Putting people at the center of Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI)
Re-imagining a monoline business with 50% market share in Australia, at risk of disruption
Industry
Financial Services - Insurance
Duration
4 months
Deliverables
20 Insights
14 Opportunity Areas
4 Recommendations
1 Minimum Viable Product
Portfolio of additional product options
Awards
2023 - 5 Star mortgage innovator award - Australian Broker
Impact
Reimagined the organisations’ product portfolio for lender’s mortgage insurance
Delivered a Minimum Viable Product to market that went on to receive the 2023 - 5 Star mortgage innovator award
Increased innovation capability
Enabled an innovation mindset
WHAT was the problem
Imagine you have been operating in the market for several decades and your product has reached 50% market share. You’re observing mounting evidence and experiencing pressure that shows the market has changed, and you now need to update your product to remain relevant. This was the catalyst that drove our clients to seriously reframe and redesign how their Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI) product could work better for people planning to enter the housing market.
We were engaged firstly to deeply understand the journey of house-hunters looking for finance and secondly, to develop and test a range of new product and service options that would decrease the risk that the organisation would be disrupted in-market.
APPROACH we took
Creating a combined team of SMEs and designers
To ensure we would deliver truly impactful outcomes, we needed to collaborate deeply with our partners and help them bring the rest of the organisation on the journey. To do this, we established a combined team of our designers and our partner’s Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to drive the project. We also established an extended team of SMEs and stakeholders who we engaged at key steps along the way, facilitating buy-in of the solutions and embedding ownership of the outcomes.
Framing the problem
We started by seeking to deeply understand the problem. We did this through a series of alignment sessions with key leaders and SMEs, while also scanning the market and reviewing existing research and knowledge. Based on the workshops, we aligned on an initial “intent statement” that would help to drive the project forward, and identified key segments for further research - borrowers, lenders, and brokers.
Discovery
Using ethnographic research techniques, we went into the field with our partners - a mix of the executive leadership team and our core SMEs. We conducted a series of deep interviews with 13 borrowers, 11 lenders, and five brokers to generate insights that enabled our partners to gain a fresh and shared understanding of the sector.
We created a series of customer journeys and ecosystem maps to bring this new view of the end-user experience to life. We then used these to identify the highest value opportunity areas, and generated “how might we statements” that would support the generation of many solution ideas. Through this process, we reframed the company’s value proposition - opening up new markets and possibilities to explore.
Co-creating the future
We brought our SMEs, combined team, and stakeholders together for three interactive “ideation sessions”, using stimulus and creative thinking techniques to stretch their thinking, reimagine what might be possible, and generate ideas for solutions in quantity. Collectively, we prioritised these ideas according to their value to customers and to the organisation, as well as their difficulty to implement. Four new concepts emerged through this process that the group aligned on, addressing the insights and opportunities identified through the research.
Testing and refining our concepts
To ensure our concepts really would address the needs of users as intended, we conducted two rounds of testing. The first involved using simple, low cost prototypes that conveyed what the concepts were and how they would work so that participants could respond. Using the findings from these tests, we were able to further refine the concepts and create more sophisticated prototypes, which we tested again for further feedback.
Alongside the testing we had a series of conversations with SMEs and legal representatives to establish that the concepts were legally and technically feasible to create. Bringing these factors together, we developed a portfolio of concepts that could be taken forward to implementation. We also defined a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), a concept with a carefully chosen set of specific features, which we brought to life using a detailed prototype.
Building HCD capability within the organisation through a process that solves real business problems at the same time
While we were busy helping our partners reimagine their Lender's Mortgage Insurance product, we also facilitated a series of three Opportunity Accelerator programs - our learn-by-doing module that guides participants through the WAVE human-centred-design and innovation process using real business problems. Throughout our engagement we took 50 staff members through the course, uplifting their problem solving and collaboration skills, and culminating in a series of pitches to executives for innovation initiatives across the organisation.
VALUE we created
A portfolio of proven options ready for implementation
We delivered a portfolio of concepts including an MVP that were not only proven as desirable for customers but feasible and viable for the business - making headlines throughout the insurance sector.
An award-winning product in market
We delivered the design for a comparison tool to help people understand the different options available to them in order to more rapidly enter the housing market. It offered the financial and personal considerations of each option, and the product has since been both delivered to market and won an innovation award.
A new value proposition for the organisation
We opened up new opportunities for our partner to pursue by reframing the value proposition for lenders mortgage insurance product; from a mechanism to protect banks, to a tool for helping buyers to enter the housing market. This represented a fundamental shift in framing and thinking.
A new way of working, and of understanding user needs
We introduced a new way of thinking into the organisation, uplifting staff capability to collaborate, innovate and continue to improve.
EMPOWERMENT we embedded
Gaining buy-in from the organisation as a whole
By taking our partners on the journey with us, being transparent with our findings, and working with our core and extended teams, we were able to generate advocacy for the solutions from stakeholders across all levels of the organisation.
Providing our partner with the skills and mindset for long term success
Our process, grounded in sharing our knowledge and skills, resulted in artefacts that not only clarified the solution's value and substantiated it with evidence but also advocated for human-centred design as a fundamental approach. This effort resulted in a transformation of the organisational mindset. It heightened their empathy and comprehension of their actual customers, fostering collaboration across functions. As a result, our partner is now well-prepared for enduring success. They possess the necessary skills, mindset, and motivation to persistently enhance, adopt a novel perspective, and readily participate in opportunities for change and innovation.
Norman is a business strategist with more than 20 years’ experience of bringing strategy and design together for businesses and other organisations, including IBMX, Accenture, Westpac and AMP. He has launched award-winning new business models, products and propositions. Norman is finishing a PhD and lectures at the University of Melbourne in entrepreneurship and innovation. He has also taught in RMIT’s MBA program for Design Thinking for Business. He has published academic research in exactly the type of work he does for WAVE clients: combining business strategy with design-based methods in developing innovations and capabilities.
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