Northwestern Mutual
2018 — 2021
Northwestern Mutual (NM) is a financial services company based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was founded soon after the state was admitted to the union, positioning it as the most northwestern state in the nation at that time. While known for much of its history as a life insurance company, NM expanded into a wide range of other insurance and investment products. Most recently it has pivoted strongly into providing holistic financial planning for its clients, and thus a push into modernizing its digital capabilities.
Discovery and Prototypes
Discovery, CX, Product Design
I initially served as a design manager in a "player-coach" capacity where I had the opportunity to occasionally contribute to exploratory work. Later, I transitioned to a new team called Enterprise Experience Design (EXD), which functioned as an in-house design consultancy. On that team I developed concepts and prototypes, with the goal of aiding executives to effectively communicate their visions and secure buy-in from the C-suite.
Financial Products and Money Movement
Design Management, CX, Product Design
Assorted projects from the product work streams that I led with my design portfolio partner. This ranged from iterative enhancements on product detail views to complete redesigns of aggregated financial accounts dashboards and brand new digital tools intended to replace 20th century analog processes.
Enterprise Experience Design
Strategy, Vision, Internal Tools
Working within the newly spun up Enterprise Experience Design team at Northwestern Mutual, I had the opportunity to influence areas of the product far beyond my portfolio of work as a design manager. This included supporting end to end product strategy and promoting user understanding while collaborating with organizations that wouldn’t typically interact with product design.
Design Team Identity
Design Management, Branding
I led the development of a product design team identity to establish our presence after Learnvest's acquisition by Northwestern Mutual. The VP of Product Design initiated this effort to boost morale and attract new hires amid a rapid team expansion. Despite succumbing to executive power dynamics, it was an enjoyable exercise reflecting the team's optimism in the post-acquisition period.
Discovery and Prototypes
Discovery, CX, Product Design
I initially served as a design manager in a "player-coach" capacity where I had the opportunity to occasionally contribute to exploratory work. Later, I transitioned to a new team called Enterprise Experience Design (EXD), which functioned as an in-house design consultancy. On that team I leveraged my design expertise to develop concepts and prototypes, aiding executives in effectively communicating their visions to secure buy-in from the C-suite.
Financial Products and Money Movement
Design Management, CX, Product Design
Assorted projects from the product work streams that I led with my design portfolio partner. This ranged from iterative enhancements on product detail views to complete redesigns of aggregated financial accounts dashboards and brand new digital tools intended to replace 20th century analog processes.
Enterprise Experience Design
Strategy, Vision, Internal Tools
Working within the newly spun up Enterprise Experience Design team at Northwestern Mutual, I had the opportunity to influence areas of the product far beyond my portfolio of work as a design manager. This included supporting end to end product strategy and promoting user understanding while collaborating with organizations that wouldn’t typically interact with product design.
Design Team Identity
Design Management, Branding
I led the development of a product design team identity to establish our presence after Learnvest's acquisition by Northwestern Mutual. The VP of Product Design initiated this effort to boost morale and attract new hires amid a rapid team expansion. Despite succumbing to executive power dynamics, it was an enjoyable exercise reflecting the team's optimism in the post-acquisition period.
© 2024 Will Gabrenya