[vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” text_align=”left” css_animation=””][vc_column][vc_column_text]Rencontre avec Domitille Bouvier ServajeanHead of Innovation & New Uses atAPRIL.
Adwise : Can you tell us a bit about APRIL Group?
Domitille Bouvier Servajean : Of course! APRIL is an international insurance services group and the leading wholesale broker in France. As a wholesale broker, we design, manage and distribute specialised insurance solutions and assistance services. We are what is known as a "multi-specialist In other words, our range covers personal insurance risks as well as property and casualty insurance, mobility insurance and legal protection.
Our customers and partners are individuals, professionals and businesses, and our ambition for 30 years has been to make their insurance experience simpler and easier...
Adwise : In the insurance sector, it's difficult to innovate with all the legal constraints that surround the business.
Domitille Bouvier Servajean : Legal, but not only! We operate in a complex and fast-moving environment. Customers are increasingly volatile, and their needs are changing very quickly. Purchasing and consumption patterns are becoming more complex. All these changes, whether legal, societal or behavioural, are forcing us to take a fresh look at the experience we offer our customers, and are forcing us to innovate ever more despite the constraints ...
For 30 years, the APRIL Group has always placed the customer and innovation at the heart of its development. Our structure of small, networked companies and their entrepreneurial culture give us a certain agility and an ability to be close to our various specialist markets, which plays a very important role in the group's innovation process in the face of this constrained environment ...
Adwise : At a recent LAB conference, you told us that you favour Design Thinking...
Domitille Bouvier Servajean : Yes, exactly! Design thinking is one of the different methods we use within the Group to ensure that we are always closer to the needs of our policyholders and potential customers.
In a few words, this methodology consists of using people as the starting point for innovation. In other words, we start with the "real life of the consumer. The aim is to get to know our targets better, more concretely and more fully, and to identify their expectations or unexplored needs, which will be a source of innovation.
In practical terms, this means real immersion in the field and time spent observing user behaviour, usage and irritants.
It's often said that one of the main principles of design thinking is to take the time to identify the right questions to ask before jumping too quickly into the search for solutions. And it's very true! For a long time, innovation was equated with "brainstorming with post-it noteswhich is very simplistic. To innovate with a design thinking approach, you have to force yourself not to have any ideas! Well... not just yet, to give yourself time to identify the right problems to solve!
In this sense, design thinking is an approach that is transforming the way we think about and do our jobs!
Adwise : You also emphasised the importance of empathy
Domitille Bouvier Servajean : Yes, we do! Innovating with an empathetic posture gives us the fabulous experience of seeing the world through the eyes and feelings of our users, which often opens up new perspectives in the design of our innovative solutions. This is a real difference from traditional approaches, where customers are often seen through the eyes of a polling institute or behind a pane of glass. Our empathetic approach means that we can spend time with our customers in their day-to-day lives, whether they are private individuals or professionals, to find innovative solutions that meet their aspirations.
Empathy is a key value to adopt, whatever the area of expertise or function of the employee involved in the approach. That's why the Group has launched a dedicated training course, accessible to all: "Design Thinking: using empathy to drive innovation in order to acculturate staff to this approach, which is proving to be more of a state of mind within the APRIL Group than a methodology in the strict sense of the word.
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