The Challenge
When someone loses a loved one, the last thing they need is a frustrating claims process
Prudential's individual life insurance (ILI) claims process had a fundamental problem: it put the burden on grieving families at their most vulnerable moment.
Beneficiaries had to go find Prudential after losing a loved one, never the other way around. The process was paper-heavy, slow, and impersonal. Many beneficiaries were so put off by the experience that they never became Prudential customers themselves, a real loss of lifetime value for both sides.
We were brought in to ask a harder question: what if we started over?
"We pay claims at first notice through a frictionless process that turns beneficiaries into advocates and customers."— Project Vision Statement
The Vision
Proactive, empathetic, and entirely digital
Rather than redesigning a form, we rethought the entire customer relationship. Using data Prudential already had, the company would identify and reach out to beneficiaries first, delivering a timely experience that leaves families feeling respected and cared for from the very first contact.
The roadmap was structured across four phases, building toward a 3-year North Star vision for fully digital claims fulfillment.
The Process
Parallel concepting with rapid iteration
Working with a small cross-functional team (one product owner, a UX director who mentored me, and two junior designers), I led a 10-week engagement that balanced deep discovery with rapid prototyping. I led it the way I prefer to work: set up the problem clearly, then make room for everyone's ideas, the two junior designers and our subject matter experts included, rather than dictating answers from seniority. We ran two tracks at once: an MVP First Notice of Loss portal and a longer-range North Star vision.
Weeks 1–3
Research & Discovery
Deep-dive 1:1 interviews with beneficiaries who had recently navigated the claims process. We needed to understand their emotional state, pain points, and what "good" would actually look like at the worst moment of their lives.
Weeks 4–5
Design Sprint & MVP Prototyping
Three-day co-creation workshops with stakeholders and subject matter experts. We came out of them with our first high-fidelity prototype: a streamlined FNOL portal that could capture claim information and deliver a near-real-time claim package to the beneficiary.
Weeks 6–10
North Star Vision + Usability Testing
Iterative usability testing with real users while we built out the 3-year North Star: two to four high-fidelity concepts describing the end-to-end transformation Prudential could deliver.
What We Learned
Beneficiaries told us exactly what they needed
We built personas grounded in real user interviews. Anna, a 55-year-old taking the lead on her mother's claim, and her brother Arnold, 51, supporting from the sidelines. Their mother Kati had purchased the policy 29 years ago. Mapping their emotional journey, from the initial grief to the practical grind of paperwork and phone calls, shaped every design decision that followed.
Design Principles
Six themes guided every decision
Understanding through humanized experience
Empathizing with each beneficiary's unique needs and creating a personalized intake experience that matches their specific situation.
Meeting customers where they are
Providing beneficiaries complete control over when they engage and through which channel: digital, phone, or mail.
Simplicity and guidance
Intuitive, clean designs that don't overwhelm, while providing resources and guidance at every step of the way.
Proactively managed expectations
Clear perspective on what's needed to complete the process, and honest insight into timelines. No surprises.
Efficiency with empathy
Delivering on promises with care, striving for the feeling of a single-touch experience while never rushing grief.
Building trust and confidence
Providing a deeply connected experience that supports families through hard times, and turns them into future customers.
The Reimagined Journey
From condolences to closing the loop
We designed a five-stage journey that begins before the beneficiary even knows to contact Prudential, and ends with them as a potential lifelong customer.
Condolences by Pru
Proactive engagement with a condolence gift and personalized card
Greeted with Empathy
Setting expectations through a humanized welcome experience
Guided Intake
Simple interface asking only what's needed, reflexive to each situation
Customer Hub
Complete control with real-time status, never out of the loop
Closing the Loop
Personalized resources and quick, easy payout options
Future State Vision
Awareness → Assessment → Engagement
The North Star extended this into three macro-phases, each with detailed touchpoints for how Prudential would proactively identify, reach, and support beneficiaries across their entire recovery journey.
Awareness
Assessment
Engagement
The Solution
Key design solutions that made the difference
Proactive Condolence Outreach
Prudential monitors data sources to identify when policyholders pass away. Instead of waiting, we designed a system to reach out first with a condolence gift and a personalized card. It expresses sympathy and includes clear, step-by-step instructions for starting the claim whenever the beneficiary feels ready.
A follow-up email lays out what to expect and gives a personalized link straight to their digital claims experience. No hunting, no phone trees.
Empathetic Welcome Experience
Beneficiaries who use their personalized link are greeted by name with a warm, empathetic tone. They can watch a short explainer video about the process, access grief counseling resources, and see a personalized checklist for their specific claim type.
Rockwell, Prudential's virtual assistant, stays on hand throughout to answer questions, connect with live agents, or surface resources for coping with loss, at any hour and on any device.
Customer Hub with Full Visibility
The dashboard puts beneficiaries in complete control. They can see exactly where they are in the process, what's been completed, and what's next. Interactive status cards let them complete one step at a time, with the flexibility to pause and return whenever they're ready.
Anna can invite other beneficiaries into the claim, share documents, track payment status, and view a complete history of every action taken on her case, all with 24/7 access to financial planning support.
Closing the Loop with Ongoing Support
When funds are delivered, the experience doesn't end. Beneficiaries receive confirmation with a heartfelt message and ongoing access to resources that continue supporting them: financial planning guidance, grief counseling, and funeral planning assistance.
This final touchpoint is designed to turn a one-time, painful interaction into the start of a lasting relationship, and a beneficiary into a Prudential customer for life.
Target Outcomes
Measurable impact across the business
The designs were presented to Prudential's executive leadership with clear metrics for success. The project established both a near-term MVP and a 3-year digital transformation vision for the entire ILI claims organization.
Digital Utilization
Projected increase in digital channel adoption
Paper Reduction
Target reduction from baseline mailed forms
TAT Improvement
End-to-end processing time targeted for reduction
Ease of Doing Business
New measurement framework established for ILI claims
Reflection
What I learned leading this transformation
Designing for emotional contexts
This project reinforced that usability is only half of good UX. The other half is the emotional state of the people using it. Every microcopy decision and interaction pattern had to acknowledge that our users were grieving, and we couldn't trade empathy for efficiency.
The power of proactive design
The biggest shift was moving from reactive to proactive. Instead of designing a better form, we asked a different question: what if we reached out first? That reframe opened up the whole project, and became the foundation for the MVP, the North Star, and the executive vision.
"The experience should feel like having a knowledgeable, compassionate guide walking beside you through one of life's most difficult moments."— Design Principle