RSA used the More Than Smart Wheels app as part of its telematics insurance product, giving customers access to driving scores, mileage information, policy details and driver feedback.
The {Challenge}
Unlike other telematics projects we've worked on, the core driving data wasn't the issue. Tracking was handled through a physical black box installed in the vehicle, with IMS managing the analytics and driver scoring behind the scenes.
The problem was how that information was being presented to customers.
The app was poorly received, difficult to navigate and created frustration at exactly the moments when customers needed clarity. At one stage, the app store rating had dropped as low as 1.5 stars.
For a consumer-facing insurance product, that mattered.
The app wasn't just a utility. It was the place customers went to understand their policy, their score and, in some cases, why they were being warned or at risk of cancellation. When that experience felt confusing or unfair, trust suffered.
The <Solution/>
We were introduced through IMS, who were already working with RSA on the telematics side and trusted us as their specialist mobile partner.
From the start, the focus was on improving the customer experience rather than rebuilding the black box tracking system. We worked closely with IMS, RSA's marketing team, and the wider design and branding teams to rethink the app's structure, journeys and communication patterns.
A large part of the work centred on making important information more visible. We redesigned the homepage so customers could quickly understand their driving score, mileage status, policy position and any actions they needed to take.
We also introduced more proactive communication through push notifications and regular updates. Instead of relying on customers to check the app themselves, the app could now tell them when their score had changed, when mileage needed attention, or when their driving behaviour was putting them at risk. That helped turn the app from a passive information store into an active communication channel.
We also improved how customer feedback was handled. Some poor reviews were not really about app performance. They came from customers frustrated by wider insurance outcomes, such as policy cancellations. We introduced smarter in-app feedback routes, giving unhappy users a direct way to contact RSA rather than immediately pushing that frustration into public app store reviews.
Alongside the user experience work, we also moved the platform towards a cross-platform architecture, reducing duplication and making future development easier to manage.
The :[Results]
After the rebuild, the app store rating increased from 1.5 stars to above 4 stars.
Customers had a clearer view of their driving performance, policy status and next steps. Negative outcomes were better explained, and users were given more opportunity to understand and respond before reaching a point of frustration.
The app became more transparent, more useful and more aligned with the role it played in the wider insurance product. For RSA, that meant the mobile experience stopped undermining customer confidence and started supporting the relationship instead. For IMS, the project also reinforced our role as a trusted mobile partner capable of handling more than technical maintenance. This was a product, UX and platform challenge, and it required all three to be considered together.
The {Why}
RSA taught us a lot about the relationship between app quality and customer perception. A technically correct product can still fail if the experience feels confusing, opaque or unfair.
It also reinforced something we've seen many times since: app reviews don't always reflect the app alone. When the app becomes the main communication channel for a wider service, frustration with that service often appears in app store ratings.
The answer is not to ignore that feedback. It is to understand where it comes from, improve communication around the moments that cause frustration, and give customers better routes to resolve problems before they become public complaints.
For RSA, the challenge was never the quality of the telematics data. It was the experience surrounding that data. We rebuilt that experience so customers could understand what was happening, why it mattered and what they needed to do next.