The technology revolution has done much to expand the insurance industry's reach, automate most of the mundane and repetitive tasks, and give us the ability to provide products and services more quickly and with less human interface.  But with all the positive impact of technology have we become too removed from the customer?  And, when we speak of customer, we aren't only referring to the insurance buyer; we're referring to anyone who interacts with the insurance organization, whether internal or external.  Customers include the buyers, agents, brokers, adjusters, call centers, underwriters, claims personnel and everyone and anyone communicating with an insurer's people, processes, or systems.

Has our close interaction with the users become the casualty of technology?  In an industry that was built upon and grew as a result of personal relationships, it might just be time to get back to our roots to look to technology to make the user experience a priority—and the new competitive advantage. As we investigate technology's potential, we might also take a closer look at doing more than just automating the current process by using this as an opportunity to think outside the box to enhance the user experience.

However, before we can begin thinking about enhancing, we first need to come to agreement on the goal—that is, the optimal user experience. With so many users and so many diverse needs, 'optimal' is in the eye of the beholder. We can define at a high level that the user experience should take into consideration both the online and offline interactions that anyone—employee, customer, partner—will have with an insurance organization. Unfortunately, when it comes to leading by user experience example, the insurance industry is not ahead of the crowd. The best ideas for the optimal user experience may be found with online social networking sites and those companies successful in simplifying the call center experience. They seem to have cracked the code of delivering an intuitive user experience that understands the new breed and high expectations of today's users.