Continuous discovery and deep insights informed Clyde’s D2C expansion
Clyde was a product lifecycle services platform for consumers and online retailers.
Industry
E-Commerce
InsurTech
Stage
Series B → Acquisition
Accelerated-Growth
Acquired by Cover Genius
key Expertise
UX Strategy
Discovery & Research
Overview
challenge
Clyde didn’t know why consumers bought their product protection plans. With strong interest in a D2C expansion, this user context gap was the biggest risk to the business.
Solution
Established a design process that integrates research to examine key contributory factors influencing consumers’ decision-making when considering the purchase of product protection.
Impact
Over a span of 6 months, we conducted dozens of studies, initiated quarterly presentations, and developed provisional user personas and baseline consumer indicators.
Why it matters
The adoption of research practices enabled Clyde to proactively address risks, cultivate a greater tolerance for uncertainty, and innovate with confidence. The newfound research skills empowered designers to evolve into strategic partners in the product development process.
Approach
To integrate research into the design process, we established clear research objectives and conducted discovery activities that aligned with quarterly OKRs and prioritized areas of focus.
Consumer Journey Mapping
User Interviews
Usability Testing
A/B Testing
Consumer Post-Purchase Survey
The feedback received from these activities was diligently documented and used to shape design solutions. Valuable insights were synthesized into research artifacts, which were then presented to the entire company.
Key Insights
Through the research conducted, we gained a deeper understanding of consumers' attitudes towards product protection, their motivations for purchasing it, and the connection between demographic characteristics and behaviors, particularly in terms of financial considerations and perceived value.
Furthermore, our findings revealed that consumers generally do not actively consider product protection. However, when they do contemplate it, it is primarily for high-value items. Most importantly, we discovered that what consumers truly seek is peace of mind – a desire to bridge a gap or mitigate risks associated with purchasing expensive items.
Main Outcome
The insights gathered through continuous discovery practices began to enlighten the company about Clyde's ideal customers and the reasons behind their preferences, while also sparking ideas for potential expansion opportunities that could be validated.
We incorporated research into the design process and established a wiki to centralize all research-related documentation and artifacts.
Impact
The previous design process lacked any research component, resulting in a significant and risky blind spot when Clyde contemplated a D2C expansion. However, the implementation of a new design process that integrated continuous discovery and user experience research methodologies filled this gap, providing ongoing insights into the motivations behind consumer purchases of product protection.
These insights became valuable strategic assets for the entire company.
Furthermore, the adoption of this research-infused design process enabled designers to cultivate new skills and emerge as thought leaders in understanding user context, while also becoming strategic partners in the development of products.
Zero → Dozens
Dozens of research studies established a research practice and wiki of user context.
Zero → quarterly
Instituted quarterly presentations on user research learnings and methodologies.
Zero → Provisional
Provisional personas and baseline consumer indicators came from consumer insights on motivations, considerations, and demographics.
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