A recommendation opens the door
Users were more willing to explore a service recommended by someone they knew, but that confidence weakened when the next interaction felt generic or promotional.
Co-Connect
The Challenge
The original brief focused on generating stronger leads. We reframed it around what makes someone confident enough to become one.
What Co-operators gave us
How might Co-operators use both digital tools and offline channels to find strong sales leads and identify opportunities across P&C, Life, and Wealth services?
The brief was framed around finding sales opportunities, but our early research pointed to a more human barrier. For young adults navigating insurance independently for the first time, the challenge was not simply discovering a provider. It was feeling confident enough to begin.
Recommendations from family and friends already carried trust. The opportunity was to preserve that trust once the user entered the digital experience rather than losing it inside a generic sales funnel.
Reframing the Brief
We shifted the problem from generating leads to sustaining the confidence behind a trusted recommendation.
Researching Trust, Not Just Transactions
The problem was not only understanding insurance. It was sustaining confidence long enough for users to continue.
Within the one-week Design Jam, I reviewed insurance and financial-service products, conducted quick user conversations, and synthesized secondary research around digital trust.
Personal Recommendation
↓Trust
ClarityUnderstand what happens next
User ControlChoose when to ask for help
Confidence to Continue
Guidance comes before sales
People wanted help understanding unfamiliar options before entering a conversation that felt like a commitment to an advisor.
Clarity is a trust signal
Simple explanations, visible next steps, and control over contact contributed more to credibility than warm visuals alone.
Defining the Opportunity
Design for people who are digitally comfortable, but not yet financially confident.
I focused on recent graduates and young professionals navigating insurance independently for the first time. They want to act responsibly without reading dense policy documents or entering a high-pressure conversation.
When
I'm exploring insurance for the first time,
Help Me
understand what to do next and know that trustworthy support is available,
So I Can
move forward confidently.
Where Confidence Can Break
01Open referralIs this trustworthy?
→
02Understand serviceWhat is this for?
→
03Share informationWhy do you need this?
→
04Ask for helpAm I committing?
→
05Meet an advisorAm I ready?
The Product Loop
Referral
→Orientation
→Guided Exploration
→Human Support
→Referral Sharing
The Solution
Co-Connect transforms a referral from a promotional link into a guided introduction.
A referred user first sees why they received the invitation. Short onboarding screens explain the service before asking for commitment. CoCo then helps users explore common questions in plain language, while access to a human advisor remains visible when professional support is needed.
Trusted Entry
Preserve the context behind the personal recommendation.
Why am I here?Low-Pressure Guidance
Help users begin without requiring insurance knowledge.
What do I need?Human Escalation
Position AI as a bridge to qualified professional support.
I'm ready.Three Key Design Decisions
Each decision was designed to reduce uncertainty before asking for commitment.
Decision 01
Preserving the referral context
What changed
Instead of sending users into a generic landing page, the experience immediately shows that they were personally referred and who the referral came from.Why
The recommendation is what created trust in the first place. Keeping that context visible helps the digital experience inherit some of that confidence.
Decision 02
Giving users somewhere to start
What changed
CoCo pairs an open conversation with suggested actions like Quick Start, Coverage Match, Advisor Chat, and Save Money.Why
Someone exploring insurance for the first time may not know what questions to ask. Guided entry points reduce the effort required to begin.
Decision 03
Setting expectations before AI begins
What changed
CoCo is introduced as an approachable starting point for questions rather than presenting itself as the final authority.Why
Giving the assistant a clear role before the conversation begins helps users understand what the experience is for and leaves room for human support when professional judgement is needed.
The Final Experience
Seven connected moments carry trust from the recommendation into the product experience.
Rather than treating each screen as an isolated feature, I designed the journey around the questions a first-time insurance customer may have at each step.
01020304050607
01
Enter Through a Trusted Referral
User need
Understand why I received this link.
The experience preserves the context behind the recommendation by showing that the invitation came from someone the user knows before asking them to sign up.
02
Understand the Value First
User need
Know how Co-Connect can help me.
Short onboarding introduces the service in plain language and emphasizes access to real advisors, reducing pressure before any account commitment.
03
Create an Account with Clear Verification
User need
Complete sign-up without uncertainty.
A focused account flow and visible verification step make identity confirmation feel explicit rather than leaving users unsure about what happens next.
04
Return Without Starting Over
User need
Get back into the experience quickly.
A minimal login screen keeps returning access familiar and straightforward, without introducing unnecessary decisions or distractions.
05
Meet CoCo Before Asking for Help
User need
Understand who is guiding me.
CoCo is introduced as an approachable starting point for insurance questions, setting expectations before the user enters the conversation.
06
Explore with Guided Starting Points
User need
Ask for help even if I do not know what to ask.
Suggested actions such as coverage matching and advisor chat reduce the blank-state problem while still leaving an open field for specific questions.
07
Continue the Trust Loop
User need
Manage my referral and see what I earned.
The profile brings referral sharing and rewards into one place, allowing activated users to pass the experience on while keeping incentives visible.
Outcome
Awarded 1st Place
Within one week, our team developed a research-informed product direction, an end-to-end referral journey, AI-guided support, a human-advisor handoff, and a referral reward loop.
Because Co-Connect was not launched, I would not claim customer or business impact. The award validated the strength of the concept and presentation, while the underlying product assumptions still require user testing.
How I Would Measure Success
Primary Success Metric
Qualified referral → advisor connection rate
The percentage of referred users who receive enough value and confidence to begin a relevant conversation with an advisor.
Referral landing-page engagement
Onboarding completion
CoCo conversation-start rate
Advisor-booking completion
Referral-sharing rate
User-reported clarity and trust
Recognition
🥇 First PlaceTimeline
One-week designathonFinal Pitch
What I Would Validate Next
Test the riskiest journey first.
Open Referral
→Understand Source
→Ask CoCo
→Request Advisor
I would test whether users understand why they received the referral, what CoCo can and cannot do, and what information is shared during the advisor handoff.
Failed verificationExpired referral linkAdvisor unavailableDo not share conversation history
Reflection
Trust isn't a visual treatment. It's a system-level outcome.
What changed for me
I began the project thinking trust could be improved primarily through warm language and approachable visual design. The process showed me that trust depends on how users arrive, when information is requested, how automation explains itself, whether incentives are transparent, and how easily users can reach a human.
What I would do differently
Designing an end-to-end concept helped reveal the larger product ecosystem, but a smaller functional prototype would have produced stronger evidence. In my next project, I would identify the riskiest interaction earlier, prototype it more deeply, and test it before expanding the experience.
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