B2B • Enterprise • UX Strategy
Liberty Mutual
Process Design for Innovation
As Lead UI/UX Consultant for Liberty Mutual's Innovation Labs, I designed an innovation pipeline from near-zero, defining funding tiers, milestone criteria, and stakeholder alignment workflows. I managed a team of 10, including 4 rotating interns on 6-month cycles, while bringing transparency and renewed vigor to the program.
Overview
As the sole Lead UI/UX Consultant for Liberty Mutual's Innovation Labs, I inherited a department with no standardized process; ideas stalled because success criteria and funding decisions were unclear. I interviewed every team involved in an idea's journey, then designed a multi-tier innovation pipeline with clear milestones, success criteria, and funding gates. I mentored a team of 10, including 4 rotating interns on 6-month cycles, while delivering website designs, user research tests, and prototypes for the innovation concepts moving through the pipeline.
Abilities Demonstrated
- Served as the sole Lead UI/UX Consultant for the Innovation Labs
- Designed a multi-tier innovation process with clear milestones and funding gates
- Created user research tests for the ideation process
- Developed website designs and prototypes for innovation concepts
- Guided UX thinking across the innovation team
Stakeholder Research
Liberty Mutual's fledgling innovation team was still in its learning and growing stages. There were no standards around the creative process, which limited (and at times even halted) the development of new products because success criteria and next steps were unclear. After initial pitches to key stakeholders, it became apparent that the confusion extended to what criteria needed to be met for an idea to progress to the next level of funding.
Priority Matrix Workshop
Information Architecture
User Personas
The Innovation Roadmap
My first step was to speak with every team involved in an idea's journey to better understand the issues plaguing their existing process and their goals for a more transparent process going forward. These meetings resulted in a list of expectations and requirements that each idea had to meet to advance to the next funding tier. From those requirements, I put together a roadmap for the entire journey; following one idea with clear, defined expectations from conception to the eventual creation of a brand new company.
- Developed a multi-tier funding roadmap with clear milestone markers at each level
- Defined what fidelity of designs was required at each stage
- Specified what kinds of tests needed to be conducted and what metrics they must hit
- Created clear criteria for stakeholders to evaluate idea progression
- Designed a visual representation of the entire innovation journey
Innovation Concepts
Examples of projects delivered through the new innovation process:
Developer Portal
DriveCertain App
Homeology App
- Website designs and development for innovation concepts
- Individual user research tests for the ideation process
- Persona development and user journey mapping
- Prototype creation for innovation pitches
Results & Impact
The new process was a hit and helped put everyone at ease. Innovators had clear goals to reach, UX designers had clear tests to create, and key stakeholders had better metrics to gauge viability and help discern which level of funding any given idea was at and what the next steps would be. The biggest win was transparency: the innovation team no longer had to triple-check the next steps for their ideas or wonder what criteria stakeholders would require for progression.
For all innovation ideas
Clear progression gates
Across the department
Aligned on criteria
Project Outcomes
Full Transparency
Clear goal posts and actionable game plans replaced ambiguity and confusion.
Renewed Team Vigor
Innovation team operated with confidence knowing exactly what was expected at each stage.
Stakeholder Alignment
Key stakeholders had better metrics to gauge viability and determine funding levels.
Streamlined Process
UX designers had clear tests to create and innovators had clear goals to reach.
