Trupanion: Scout

A conversational AI sign-up experience for Trupanion pet insurance

scope

AI chat sign-up → checkout

We partnered with Trupanion to reimagine pet insurance sign-up as a single conversation. I designed Scout, an AI chat experience that carries users from their first question to checkout without leaving the flow. The work meant building new components inside Trupanion's design system, reframing premium pricing so it reads as value, and stitching a scripted intake and a live AI chat into one seamless experience. I led design alongside a PM and copywriter at Maze, working closely with Trupanion's web team and handing off to their internal developers.

Role

design

Team

PM + Copywriter, Maze

Partner

Trupanion web team

Status

Launching 2026

The flow opens with Trupanion's existing intake script, the standard questions about a pet's name, age, and breed. Scout then takes over in the same chat window to answer open questions about coverage. The handoff is invisible. To the user it reads as one continuous conversation from start to finish.

Scout asks the original sign-up questions one message at a time.

The original scripted sign-up was rebuilt as a chat. Every question a user once answered in a field is now asked by Scout and answered inline, using a library of response components designed to fit the conversation while staying on brand.

Scout asks the original sign-up questions one message at a time.

Text fields for name and vet, scoped selectors for age and breed.

A reusable set of binary and two-option responses, built for the chat.

Once Scout takes over, a "what would you like to ask?" card offers a handful of questions it can answer, so users never face a blank prompt. Suggested buttons populate based on earlier selections, turning open chat into a choose-your-own-adventure that still feels in the user's control.

A starting set of questions so the open chat never feels blank.

Buttons populate from earlier answers, guiding the path forward.

Real-time responses on policy and how coverage works.

Answers arrive as in-chat components, not walls of text. A condition card shows a common health issue for the user's specific breed and what it costs with and without insurance. Redesigned coverage components break plan details into pieces that read naturally in the chat.

Cost of a breed-common condition, with and without insurance.

One of many components redesigned to fit the chat, on brand.

Pricing vs competitors, upfront and across the pet's life.

Users review plan options and set their own deductible. A persistent price bar shows the running cost and expands into a full breakdown, updating as add-ons change. The goal was to make premium pricing feel like value at the exact moment a user is deciding.

Review and compare the plans available to the user.

Adjust the deductible and watch the plan update live.

A running total that expands into a dynamic breakdown by add-on.

Users with more than one pet repeat the relevant parts of the flow in a condensed path, without starting over. The price bar adapts to show a combined breakdown across both pets, so the total stays clear as the policy grows.

A shorter path for pet two that skips what's already known.

One breakdown covering both pets, updating as either changes.

A single, clear total carries through to the end of the flow.

To hand off cleanly, the flow was mapped screen by screen, each question paired with the nav bar and response buttons that appear with it. It reads as one sequence, split into phases so developers can find any moment fast.

Every question, mapped to its UI

The sticky nav bar anchors the bottom of every Scout screen, holding the Continue button next to a live coverage estimate that updates as users answer. With 80%+ of traffic on mobile, it keeps the cost and the next step in the thumb zone at all times. One flexible component handles it all: a single CTA on most steps, an expanded state with the running premium on coverage screens, so the chat above stays clean.