rooted in tradition which utilizes the rich history of Taiwan and Chinese calligraphy. The traditional lettering complements the bold modern design of the site giving both eastern and western audiences design elements that feel recognizable.

To understand how insurance is bought and sold online, I took a look at the major U.S. insurance companies like Geico, Progressive, and Allstate. In total, I researched over 25 insurance companies with online platforms. The common thread among these platforms was the ability to get an insurance quote but the manner in which a user engages with the site and the number of complex steps involved to complete the quote process varied dramatically. Getting an insurance quote online was not an easy task and I found myself disengaged with these online platforms and began to look at different industries for inspiration.

With companies like Airbnb and Google Flights, the focus is on experiences rather than products. As a user of these platforms, it’s not about how I get to my destination but rather what I’ll be seeing or doing when I travel. With Nan Shan’s travel insurance, I wanted to convey a different message not seen typically in travel insurance; a message that conveys safety and freedom that comes with buying a travel policy. The idea of Nan Shan’s travel insurance site is about encouraging users to do things they never thought was possible and feel the freedom and security of having insurance when traveling.