Pre-bind · Submission intake
I didn't build a feature. I built the foundation every LOB runs on.
Lead Product Designer — owned 0→1 flow architecture, AI ingestion & workbench systems end-to-end.
Underwriters manually triaged multi-page PDFs across 8+ legacy tools with zero centralized risk visibility.
Designed a two-stage automated intake and risk-assessment workbench for Aviation, Marine, and Construction lines of business.
Submission workflow — from broker inbox to bound policy in one unified view. Three RAG dots per card let an underwriter read risk at a glance.
Underwriters were doing two jobs. They should only be doing one
The old reality
- Every submission arrived as 3–5 separate files — Excel for policy details, PDF for schedules, email threads for context.
- Underwriters manually assembled all documents before they could begin risk assessment.
- Identifying missing critical data meant opening every document individually — across 10+ files.
- No single place to see the full picture of a risk.
- Half a day lost per submission to admin — before any actual underwriting began.
- High chance of missing crucial information — no system to flag it.
- Unable to process more than a handful of submissions per day.
40% of every underwriter's day was lost to non-value-added administrative work — before a single risk decision was made.
No intelligence to flag concerns. No structure to guide decisions. Just documents and an expert trying to make sense of them — manually, every time.
One system. Every LOB. Every client
"If we built this for Aviation alone, we'd rebuild it for every new LOB. That's not a product — that's a cost centre."
Layer 1 — Base horizontal workflow
75% sharedOne common user journey from submission entry to policy bind. Works identically across Aviation, Marine, Construction, Property, and PVT. Designed once. Deployed everywhere.
Layer 2 — LOB customisation
ConfigurableLabel changes, column headings, sector-specific data fields, additional cards per LOB. No redesign. Configuration only.
Layer 3 — Client customisation
ConfigurableFeature toggles, naming conventions, email templates, client-specific additions. Layered on top. Still no redesign.
From scattered documents to one intelligent workspace
Submission creation & clearance
AI-powered ingestion turns 5 separate documents into one structured workspace. A dedicated clearance stage ensures data quality before any underwriter touches it.
Underwriters manually assembled documents from email.
Upload up to 5 files (PDF, Excel, CSV, email). AI extracts and structures all data automatically into one unified submission.
Before / after
Five scattered documents become one structured workspace — the underwriter never assembles files by hand again.
Upload & AI processing
AI processes each document independently — success, processing, and failure states are all visible.
Data quality before underwriting judgement.
A dedicated team reviews data quality before it reaches underwriters. System automatically surfaces all missing required fields — no manual scanning needed.
"Separating data quality from underwriting judgement was a respect-for-expertise decision. Underwriters should spend their time on risk — not admin."
Clearance form — missing data
The system surfaces missing fields automatically — no manual document scanning.
Guidelines — missing fields
Guideline-linked missing fields are surfaced in the sidebar — not buried in the form.
An independent rule-book system, designed from scratch.
Underwriters create custom rules — when any submission matches a guideline parameter it is automatically flagged.
How it works
- Underwriter sets rule: "flag any aircraft built before 2010".
- Any submission with matching data is automatically highlighted.
- RAG dot system on submission cards: 3 dots per card (Risk appetite / Advisory / Restriction).
- Coloured dot = match found · Grey dot = no match.
- A glance replaces manual scanning of entire documents.
The underwriter's rule book
The underwriter's rule book — live rules auto-apply to every incoming submission, across every line of business.
Criteria builder
A simple three-column logic builder — any rule, any parameter, any line of business.
RAG indicator system
Three dots per card. Coloured = match. Grey = no match. A glance replaces manual scanning of entire documents.
Underwriter workbench
Once clearance is complete, submissions move to the underwriter. Risk signals surface automatically. Every guideline match is visible before the first decision is made.
All documents, one unified workspace.
Once clearance is approved, submission moves to underwriter. All data from all documents visible in one unified workspace. No switching between files. No manual assembly.
All documents, all data, one workspace — inbox, submission detail, and risk summary side by side. No switching between files.
Risk signals before raw data.
System automatically surfaces any guideline matches in the right sidebar. Underwriter sees risk signals before diving into raw data.
"The side panel solved the visibility problem without creating a noise problem. This single pattern decision — made once — now lives across every section of the product."
Risk signals — matches found
Risk signals surface automatically — before the underwriter opens a single data field. Values that exceed a rule show in red.
Submission overview
Complete submission overview — status, schedule, and guideline health at a glance.
Review, quote, and bind in one place.
Underwriter reviews, quotes, and binds — all within the same workspace. No switching tools. No rekeying data.
Multiple quote versions, full policy detail, and bind — all from the same workspace. No rekeying, no switching tools.
Three decisions I made that became platform standards
01 · Right Side Panel
Supporting features (notes, attachments, guidelines, audit logs) needed dedicated space. Tab switching felt like changing pages — breaking workflow.
Introduced a persistent right sidebar to house all supporting features in one accessible place. Eliminated multiple dedicated tabs entirely.
Adopted across every section of the platform across all 5 LOBs. Still the core navigation pattern today.
The sidebar houses four states accessible via the right icon strip — Summary, Notes, Attachments, and Updates. Two key states shown below.
Summary
Attachments
One persistent sidebar replaces multiple tabs — all supporting features accessible without leaving the page.
02 · Options Bar
Page controls (breadcrumbs, layout switch, search, filters) were scattered — no consistent location across pages.
Introduced a dedicated options bar just below the tab navigation. One consistent location for all page-level controls across every screen.
Standardised across all features and LOBs. Reduced visual noise and improved discoverability of page controls.
One consistent control bar across every page — breadcrumb, layout, search, filters always in the same place.
03 · Unified Filter System
10 filters appeared separately — users opened each one individually, applied them one by one. 4 filters = minimum 8 interactions.
Consolidated all filters into one panel. Left side shows all filters. Right side shows applied filters as tags. Select all at once. Apply once.
Reduced filter interactions from 8+ to 2. Applied filters visible at a glance without reopening dropdowns. Adopted platform-wide across all LOBs.
All filters in one panel — select all, apply once. Applied selections stay visible as removable tags.
What one design foundation unlocked
Row 1 — Business metrics
Row 2 — Platform metrics
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, this has been one of the best development teams I've worked with.
Foundation decisions are product strategy decisions
Designing one base system that works for five sectors meant making deliberate constraints early. Those constraints felt limiting — they're what made the system scale without chaos.
The user's real job is judgement, not data entry
Every design decision came back to one question: does this help the underwriter make a better decision, faster? When that was the north star, the right solutions became obvious.
Design for the designers who come after you
When three more designers joined, they needed to extend the system without relearning it. Designing the handoff is part of the work.
A pattern decision made once can live everywhere
The right sidebar. The options bar. The unified filter. Each was a single decision that became a platform-wide standard. That's the leverage of systems thinking.
"I was handed one LOB and no design system. I left behind a foundation that five products and three designers are built on. That is what it means to design at platform scale."