Integrating Human Experience and Future Opportunities into Business Strategy for Digital Transformation that Reduces Expenses and Drives Future-Proof Growth.

This case study was first shared publicly with AmFam executive permission on a series of foresight and speculative design thought leadership platforms. It was later presented at a design strategy conference in September 2022, and under AmFam executive direction, it was shared with the insurance community at various industry conferences in 2023.

Unifying a Fractured Enterprise in the Era of Digital Transformation

American Family Insurance’s acquisition of four companies, combined with rapid technological advancements, created a fragmented claims handling process. This presented a great opportunity to align and integrate our operations, especially given some significant challenges: disparate systems and workflows across the newly merged entities led to higher operational costs and inefficiencies, resulting in inconsistent customer experiences.

Moreover, our fragmented technology platforms complicated data analysis and blocked enterprise-wide innovation. Recognizing the urgent need for a clear and compelling vision for the future, executives sought a transformative solution. They turned to the newly established AmFam Digital Transformation Office and took a chance on me—a design strategist with a background in product design, data visualization, and technology communications.

Designing the Future

Leading a 10-person cross-functional team, I facilitated the development of a next-generation strategic vision under the direction and sponsorship of an executive steering committee. Under my leadership, the team created a cohesive future vision for AmFam’s claims operations that addressed key challenges related to technology, cost, and customer experience.

Through interactive workshops and brainstorming sessions, we generated and prioritized numerous creative ideas for organizational structure, technology solutions, and insurance products and services. The best ideas were refined for future development and used to guide the team's strategic decisions regarding the objectives of the digital transformation effort.

Extensive stakeholder engagement and data analysis informed the creation of a mental model—a diagram showing how processes, inputs, and outputs interact to achieve efficient digital claims operations—resulting in a blueprint for a resilient, user-friendly claims technology engine.

Communicating the Vision

Without buy-in, great ideas crumble. We believed in the transformative impact our strategic vision would have on AmFam’s customers, employees, and partners, and our executive steering committee was along for the journey, believing in it too. The next step was to communicate the vision to stakeholders and decision-makers who hadn’t been part of the development process.

We started by writing a collection of short stories featuring various claims across all lines of business to illustrate what the future of claims handling could look like at AmFam after the proposed transformation. Feeling it still lacked tangible representation, I hired illustrator Andrew Bernier to help us show our vision.

  • These ghostly forms are our proposed claims technology engine “in action” across a series of claims situations set in the future.

  • Digital transformation can be painful and expensive, and worse, it's boring to talk about. We needed to communicate the strategic vision to the entire organization in a way that fostered enthusiasm (or at least acceptance).

    By engaging our audience with visuals and stories, we gave our teams the purpose they needed to implement the digital strategy.

    In fact, I believe these illustrations delivered the largest ROI of the entire project.

  • By implementing this digital transformation strategy, we will provide our adjusting teams with a seamless, automated technology system that enhances job satisfaction and equips them to deliver exceptional customer service.

  • Illustration depicting how a water damage claim would be handled in 2030

    2030 Water Damage Claim

    Illustration depicting 2030 claims handling.

    Illustration Credit: Andrew Bernier

  • Illustration depicting how a deer hit claim would be handled in 2030

    2030 Deer Hit Claim

    Illustration depicting 2030 claims handling.

    Illustration Credit: Andrew Bernier

  • Illustration depicting how a food spoilage claim would be handled in 2030

    2030 Food Spoilage Claim

    Illustration depicting 2030 claims handling.

    Illustration Credit: Andrew Bernier

  • Illustration depicting how a roof hail claim would be handled in 2030

    2030 Roof Hail Damage Claim

    Illustration depicting 2030 claims handling.

    Illustration Credit: Andrew Bernier

  • Illustration depicting how a car theft claim would be handled in 2030

    2030 Car Theft Claim

    Illustration depicting 2030 claims handling.

    Illustration Credit: Andrew Bernier

  • Illustration depicting how a two car accident claim would be handled in 2030

    2030 Two Car Accident

    Illustration depicting 2030 claims handling.

