2024

Clarifying the Brolly story

Brolly’s website was the front door for most users, but it wasn’t doing its job. Visitors arrived curious about insurance innovation but left confused: was Brolly an app, a broker, or an advisor? My challenge was to streamline the story, build trust, and turn web traffic into engaged users.

Problem

The old site tried to do everything at once — explain insurance, promote the app, push a new “shop” feature, and showcase thought leadership. The result: a muddled narrative and high bounce rates.

For a small startup, the website wasn’t just a marketing asset. It was a conversion engine: if users didn’t understand Brolly quickly, they wouldn’t download the app or buy through the shop.

Discovery

User research and insights

Through competitor audits, content reviews, and analytics, I identified key gaps:

  • The hero section was unclear — visitors didn’t grasp the value prop in under 10 seconds.

  • Trust signals (press coverage, regulatory compliance) were buried.

  • Content lacked hierarchy: product, blog, and shop all competed for attention.

Create

Wireframing and testing

Developing the UX through wireframes is a great way to visualise the information and patterns I have collected so far, and begin to piece together the experience and interface. The key stakeholders and myself would review the wireframes frequently until we settled on and agreeable layout. I found that discussions over rough wireframes are much more insightful, creative and useful than discussions over fully designed UI as it allows stakeholders to be more open in their feedback.

Final designs

I simplified the site into a clear narrative arc:

  1. What Brolly does – a simple, jargon-free hero statement.

  2. How it works – screenshots of the app and shop.

  3. Why trust us – testimonials, press, and compliance reassurance.

  4. Next step – a strong call-to-action to download or shop.

Visually, I introduced consistent patterns and a sharper hierarchy, making the site easier to scan and navigate

Several months of experimentation and new product/feature launches meant that the old website was a confusing collection of different narratives and places to go. We had the web shop, insurance advisor and mobile app. The direction I decided to take with the landing page was to guide the visitor down the correct path. I also included a “Just curious” link for those who were just browsing.

We focused on clear simple messaging, with shots of the app to help explain functionality. We utilised large amounts of white space and kept elements purposefully separate to engage users on one piece of information and reduce cognitive load. To increase trust in the brand we included sections on security and showcased our partners.

Having a platform we could easily inform users and potential users alike of the benefits of Brolly was crucial to our growth. We separated the sections into “Latest” and “Popular” allowing constant access to the most fruitful articles. We took care not to overpopulate with too many blogs whilst also utilising element hierarchy and large images.

Outcome

The redesigned site drove measurable uplift in conversions. In fact, after the shop went live, it performed so well that it sparked internal debate: “Do we even need the app?”

The website not only supported growth but also clarified Brolly’s identity, helping position the startup for its acquisition by Direct Line.