RACQ Car Insurance: Enhancing UX & Conversion Rate

Project Overview

RACQ (Royal Automobile Club of Queensland) is one of Australia's largest and most respected mutual organisations, renowned for its extensive motoring and insurance services across Queensland.

This project focuses on my work in Conversion Rate Optimisation, specifically on enhancing the performance of RACQ's Car Insurance landing page. The core objective was to improve user engagement and significantly increase sales conversions on this key digital asset.

🎯 The Challenge & My Approach: A Data-Driven Design Thinking Journey

My objective was clear: optimise a critical conversion page. I approached this challenge using a structured Design Thinking process, ensuring every decision was rooted in user understanding and data.

🔍 Empathise & Define: Understanding the Current Landscape

My process began with a comprehensive discovery phase to understand the existing user journey and identify optimisation opportunities.

• User Journey Mapping: I started by thoroughly navigating the RACQ website, specifically the car insurance section, simulating the user journey for obtaining a quote. This hands-on experience helped me identify potential friction points and areas for improvement from a user's perspective.
• Deep Dive into Analytics (Adobe Analytics): To gain a quantitative understanding of user behaviour, I delved into Adobe Analytics reports.
• User Flow Visualisation: I analysed path visualisations of user activity, which graphically illustrated where users were coming from and, critically, where they were going after landing on the Car Insurance page.
• "Next Page" Table Analysis: This table quantified the specific subsequent actions users took.

Adobe Analytics Insights:

✅ 53% of sessions went straight to the Car Insurance quote page, showing strong intent.

⚠️ Nearly half diverted to other web pages (Login, Help, Roadside Assistance), suggesting room to improve focus on the main CTA.

🔴 Notable drop-offs highlight the need to reduce friction and optimise messaging.

💡 Ideate & Brainstorm: Exploring Solutions

• Competitive Analysis: Inspired by the analytics insights, I broadened my perspective by conducting a competitive analysis. I observed a recurring trend among competitors: a prevalent use of uplifting, positive, and human-centric imagery rather than accident or damage-focused visuals. This sparked a key question: could a similar visual shift impact RACQ's brand perception and, crucially, conversions?

• Wireframing & Diverse Ideas: I brainstormed various design ideas to address the identified pain points and capitalise on competitive learnings. I developed wireframes for multiple potential A/B tests, ranging from content reorganisation to changes in call-to-action placement.

🧪 Prototype & Test: Focusing on High-Impact Wins

• Team Collaboration & Prioritisation: I presented my research, insights, and wireframe test ideas to my team, outlining the rationale behind each proposal. After collaborative discussion, we strategically decided to focus our initial A/B test on changing only the main banner image. This approach was chosen because it offered the potential for a quick win, required fewer website development changes, and allowed us to see results faster.
• The Visual Shift: My aim was to change the emotional tenor of the page. The original image (Variant A) depicted a potentially alarming scenario (e.g., a tree branch potentially damaging a car). My task was to source stock images that conveyed an uplifting mood and aligned with the brand. I explored various options and, after discussions with colleagues, had a preferred image in mind.

• Crucially, I was advised by marketing that for the Australian audience, it was essential to depict a driver on the right side of the car to accurately reflect Australian driving conditions. I decided to flip the image, ensuring the driver was positioned correctly. This final, culturally appropriate image was then approved for the test.
• Running the Test: With the variants prepared, we launched the A/B test, collecting data to compare the performance of Variant A (Control) against Variant B (Test).

Variant A (Control)

Variant B (Test)

📈 Interpret & Learn: The Impact of Emotion in CRO

• The Results - A Significant Win: As reflected in the internal communication from my colleague, the Senior Optimisation Specialist I was collaborating with:


The new image resulted in a remarkable 12% sales uplift for visitors coming from Google Ads, with an 80% confidence level. While the impact on other traffic sources was minimal (under 2%), this confirmed a highly significant win for a crucial, high-intent audience segment.

• My Key Insight: The Power of Emotional Resonance: Interpreting Suneel's feedback and the data, I realised that the positive result was directly attributable to the change in emotional messaging. The original image inadvertently focused on the cost of an accident. The new image, conversely, sold insurance through a message of peace of mind while driving, freedom, and protection of a positive experience. It didn't just tell users what insurance was for, but why it mattered on an emotional level. This shift resonated deeply with users actively seeking solutions to protect their driving experience.

✅ Conclusion & My Learnings

This project was a compelling demonstration of how strategic CRO, even with a seemingly simple change, can drive significant business impact. It underscored several critical learnings for me:

• The Human Element in CRO: Beyond optimising buttons and copy, understanding and leveraging emotional drivers through visuals can be incredibly powerful in converting high-intent users.
• Data-Driven Hypothesis Validation: Starting with a strong foundation of analytics (like Adobe Analytics user flows) provides the "what" and allows for informed hypotheses about the "why."
• Targeted Impact: Not all changes affect all user segments equally. Understanding user intent (e.g., paid search vs. organic) allows for more nuanced interpretations and future optimisation strategies.
• Iterative & Agile Optimisation: The decision to focus on the banner image for a "quick win" allowed me to validate a core hypothesis efficiently and provided valuable insights for future, more complex testing.