    Illustration Credit: Andrew Bernier

Measurable Impact: Transformative Change and Industry Recognition

The strategic vision I led delivered significant, measurable improvements to American Family Insurance's claims handling, establishing AmFam as an industry leader in claims innovation. This vision fostered confident, bold decision-making, generating alignment and greater efficiency across the organization. Key achievements include organizational alignment, digital transformation, substantial financial gains, new opportunities for digital innovation, and significant industry recognition. I am particularly proud of the cultural shift this work sparked within AmFam, showcasing the potential of upskilling insurance professionals to drive innovation and achieve ambitious goals.

  • Extensive stakeholder engagement ensured widespread buy-in, enabling the successful consolidation of five separate claims organizations into AFICS, Inc.

    This single, efficient entity fundamentally altered AmFam's operating model, leading to faster implementation of innovative solutions, improved efficiency, and stronger alignment between technology and customer experience.

  • The strategic vision empowered leaders to consolidate all claims onto a single technology platform—a first for a top 20 carrier—resulting in a $12 million year-over-year reduction in technology expenses.

    The vision conceptualized "Fabric," a key innovation enabling seamless information sharing and coordinated restoration efforts. This proved the value of speculative design to create original technological solutions that drive competitive advantage in the insurance industry.

  • The strategic vision drove alignment resulting in savings of tens of millions year-over-year from reduced technology, vendor, workforce expenses.

    The conceptualization of eleven new-to-market insurance products and services, also born from speculative design, created substantial revenue opportunities and strengthened AmFam's competitive position.

  • The technical foundation and laser-focused future vision unlocked a wealth of opportunities to test Insurtech solutions.

  • The implementation of the strategic vision we created was the fundamental enabler of all AmFam’s industry recognition for innovation post 2021. The strategic vision project itself was referenced in two award-winning submissions:

    American Family Insurance’s placement (#71) on the 2023 Fast Company Best Workplaces for Innovators Top 100 list — the only insurance category winner.

    My 2024 "Innovator of the Year” insurance industry recognition from Rise Professionals (Rising. Insurance. Star. Executives.)

  • This project highlighted the power of my "insurance innovation hack"—upskilling internal talent with creative problem-solving aptitudes—and the wealth of untapped talent within claims.

    This directly led to my design and the 2021 launch of the internal development program, "Future Tuesdays," fostering a more innovative culture, transforming AmFam's strategic approach, and setting a new industry standard for innovation.

Showcasing AmFam's award-winning insurance claims innovations (2018-2023) at Reuters Connected Claims, alongside Gwen Olson and Kate Wade (moderator).

  • Ryann presenting strategic vision work at UX Strat in 2022

    2022 UX Strat Conference

  • Ryann presenting strategic vision work at a Reuters Insurance event in 2023

    2023 Reuters Conference

  • Ryann and Gwen presenting strategic vision work at a Digital Insurance event in 2023

    2023 Digital Insurance Conference

  • Ryann presenting strategic vision work at a Reuters claims event in 2023

    2023 Reuters Claims Conference

  • Ryann presenting strategic vision work at a Reuters Insurance event in 2024

    2024 Reuters Claims Conference

Career Trajectory: From Visionary to Innovation Leader

Leading this strategic vision initiative within American Family Insurance significantly impacted my career trajectory, providing opportunities for growth and recognition within the insurance industry. This work demonstrated my expertise in business growth strategy and my ability to drive transformative change within a large organization. The connections I made expanded my understanding of the insurance industry's complexities and the potential of design in shaping its future.

The success of this project led to my being tapped to lead the strategy design vertical within AFICS, Inc., a newly formed subsidiary of American Family Insurance. This transition provided a deeper engagement with the claims side of the business, facilitating more significant contributions to AmFam's overall strategic direction.

Celebrating AmFam's placement on Fast Company’s 2023 Best Workplaces for Innovators Top 100 List, alongside Gwen Olson.