Aon Student Insurance

Three problems kept showing up across observation, heuristics, and the live flows. Leaving them unsolved frustrates students first, then drives abandonment, support load, and weaker conversion for Aon.

The “Get a Quote” feature is buried under the ambiguous “Request Insurance” navigation tab, leading users to believe they are beginning a full application process rather than simply exploring options. This misalignment creates confusion and hesitation, as users may avoid clicking due to fear of commitment or being directed to an overwhelming process. Although the quoting process itself is simple and user-friendly, the website fails to convey this effectively, making it seem more daunting than it truly is.

Aon’s website fails to deliver on its promise of being approachable and user-friendly. Its outdated design, inconsistent visuals, and cluttered layouts create confusion and diminish trust in the brand. Additionally, the homepage does not effectively communicate Aon’s value proposition or guide users to take action, leaving them uncertain about what Aon offers and why they should choose it.

The redesign focused on the moments that already cause the most hesitation: starting a claim, exploring a quote, and reading the brand as trustworthy at a glance.

Clearly communicate what will happen. For instance, users often have concerns before requesting an online quote, such as waiting time for an answer, receiving spam mail, or whether they’ll be directed to a payment page or a customer chat. Aon’s online quote process is simple and straightforward, which is a significant advantage — the entry point should say so.

Create a consistent design system with rules and patterns — for example colours, typography, spacing, and grid layout across all elements — so everything feels cohesive. In the current design, elements like cards had different typography, icon styles, and spacing, which made the design feel scattered. Group related information and organise sections to be clearly structured and uncluttered. Users are more likely to scan than to read in detail (Nielsen Norman Group, 2024).

Early explorations covered Home, Online Quote, Log in, Claims, and Submit a Claim — testing clearer hierarchy and labelling before locking the system.

About four weeks from lived experience to a full redesign: context, content, users, and information architecture, with every UI decision pointing back to a real claim, quote, or trust failure.

I focused on the Home page, Navigation, and File a Claim flow to examine patterns and relationships within content and metadata. This analysis provided insights into the structural connections within the site, helping to refine the content hierarchy.

I developed a labelling table to consolidate existing labels in a single document. I could identify inconsistency within the labelling system.

Using my notes, I developed activity cards and organised them through a card sorting exercise. This process helped me identify priority issues and gain a clearer perspective on my initial assumptions.

I documented insights from my personal experiences over several years, capturing key observations through detailed note-taking.

I created a sitemap of the existing Aon Student Insurance website to visualise its current information architecture clearly. This process allowed me to analyse the volume and organisation of content across the site. By mapping out each section, I could see how information is categorised, identify the primary navigation paths, and observe how various content types are grouped. This structural overview provides a clearer picture of the underlying content architecture, helping to reveal potential redundancies, inconsistencies, and areas where the navigation might be improved to enhance usability and findability for users.