In 1859, two years after Northwestern Mutual was founded, the life insurance company experienced its first two claims from the families of passengers who died in a train crash. The losses of $3,500 (roughly $100,000 in 2018 dollars) far exceeded the funds the company had access to. The president of the company, Samuel Daggett—along with Treasurer Charles Nash—stepped in and personally borrowed the money needed to cover the claims.

As a mutual company, Northwestern Mutual was built on the foundation of integrity and accountability, which has been core to their success. For more than 160 years, Northwestern Mutual has always done what’s best for its clients, but the needs of those clients have changed radically in recent years, and evolving expectations are driving the need to reevaluate how all financial firms do business.

To maintain the company’s financial strength and industry leadership, Northwestern Mutual recognized the need to be forward thinking, experimental, and innovative to meet and anticipate the future needs of their clients, employees, and financial advisors. A talented technical team that understands the power of design, along with a focus on customer connections, is helping to drive a digital transformation that enables clients to see their whole financial picture in a way that is relevant, empowering, and tailored to how they live and work today.

In the past two years, the design team at Northwestern Mutual has grown from 7 to 70. To get more insights into how the company is embracing the power of design to help it build new digital platforms, we spoke with Vice President Head of Design Abigail Hart Gray, Group Experience Director Lesley Fleishman, and Group Copy Director Joseph Farrell.