Creating a first-of-its-kind platform for vet clinics, with tools to educate clients about insurance and access information about their Pumpkin-insured clients.
Timeline
Jan 2021 – present
Company
Pumpkin
Platform
Web
Awarded for our work with Marvel Studios on “The Galaxy’s Best Pet Insurance”. I led the design for this portion of the photo card component of the campaign.
At the beginning of my time at Pumpkin, our veterinary-related initiatives were in their early stages. We hadn't yet created any digital products for veterinarians.
During brainstorming sessions to determine our initial offering in the vet space, we quickly realized that any product we developed would require a platform where veterinarians could access it. This realization led to the creation of PawPortal. As the foundation of most of our vet-focused tools, it's a crucial component of our product suite.
How might we change vet clinic behavior by providing value through the portal, helping to keep Pumpkin and pet insurance top of mind for PawPortal users?
Another way I saw this challenge: how can we build a platform that is always open as a tab in a vet user's browser?
I worked with our PM to determine the metrics we'd use to evaluate success:
Primary: Increase in PACM (policies/ active clinic/month) among clinics with at least 1 PawPortal account
Ultimately, we want the products we build for vets to realize an increase in policies.
Secondary: Sessions/Clinic/Mo. (Engagement)
Since this was a new feature, we did not have historical data to compare against. This would serve as a baseline for evaluating future initiatives.
Secondary: MAU/Clinic (Reach)
What portion of the clinic are we able to tap into with features in PawPortal?
Jan 2021 – Mar 2021
We decided to begin with a soft-launch of an MVP version of PawPortal, containing a single feature and links to existing resources. I helped lead a series of brainstorming sessions to determine what feature we'd build first.
As we imagined the types of features we'd build, we saw they fit into 3 categories:
Customer Insights
Access helpful claim data, view Pumpkin pet health trends, track impact of Pumpkin pets on practice
Pet Owner Relationships
Share materials and resources with clients, order Pumpkin marketing assets and swag
Insurance Utility
See patient list & benefit utilization, access claims & medical records, view vet reimbursement options
Our team chose to focus on client engagement first. We recognized that it could have the most direct effect on policy growth, it would not require a critical mass of Pumpkin-insured clients. It was also the most technically feasible because it did not require us to connect to customer data.
The feature we decided to launch with—our photo card tool—was inspired by experiences a number of us had of our vet taking photos of our puppy and kitten in front of a whiteboard showing their name, age, and weight during a first visit.
Clinics
Pet Parents
Problem
Vets understand the value of insurance and want to help educate more clients about it, but they don't want to talk directly about it.
Due to COVID, many clinics are curbside and pet owners are missing out on the opportunity to join their pets during their visit.
Opportunity
Clinics are interested in tools that help improve the client experience.
Pet owners like having a memento to take home to remember their dog or cat's first visit.
I created a click-through prototype to get feedback from stakeholders and vets. Overall the tool was well-received, and we made some minor updates based on usability issues that surfaced during testing.
May 2021 – Beyond
After a successful soft-launch of PawPortal with the photo card tool, we moved to add additional features to the platform.
Simplifies access to key data on Pumpkin-insured pets for practice managers, CSRs, and technicians. Increases transparency about coverage and claims to encourage veterinary staff to recommend Pumpkin.
A collection of client-focused materials, including information about pet insurance and high-quality, veterinarian-endorsed educational content—with a tie-in to Pumpkin and its benefits.
Pet photo cards have had the highest open rate of any digital communication—75%. This result has led Pumpkin to lean into pet photos in more areas of our digital experience.
Clinics with a PawPortal account generate 21% more quotes and 15% more policies than clinics without a PawPortal account, on average. (Although it is difficult to determine if this is caused by PawPortal use, or if clinics that are more pro-Pumpkin are likelier to have a PawPortal account.)
Overall, PawPortal has become central to Pumpkin's strategy, and the work that I did to lay the foundation of the tool will continue to bear fruits as we expand our digital offerings in the vet channel.