Apollo 24|7
·
6 min read
Users trusted Apollo with their
health. The bet was whether that
trust would carry into insurance.
Health insurance is confusing by design, buried in jargon and fine print. I
designed a three week MVP to test whether Apollo's existing trust could
translate into a new category, then scaled what worked into a full self-serve
platform.
Namrata Das
·
Lead Product Designer, Apollo 24|7
The problem
Insurance asked users to start from
zero. Apollo never had to.
Health insurance is sold like a checklist: dense forms, jargon, hidden
exclusions, and no way to compare plans without building a spreadsheet of
their own. Apollo 24|7 users had already trusted the app with consultations,
diagnostics, and medicine delivery. Insurance was the one part of their
healthcare still happening somewhere else, on a platform that had to earn
that trust from nothing.
Lengthy forms
Jargon heavy
Hidden exclusions
No comparison
Cluttered layouts
The opportunity was not to build another
insurance platform. It was to
not feel like
one
.
Who we designed for
Two people, one shared hesitation.
Apollo's user base is unusual for insurance: people who already trust the
platform for their health, being asked to trust it with their money too.
Research surfaced two clear cohorts.
Arjun Desai
Managing a chronic condition
"I need an affordable way
to manage my healthcare
without worrying about
high costs."
Pain points
High out of pocket costs,
confusing traditional platforms,
unclear fit for his specific
condition.
Neha Verma
Planning a family, 32, HR
manager
"I need comprehensive
coverage that supports my
family planning while
offering tax benefits."
Pain points
Few plans built for maternity and
IVF, overwhelming complexity,
skepticism about hidden clauses.
Different life stages, the same underlying hesitation: would this platform be
honest with them the way Apollo's doctors had been.
The hypothesis
Could Apollo's existing trust do
better than
generic platforms like
PolicyBazaar
?
The bet the entire MVP existed to test
₹35 crore
MVP revenue in FY 2023 to 24, validating that Apollo's
trust could extend into insurance.
What we learned
Trust and simplicity mattered more
than completeness.
User interviews after the MVP were consistent across cohorts. Trust and
simplicity carried the early stages, and the moments that made or broke a
purchase were rarely about the plan itself.
Awareness &
consideration
Users leaned on
Apollo's
existing
credibility
over
comparing every
plan themselves.
Decision
Too much detail
at once, without
guidance, was
the
single biggest
cause of drop off
.
Post purchase
Clarity after
buying, not just
before, is what
drove people to
stay engaged
.
The roadmap
From one plan to a category.
With the hypothesis proven, phase 2 projected ₹150 to 200 crore in the
next cycle, built on three moves: expanding beyond top up into base and
comprehensive plans, onboarding third party insurers alongside Apollo's
own, and personalization at scale for higher margin, tailored products.
What this taught me
I joined to design an insurance flow. I learned how to design for trust.
01
Ran research and synthesis without a dedicated research team, turning
interviews into two personas and one testable hypothesis.
02
Bet small on purpose: one plan, three weeks, before committing design and
engineering to a full category.
03
Reused an existing component library to test speed over polish, then
rebuilt
with intention
once the bet proved out.
04
Learned that in consumer products, trust is designed, not assumed.
Every
dense form or hidden clause is a small withdrawal from it
.
The screens got simpler as the trust got clearer. That was
the actual
design problem
.
Apollo 24|7
·
6 min read
Users trusted Apollo with their
health. The bet was whether that
trust would carry into insurance.
Health insurance is confusing by design, buried in jargon and fine print. I
designed a three week MVP to test whether Apollo's existing trust could
translate into a new category, then scaled what worked into a full self-serve
platform.
Namrata Das
·
Lead Product Designer, Apollo 24|7
The problem
Insurance asked users to start from
zero. Apollo never had to.
Health insurance is sold like a checklist: dense forms, jargon, hidden
exclusions, and no way to compare plans without building a spreadsheet of
their own. Apollo 24|7 users had already trusted the app with consultations,
diagnostics, and medicine delivery. Insurance was the one part of their
healthcare still happening somewhere else, on a platform that had to earn
that trust from nothing.
Lengthy forms
Jargon heavy
Hidden exclusions
No comparison
Cluttered layouts
The opportunity was not to build another
insurance platform. It was to
not feel like
one
.
Who we designed for
Two people, one shared hesitation.
Apollo's user base is unusual for insurance: people who already trust the
platform for their health, being asked to trust it with their money too.
Research surfaced two clear cohorts.
Arjun Desai
Managing a chronic condition
"I need an affordable way
to manage my healthcare
without worrying about
high costs."
Pain points
High out of pocket costs,
confusing traditional platforms,
unclear fit for his specific
condition.
Neha Verma
Planning a family, 32, HR
manager
"I need comprehensive
coverage that supports my
family planning while
offering tax benefits."
Pain points
Few plans built for maternity and
IVF, overwhelming complexity,
skepticism about hidden clauses.
