The Problem

A large specialty insurance carrier was selling product warranties through retail shops, but their management system was broken:

• Manual spreadsheet tracking for warranty sales, registrations, and claims

• 17-day average claims processing time due to manual handoffs and lost context

• High support call volume because shop owners and customers couldn't self-serve

• 23+ man-hours per week spent manually generating reports

• Failed internal system that suffered from lack of adoption

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Shop owners needed to sell warranties quickly at point of sale. Insurance teams needed to process claims and manage policies efficiently. Warranty purchasers rarely engaged except during registration and claims. The existing process frustrated all three groups.

The stakes: Christmas shopping season was approaching. The customer needed a working system before their busiest sales period.

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The Challenge

Design and build a warranty management system in 3 months that:

• Serves three distinct user types with different usage patterns

• Integrates with multiple point-of-sale (POS) systems

• Replaces spreadsheet workflows with digital processes

• Makes warranty sales easy for daily shop owner users

• Remains intuitive for infrequent warranty purchaser users

• Supports complex internal workflows for insurance team users

• Drives adoption where previous systems failed

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Key constraint: Tight 3-month deadline to launch before the critical holiday shopping season.

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My Role

• Led all UX research, information architecture, and product design

• Served as sole designer for initial phases, later overseeing additional UX/UI work

• Conducted weekly check-ins and on-site visits with alpha customer

• Interviewed shop owners, insurance team members, and warranty purchasers

• Designed information architecture and key workflows

• Collaborated with product team to define requirements and prioritize features

• Worked with engineering to ensure proper implementation

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Research & Discovery

Conducted extensive research with three distinct user groups:

1. Shop Owners (Daily Users)

• Used the system every time they sold a warranty

• Needed speed at point of sale—customers waiting

• Worked with various POS systems

• Required simple warranty pricing and registration

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2. Insurance Carrier Team (Regular Users)

• Claims processors handling warranty claims

• Policy managers overseeing warranty portfolio

• Analytics team generating reports

• Needed efficiency in internal handoffs and collaboration

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3. Warranty Purchasers (Infrequent Users)

• Registered warranty once after purchase

• Only returned if filing a claim (rare event)

• Low technical proficiency, high stress during claims

• Needed self-service to avoid calling support

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Key Insights:

• Shop owners abandoned the previous system because it was too slow for point-of-sale use

• Internal teams lost context during handoffs, causing delays and duplicated work

• Manual reporting consumed 23+ hours weekly—mostly generating data that already existed

• 17-day claims processing was primarily waiting, not actual work

• Support calls overwhelmed the team with routine questions users should be able to answer themselves

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Design Principle: Enable users to complete their tasks quickly and get back to what they actually care about—selling products, processing claims efficiently, or resolving warranty issues.

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Design Process

Information Architecture

Built on learnings from the Dais Insurance Platform, adapting proven patterns for warranty workflows.

Core structure:

• Linear workflow paths for warranty lifecycle (sale → registration → claim → resolution)

• Task-based organization rather than data-based

• Role-specific views showing only relevant information

• Contextual communication tied to each warranty

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This eliminated the "where is this warranty in the process?" confusion that plagued spreadsheet tracking.

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Reusing Proven Patterns

Rather than reinventing everything, I adapted successful patterns from the Dais Insurance Platform:

• Task system for homepage prioritization

• Contextual chat for collaboration

• Timeline views for workflow visibility

• Form handling with conditional logic

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This let us meet the 3-month deadline while maintaining quality and testing proven approaches.

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Core Features

1. Task-Based Homepage

• Users saw their specific tasks immediately upon login

• Click directly from task to relevant page

• No hunting through menus for the next action

• Different users saw different tasks based on their role

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This solved the adoption problem—users knew exactly what to do and where to go.

