The SIR 2025 Conference, held in Chicago this past May, brought together insurance researchers, UX professionals and data experts to dig into how insurers can better meet today’s evolving consumer expectations. Across several insightful sessions, speakers explored the role of behavioral design, equity-driven data practices and trust-building in shaping the future of insurance experiences. Here’s a look at some of the key themes and ideas from the conference.
How Behavioral Design Can Improve Insurance Experiences
Buying insurance is an emotional, complex decision—one many consumers put off or avoid altogether. In one session, speakers unpacked why life insurance, for example, gets stuck in the “intention-action gap,” with 42% of Americans saying they need more coverage but behavioral barriers get in the way.
To help move consumers to action, design strategies should make the need vivid, simplify complex decisions and build trust along the way. Tactics like smart defaults, relatable stories and guided progress cues can go a long way in helping consumers engage and feel supported through the process.
Getting Equity-Driven Data Collection Right
Collecting race, ethnicity, language (REL) and sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data is becoming more important as insurers look to improve health outcomes and close protection gaps. But it has to be done thoughtfully.
One session emphasized that marginalized groups are often hesitant to share this type of information unless they understand why it’s being collected and how it will help them. Insurers need to build trust through empathy and transparency and give consumers flexibility in how they represent their identity.
Behavior-Based Insurance in Action
Vitality shared a compelling case study on how behavior-based programs can benefit both customers and insurers. Incentives tied to wearable activity helped drive big improvements in physical activity, especially among higher-risk groups, and correlated with better health outcomes.
The lesson? It wasn’t the technology alone that drove results—it was the design of the engagement strategy. Insurers looking to promote healthy behaviors need to focus just as much on the experience as on the tools themselves.
What Young Adults Want from Insurance
A session on Gen Z’s views of health insurance, featuring CI healthcare research manager Stephanie Chan, showed that this group has low insurance literacy but high expectations. Many rely on Google, TikTok and their parents for information, and while they’re very involved in selecting their own plans, they often struggle to understand them.
Gen Z wants clear, transparent communication, a strong digital experience and affordable options that can be personalized. While they tend to view insurers more favorably than other health-related organizations, there’s plenty of room to strengthen trust by improving clarity and usability.
How Homeowners Are Navigating Weather Risk and Insurance
Another standout session explored how homeowners are preparing for—and recovering from—weather-related disasters. Many take a reactive approach in preparation, rely on local networks for guidance and are unsure about resilience options or costs. When disaster strikes, most expect to manage recovery on their own. Many hesitate to file claims due to fear of premium increases or coverage being dropped. Yet homeowners are open to insurer-provided discounts and contractor referrals—they just want to know that starting the conversation won’t create new problems. Insurers that can build trust and deliver unbiased, useful support have an opportunity to play a bigger role here.
The Big Picture
Across the sessions, one thing was clear: consumers want insurance experiences that are more personalized, transparent and supportive. Whether its helping homeowners build resilience, making life insurance easier to buy or building trust through data transparency, there’s plenty of opportunities for insurers to meet evolving consumer needs in meaningful ways.
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Andreas Tsiaras
Andreas Tsiaras is an analyst on CI's life insurance and annuity team.