Get to know our Internship-team 23/24
In August 2023, Gjensidige formed a unique intern team to develop a new proof of concept.
Since August 2023, Fay Connie Haugrud, Nora Skansen Skranefjell, Erlend Størkson, and Mathilde Stenberg have been interns at Gjensidige. Each year, Gjensidige offers approximately 20 master's students the opportunity to work part-time alongside their studies. However, unlike other interns, these four were placed together to form a unique intern team. Each member was tasked with a specific area of development for a new concept. The mission from the start was to find a way for Gjensidige to engage small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in purchasing insurance.
"Insurance is often seen as a complex and perhaps a bit boring topic" says Mathilde.
Welcome, Forsikringsspillet
Our goal was to make insurance more digestible and engaging
And just like that – the insurance game, Forsikringsspillet, was born, aiming to convey insurance knowledge in a new way. The team was composed of a designer, marketer, developer, and content designer. This cross-disciplinary approach laid the foundation for great collaboration throughout the project.
What were the first steps you took to get this project underway?
"We have had great follow-up and team leadership from the start from those we like to call 'the adults,' meaning those who have worked at Gjensidige for a while," says Fay Connie.
Together they worked on the project one day a week. Planning and structure was important for the project's progress. Also, it has been a high tolerance for exploring new ideas and try new things.
Using design thinking and sprint methods, we quickly got started testing different hypotheses that could bring us closer to our goal
Watching a product take shape from start to finish in a large company like Gjensidige has been a fun and valuable learning experience
What has been the most challenging during the project?
"We had very free reins to begin with" says Fay Connie. "That's fun, but also challenging. When we have so many choices, it becomes more difficult to make decisions. At the same time, it has been challenging to always be coordinated when we only work one day a week, and sometimes at different times depending on what goes with our master's studies."
Capturing attention with storytelling
In today's attention-grabbing world, innovative ideas are crucial to engage users. Storytelling serves as a powerful tool in our insurance game. Our aim is to evoke emotions in users, emphasizing the significance of adequate insurance and the potential consequences of its absence. Storytelling is a great way to teach people about insurance. By telling real-life stories, we can show people how insurance decisions can affect their lives.
Combining Gamification and Knowledge Sharing
After testing various hypotheses with different prototypes, they came to the conclusion that two things appealed to the user: hints of game elements and information sharing. They want to know more before buying, and they want to get this information in a playful way. Gamification is a process where typically "boring" insurance talk is turned into game elements. This is to create engagement. Research shows that gamification can increase engagement because users experience learning as more exciting, as something new and fresh. "We quickly realized that people don't know much about insurance" says Mathilde. "That's why we wanted to combine knowledge sharing and gamification in an attempt to make insurance fun."
Gamification
The practice of making activities more like games in order to make them more interesting or enjoyable. Cambridge dictionary
Small steps in a big company
Despite the time it takes, working in a large organization can be a rich learning experience. The Interns have the opportunity to observe and participate in complex decision-making processes, gain exposure to different departments and perspectives, and develop their communication and collaboration skills. "This project has been a great learning experience for us. We've learned a lot from working with people from different departments and seeing how things work in a real company. Turning an idea into a product is a long process, but it's also a lot of fun and we've learned a lot along the way." Try the prototype of Forsikringsspillet here
Developing a product from scratch has been amazing. Working in a cross-functional team for the first time showed the value of diverse perspectives and skills