- Toolkit
Behavioral diagnostics toolkit for inclusive insurance
Jackline Chemtai, Zach Mills, Duncan Adera, Joyce Karimi Nthiga, Rahab Kariuki, Matthew Ganazzini
- July 15, 2026
- 10:49 am
SECTOR
PROJECT TYPE
Location
BEHAVIORAL THEME
OVERVIEW
This toolkit, developed by Busara in collaboration with the Microinsurance Network, provides a practical, step-by-step approach for diagnosing behavioral barriers before designing or scaling inclusive insurance products. Rather than focusing solely on product features or pricing, it equips product managers, innovation teams, and distribution partners with behavioral science tools to identify why customers, agents, and other actors do or do not perform desired behaviors across the insurance value chain. Using the COM-B framework as its foundation, the toolkit guides teams from behavioral diagnosis to intervention design, prototyping, and implementation readiness.
Research Questions
- Why do technically sound insurance products often experience low uptake, poor renewal, and underutilization?
- What behavioral barriers prevent customers, agents, and distributors from adopting and using inclusive insurance products?
- How can product teams systematically diagnose behavioral problems before designing solutions?
- Which behavioral interventions are most appropriate for addressing identified barriers across the insurance journey?
Methods
The toolkit draws on established behavioral science literature and practical experience in inclusive insurance to provide an eight-step behavioral diagnostics process. It combines behavioral frameworks such as COM-B, the Behavior Change Wheel (BCW), customer journey mapping, opportunity framing, behavioral prototyping, and the APEASE prioritization framework. Each section includes conceptual guidance, practical worksheets, and worked examples using a fictional insurance case study to help teams apply the process in real-world product development.
THEMATIC AREAS
Key Findings
- Insurance adoption is fundamentally a behavioral challenge rather than simply a pricing or product design problem.
- Effective product design begins with diagnosing specific behaviors instead of focusing only on business outcomes.
- The COM-B framework provides a structured way to identify whether behavioral barriers stem from capability, opportunity, or motivation.
- Customer and distribution journey mapping helps uncover friction points that reduce uptake, renewal, claims, and engagement.
- Behavioral interventions should be tested through rapid prototyping before large-scale implementation.
- Cross-functional teams produce stronger diagnoses by combining product, operational, and customer insights throughout the design process.
- Behavioral diagnostics strengthen human-centered design by ensuring interventions target the underlying drivers of behavior rather than surface-level symptoms.
Implications for Policy or Development
- Insurance providers should incorporate behavioral diagnostics into product development as a standard design practice.
- Development organizations can improve financial inclusion by addressing behavioral barriers alongside affordability and access.
- Policymakers and regulators should recognize that improving insurance uptake requires strengthening trust, simplifying customer journeys, and reducing behavioral friction.
- Product teams should routinely test and iterate interventions before scaling to improve effectiveness and reduce implementation risk.
- The toolkit offers a replicable framework that can be adapted beyond insurance to other financial inclusion and behavior change programs.