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2. Shop Owner Warranty Sales

• Quick warranty pricing based on product factors

• Fast registration process at point of sale

• Integration with POS systems (form input initially, API integration for most popular system)

• Simple interface that didn't slow down transactions

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3. Claims Processing Workflow

• Linear path through required steps

• Clear status visibility for all parties

• Task assignment for internal handoffs

• Contextual chat to maintain context during collaboration

• Reduced back-and-forth by keeping all information in one place

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4. Reporting & Analytics

• Automated report generation replacing manual spreadsheet work

• Real-time data instead of weekly compilation

• Role-based dashboards showing relevant metrics

• Saved 23 man-hours per week previously spent on manual reporting

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5. Customer Self-Service

• Simple warranty registration for purchasers

• Claims submission with required documentation

• Status tracking to reduce "where's my claim?" calls

• Intuitive enough for infrequent, stressed users

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Design System

Created streamlined design system focused on:

• Quick-access task interfaces

• Form wizards for multi-step processes

• Status indicators and progress tracking

• Minimal chrome—decluttered interfaces

• Role-based information display

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Key Design Decisions

Task System Over Navigation
Rather than traditional navigation requiring users to remember where things are, the homepage showed specific tasks requiring attention. Shop owners saw "Register Warranty," claims processors saw "Review Claim #1234," managers saw "Approve Policy Change." Click the task, complete the work, done.

This dramatically improved efficiency for both frequent and infrequent users.

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Linear Workflow Paths
Warranties moved through defined stages: Sale → Registration → Active → Claim (if needed) → Resolution. Each stage had specific tasks for specific roles. No ambiguity about "what happens next" or "whose responsibility is this?"

This eliminated the 17-day delays caused by unclear handoffs.

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Decluttered Interfaces
Every screen focused on one primary task. Key actions were prominently placed. Secondary information was accessible but not distracting. Users could complete work and move on—respecting that they had other priorities.

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Contextual Collaboration
Rather than separate email chains or messaging systems, communication happened within each warranty's context. When a claims processor needed clarification, they asked right there. Anyone joining later could see the full history. This prevented the "lost context" problem that caused delays.

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Progressive Integration
Started with form input for POS integration (quick to implement), then added API integration for the most popular system. This let us launch on time while planning for better integration later.

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Wizards for Complex Processes
Multi-step processes like warranty registration or claims submission used wizard interfaces that guided users through required steps. This reduced errors and support calls from confused users.

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Outcomes

Dramatic Efficiency Gains:

• Claims processing: Reduced from 17 days to 1.5 days (91% improvement)

• Reporting time: Saved 23 man-hours per week (automated what was manual)

• Support calls: Reduced by 83% through self-service capabilities

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Business Impact:

• Successfully launched before critical Christmas shopping season

• Product purchased outright by customer along with dedicated staff

• 4 additional customers in pipeline at time of handover

• Replaced failed internal system and drove strong adoption

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User Satisfaction:

• Shop owners adopted the system for daily warranty sales

• Insurance team eliminated manual spreadsheet tracking

• Warranty purchasers could self-serve registration and claims

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Lessons Learned

Speed matters at point of sale: Shop owners have customers waiting. Every extra second costs sales. The warranty registration had to be faster than pulling out a paper form.

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Task-based design beats navigation: Users don't want to explore your interface—they want to complete their work and leave. Show them exactly what needs doing and how to do it.

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Reuse proven patterns: We had 3 months. Adapting successful patterns from the Dais Platform let us move fast while maintaining quality. Innovation isn't always about inventing new patterns.

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Context prevents delays: The 17-day claims processing wasn't because work took 17 days—it was because context got lost during handoffs. Keeping communication and data together eliminated most delays.

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Design for different usage patterns: Shop owners needed speed, insurance teams needed efficiency, warranty purchasers needed simplicity. One interface couldn't serve all three—we needed role-specific experiences.

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Self-service reduces support burden: 83% fewer support calls meant the team could focus on complex issues instead of answering "where's my claim?" The system had to answer routine questions automatically.

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Meet deadlines by focusing on core value: We could have built dozens more features. Instead, we focused on the critical workflows that would replace spreadsheets and drive adoption. Ship the value, iterate later.

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