OVERVIEW
Insurii is a behavior-based insurance service that encourages safer traffic habits through economic incentive and social nudging. Its core component is a vehicle-mounted "black box" sensor called the Puck.
TEAM
Solo project, with rendering assistance from Eugenia Ramos
TIMELINE
1 month
MY CONTRIBUTION
Service design, product strategy,, systems mapping, research
CONTEXT
MFA Products of Design, School of Visual Arts
6,590 pedestrians were killed in US traffic accidents in 2019, according to The Governors Highway Safety Association. Most accidents happen in cities, where micromobility transit like scooters and bikes are surging in popularity.
Meanwhile, current insurance services base premiums off of historical models that neglect the behaviors of individual users, missing an opportunity to create more tailored, efficient insurance packages.
Insurii modernizes insurance for the age of city-centric, multi-modal transit. It uses real-time, user-generated data to set insurance rates and charges users only when they’re moving. The service reduces the risk of injury by changing pedestrian behavior in two key ways:
1: By offering reduced insurance premiums in exchange for safer traffic behavior.
2: By leveraging the social nudging effects of conspicuous surveillance to remind users they’re being watched.
The Insurii Puck is a “black box” device that measures speed, location, and acceleration to compile a behavior model that is then used to adjust insurance rates in real time. Reckless behavior triggers higher premiums, safer behavior lower premiums.
Pedestrian deaths are at a 30-year high. Deloitte argues that the surge in micromobility transit like bikes and scooters will increase the rate of car-related pedestrian deaths, which are currently at a 30-year high.
Old insurance neglects individual user behavior. Actuaries have traditionally calculated rates based off of historical data and commercial models that neglected the actual user.
Dynamic pricing is a new insurance model that uses real-time data to measure true individual risk—offering more accurate, personalized premiums.
I loosely sketched my ideas on insurance and new mobility to help me make sense of what I'd learned
up to this point.
I created personas based on my research to frame my work around the needs of the user.
“How might we reduce a pedestrian’s risk of being injured or killed in traffic?”
Insurii modernizes insurance for the coming age of city-centric, multi modal transit.
Insurii is a behavior-based insurance company that uses the Insurii Puck to set dynamically-priced insurance rates–incentivizing users to drive more cautiously.
The presence of the Puck has a side effect of making users feel watched, making users self-conscious of their behavior, and further reminding them to be vigilant while in transit.
Traffic-related deaths are at a 30-year high and may soon skyrocket because of the growing popularity of bikes and scooters. Moreover, the UN estimates 78% of the world’s people will live cities by 2050–where the majority pedestrian fatalities happen.
This data tells us that unless we design proactive ways for people to stay safe, we’ll continue to see more people die of preventable accidents.