Different life stages, the same underlying hesitation: would this platform be
honest with them the way Apollo's doctors had been.
The hypothesis
Could Apollo's existing trust do
better than
generic platforms like
PolicyBazaar
?
The bet the entire MVP existed to test
₹35 crore
MVP revenue in FY 2023 to 24, validating that Apollo's
trust could extend into insurance.
What we learned
Trust and simplicity mattered more
than completeness.
User interviews after the MVP were consistent across cohorts. Trust and
simplicity carried the early stages, and the moments that made or broke a
purchase were rarely about the plan itself.
Awareness &
consideration
Users leaned on
Apollo's
existing
credibility
over
comparing every
plan themselves.
Decision
Too much detail
at once, without
guidance, was
the
single biggest
cause of drop off
.
Post purchase
Clarity after
buying, not just
before, is what
drove people to
stay engaged
.
The roadmap
From one plan to a category.
With the hypothesis proven, phase 2 projected ₹150 to 200 crore in the
next cycle, built on three moves: expanding beyond top up into base and
comprehensive plans, onboarding third party insurers alongside Apollo's
own, and personalization at scale for higher margin, tailored products.
What this taught me
I joined to design an insurance flow. I learned how to design for trust.
01
Ran research and synthesis without a dedicated research team, turning
interviews into two personas and one testable hypothesis.
02
Bet small on purpose: one plan, three weeks, before committing design and
engineering to a full category.
03
Reused an existing component library to test speed over polish, then
rebuilt
with intention
once the bet proved out.
04
Learned that in consumer products, trust is designed, not assumed.
Every
dense form or hidden clause is a small withdrawal from it
.
The screens got simpler as the trust got clearer. That was
the actual
design problem
.
Apollo 24|7
·
6 min read
Users trusted Apollo with their
health. The bet was whether that
trust would carry into insurance.
Health insurance is confusing by design, buried in jargon and fine print. I
designed a three week MVP to test whether Apollo's existing trust could
translate into a new category, then scaled what worked into a full self-serve
platform.
Namrata Das
·
Lead Product Designer, Apollo 24|7
The problem
Insurance asked users to start from
zero. Apollo never had to.
Health insurance is sold like a checklist: dense forms, jargon, hidden
exclusions, and no way to compare plans without building a spreadsheet of
their own. Apollo 24|7 users had already trusted the app with consultations,
diagnostics, and medicine delivery. Insurance was the one part of their
healthcare still happening somewhere else, on a platform that had to earn
that trust from nothing.
Lengthy forms
Jargon heavy
Hidden exclusions
No comparison
Cluttered layouts
The opportunity was not to build another
insurance platform. It was to
not feel like
one
.
Who we designed for
Two people, one shared hesitation.
Apollo's user base is unusual for insurance: people who already trust the
platform for their health, being asked to trust it with their money too.
Research surfaced two clear cohorts.
Arjun Desai
Managing a chronic condition
"I need an affordable way
to manage my healthcare
without worrying about
high costs."
Pain points
High out of pocket costs,
confusing traditional platforms,
unclear fit for his specific
condition.
Neha Verma
Planning a family, 32, HR
manager
"I need comprehensive
coverage that supports my
family planning while
offering tax benefits."
Pain points
Few plans built for maternity and
IVF, overwhelming complexity,
skepticism about hidden clauses.
Different life stages, the same underlying hesitation: would this platform be
honest with them the way Apollo's doctors had been.
The hypothesis
Could Apollo's existing trust do
better than
generic platforms like
PolicyBazaar
?
The bet the entire MVP existed to test
₹35 crore
MVP revenue in FY 2023 to 24, validating that Apollo's
trust could extend into insurance.
What we learned
Trust and simplicity mattered more
than completeness.
User interviews after the MVP were consistent across cohorts. Trust and
simplicity carried the early stages, and the moments that made or broke a
purchase were rarely about the plan itself.
Awareness &
consideration
Users leaned on
Apollo's
existing
credibility
over
comparing every
plan themselves.
Decision
Too much detail
at once, without
guidance, was
the
single biggest
cause of drop off
.
Post purchase
Clarity after
buying, not just
before, is what
drove people to
stay engaged
.
The roadmap
From one plan to a category.
With the hypothesis proven, phase 2 projected ₹150 to 200 crore in the
next cycle, built on three moves: expanding beyond top up into base and
comprehensive plans, onboarding third party insurers alongside Apollo's
own, and personalization at scale for higher margin, tailored products.
What this taught me
I joined to design an insurance flow. I learned how to design for trust.
01
Ran research and synthesis without a dedicated research team, turning
interviews into two personas and one testable hypothesis.
02
Bet small on purpose: one plan, three weeks, before committing design and
engineering to a full category.
03
Reused an existing component library to test speed over polish, then
rebuilt
with intention
once the bet proved out.
04
Learned that in consumer products, trust is designed, not assumed.
Every
dense form or hidden clause is a small withdrawal from it
.
The screens got simpler as the trust got clearer. That was
the actual
design problem
.