Designing one underwriting platform for five lines of specialty insurance
Underwriters were pricing million-dollar risks from emails, PDFs and spreadsheets. We designed the platform they now work in, from the first broker submission to the bound policy.
- 5
- lines of business on one shared workflowNew lines are configured, not redesigned.
- 3
- patterns I introduced became platform standardsSide panel, options bar, unified filter.
- 0
- support tickets for role or permission changesAfter User Management launched.
Interface recreated with sample data. Product name and colours changed for confidentiality.
It started with two problems
The workflow only worked for one line of business, and every client change had to go through our support team. Each case study shows how I worked through one of them, what I tried, and what I decided.
One workflow for every line of business
How I turned a Marine-only workflow into one base that every line of business and client can configure.
- Auditing four lines to find what they share
- Deciding what stays common and what gets configured
- Three patterns that became platform standards
Letting each client run the platform themselves
How I moved user, role and team setup from our support team into the client's own hands.
- Client-defined roles and permissions
- Teams organised by region
- A delete flow that reassigns work instead of blocking it
The platform in 60 seconds
An underwriter decides whether to insure a risk, like a fleet of aircraft, a ship, or a building project, and at what price. Once the policy is live, the insurer keeps watching it, and what they see shapes the next decision. The platform covers the whole cycle.
Sends submission
Details arrive as emails, PDFs and spreadsheets.
Checks the data
AI turns the pile into one record. Clients with a separate clearance team check it here. Others go straight to review.
Assesses and prices
The risk is checked against the insurer's rules and loss history, then priced. The underwriter sees how it adds to what is already written.
Quotes and binds
The accepted quote becomes a live policy.
Tracks exposure
A map shows insured value piling up in one place, like a port or a blast zone. Alerts fire when limits get close or an event happens nearby.
Manages the policy
Mid-term changes, reports, and renewal.
- Renewal: step 6 leads back to step 1.
- Live exposure informs every new quote: step 5 feeds back into step 3.
Accumulation: the total an insurer could lose if one event hits one place, like a storm at a port full of insured ships.
Covered in: "One workflow for every line of business" (steps 1 to 4) · "Letting each client run the platform themselves" (admin setup)
My role
Worked daily with product and commercial teams in London and engineering in India.
- Title
- Staff UX Designer
- Time
- July 2023 to September 2026
- Team
- Joined as the only designer. Grew the team to four.
- Worked with
- Worked closely with the Product Director and UK-based product managers, plus engineering and underwriting experts. Set the design process the product team followed.
- Owned
- Submission intake, clearance, guidelines, underwriter workbench, user management and the full post-bind workflow.
- Led
- A complete redesign of the shared component library. Created the design guidelines the team built on.
Results
What my design work changed
Results from the features I designed.
What the platform achieved
Team outcomes. My role: end-to-end UX, flow architecture and design system.
Company-reported results. My workflows were one part of this, alongside AI, data and engineering work.
Source: Concirrus website ↗
- 8 → 1tools per submissionSpreadsheets, email and legacy tools replaced by one platform
- 92%reduction in time to quote~[3 days] → ~[6 hours] · platform data, [6] months after launch
- 2.5xsubmissions processed daily[X] → [X] submissions per underwriter per day
- 4xhigh-appetite deals closed[X] → [X] per quarter · client-reported
This technology is invaluable in enhancing our efficiency and accuracy, allowing us to stay ahead of the competition.
We've seen substantial growth through the combination of excellent technology and underwriting talent.
In my 33 years in the business, Concirrus has been one of the best development teams I've worked with.
Source: Concirrus website ↗