Asurion
Bridging the gap between repair stores and claims systems—reducing claim resolution time from 45 minutes to under 10, while helping 10,000+ customers per month self-serve.
My Role
I was the principal designer end-to-end—research planning, in-store visits and interviews, service design workshops, pilot strategy, and close collaboration with marketing on kiosk signage and tablet motion.
The Challenge
In 2019, Asurion began rebranding uBreakiFix locations to Asurion-branded stores. As the rebrand rolled out, customers began walking in expecting help with their insurance claims—but stores weren't equipped to assist. Regulatory constraints meant employees couldn't file claims on customers' behalf (they aren't licensed insurance adjusters), and store systems didn't connect to Asurion's claims platform.
These pain points surfaced through a combination of in-store visits, technician interviews, and direct feedback from store owners—making it clear the gap between brand promise and in-store reality was widening fast.
Store technicians were spending up to 45 minutes trying to help customers resolve claim issues—time they couldn't afford with staffing constraints and increased non-repair responsibilities. The result? Frustrated customers, overwhelmed technicians, and a growing gap between brand promise and reality.
I have an Asurion protection plan and saw your store on my way to work. Can you fix my phone?
I need to get my screen fixed, but I don't remember if I have a protection plan.
I think I completed my claim, but I'm not sure. Can you help me with it?
You need to call Asurion, your carrier, or go to phoneclaim.com
This was the only answer technicians could give—even though customers were standing right in front of them, in an Asurion store, expecting help. The disconnect between brand promise and operational reality was creating friction at every touchpoint.
Challenge 01
Store employees aren't licensed insurance adjustors. Filing claims on behalf of customers could be classified as fraud—so they legally couldn't help, even when they wanted to.
Challenge 02
Stores are a fulfillment path for claims, but their systems don't communicate with Asurion's claims platform. Technicians had no visibility into claim status or ability to take action.
Challenge 03
Store technicians were spending up to 45 minutes per customer on claim issues—time they couldn't afford with staffing constraints and increased non-repair responsibilities post-rebrand.
Design Principles
Simplify the in-store claims experience for customers and technicians alike.
Explore short- and long-term solutions for self-service by evaluating the tools we need.
Enable customers to take their next step in claims and maximize technicians' time on repairs.
The Approach
We started by mapping the service experience with store employees, operations, and the claims product team using service blueprints. A current-state blueprint diagnosed where the journey broke down—surfacing pain points and compliance gaps so every stakeholder saw the same facts. A future-state blueprint then described the target experience we wanted to design toward, giving us a shared reference to evaluate concepts and handoff moments.
The ideal experience we identified: give customers an easy way to file and manage claims without compliance issues by warmly handing them off to an in-store tablet for self-service.
Process
I led service design workshop sessions with store teams, operations, and product to build blueprints together—identifying the solution hand-in-hand rather than dictating from above.
Process
We needed to validate the experience and form factor across 20 stores. Design had advocated for handheld tablets—familiar from Apple Store and Warby Parker experiences—while operations prioritized theft concerns and wanted customers to self-serve at standing kiosks. In the pilot, many customers didn't realize they could use the kiosk on their own, and technicians still walked over to help them get started—showing that self-service alone wasn't holding up. Those observations helped resolve the disagreement with evidence and set up the shift toward handheld tablets after scale.
Final design: Tablet kiosk interface
Walkthrough of the tablet kiosk experience used for in-store claim self-service.
Press Esc to close
The Solution
We designed a solution that empowers both technicians and customers. The in-store technician can now quickly identify if a customer has a protection plan and guide them to file or resume a claim on the tablet. The customer gets knowledgeable feedback on what's wrong with their device—helping them file claims correctly the first time.
Filing claims in-store needed to be tailored to customers already at a store. We removed unnecessary steps like location selection (it defaults to the current store) and simplified identity verification since the customer is present. The result: claim resolution in under 10 minutes, down from 45.
Technicians can quickly identify if customers have protection plans and guide them to the right next step.
Customers get clear guidance on device issues, helping them file claims correctly the first time.
Technicians identify claim issues and warmly hand customers to the tablet—maintaining the human connection.
Evolution
After pilot feedback, we scaled to all corporate stores with an updated handheld tablet. Moving to handheld was a collaborative call the full team made together—I supported it based on what we saw in stores: tablets were easier for technicians to use with customers, and the pilot had already shown that kiosk-only self-service wasn't enough on its own. The handheld flow created a more personal 1:1 experience—the best of both worlds.
My Role
I was the principal designer on this project, collaborating with the Director of User Research to craft the research plan and conducting store interviews with customers and technicians firsthand. I partnered with the marketing design team on kiosk signage and the tablet animation, and led service design workshop sessions that aligned stakeholders across operations, stores, and product.
Impact
Built collaboratively through co-creation workshops, store pilots, and feedback sessions—the solution aligned product and operations on success metrics and scaled to all corporate stores.
<10 min
Claim resolution time (down from 45 mins)
10K+
Customers helped per month
$100K+
Saved in call/chat deflection
Reflection
Co-creation workshops, store pilots, and continuous feedback sessions were the key to this project's success. We aligned stakeholders who were initially at odds by building service blueprints together—when everyone sees the same map of the problem, solutions emerge collaboratively and buy-in comes naturally.
This project reinforced that the best solutions come from involving frontline employees in the design process. The experts who face these problems daily had insights that no amount of desk research could uncover.