Evolving Design Practices in a Complex Organization
MAIF, a purpose-driven insurer
B2E • Business Tools • Design System • Collaboration
Product Designer · Since mid-2023
Context
Within MAIF’s Corporate Operations Tribe, I support several squads in the design and evolution of business tools used by employees and field representatives.
Each project comes with its own users, constraints, and challenges. Beyond product design, my role also involves embedding Design practices across the tribe and contributing to the evolution of the PLUME Design System.
Industry
Insurance
Platforms
Business applications
Users
MAIF employees and field representatives
Project team
Product Owner, Business Analysts, developers, business stakeholders, and Product Designer
The Challenges
Designing Across Very Different Contexts
Each project came with different levels of maturity and different needs. Depending on the situation, my involvement could cover the full design process or focus on a specific stage, such as research, mapping a user journey, or interface design. The challenge was to adapt my approach to each context rather than apply a one-size-fits-all methodology.
Working with Limited Time and Budget
Projects often came with very tight deadlines and limited resources. I had to identify the highest-value opportunities, prioritize effectively, and propose solutions that could be implemented quickly, without losing sight of experience quality.
Strengthening the Role of Design
Design was still largely perceived as a UI production activity. The challenge was to demonstrate its value from the early stages of problem-solving and gradually support teams towards a more collaborative approach.
Ensuring Consistency Across Multiple Products
The tools were evolving in parallel while sharing the same Design System. The challenge was to ensure a consistent experience while still accounting for the specific needs of each team.
My Approach
Understand
Each project started with a different level of maturity. Depending on the context, I relied on discussions with business stakeholders, Business Analysts, and Product Owners, as well as existing work, to quickly understand the key challenges and identify the best way to contribute to the project.
Define
When the context allowed, I sought to formalize needs before designing the interfaces. User journeys, service maps, workshops, and prototypes helped align teams around the problem to solve. When constraints were tighter, I adapted the process to focus on what mattered most.
Design Together
Solutions were co-created with Business Analysts throughout the project. By preparing discussions with business stakeholders together, we aligned our perspectives ahead of workshops and built shared solutions, rather than solutions driven solely by Design.
Key Decisions
The main decisions that guided the design process and shaped its evolution.
Adapt the Approach to Each Project Context
Rather than systematically applying the same methodology, I adapted the design process to each project context. For MAPP, we experimented with Discovery Discipline to shape the product from the earliest stages. For LDD, interviews and workshops helped us rethink an existing tool. Conversely, some shorter projects, such as Editique, were limited to a few days of exploration or mapping a user journey when budget constraints prevented going further.
Make Design a Decision-Making Tool
Rather than focusing solely on producing interfaces, I sought to make Design a tool for shaping thinking and decision-making. User journeys, service maps, co-design workshops, and UX audits helped teams share their knowledge, align their perspectives, and make more informed decisions before designing solutions.
Make the Design System Part of Everyday Practice
Beyond using the Design System across projects, I contributed to evolving it over time by facilitating governance rituals, supporting teams in its adoption, and helping improve collaboration processes between Design and Development.
Results
For the Products
Each project delivered a solution adapted to its specific context, whether it involved a new product, a redesign, or an iteration. Beyond the interfaces, the goal was to design solutions that were clear, consistent, and genuinely useful to business teams.
For the Teams
Design gradually found its place within the tribe. More and more squads began to involve designers from the earliest stages of projects, eventually leading to the recruitment of a second Product Designer to support this growing need.
For My Practice
This experience helped me develop a more cross-functional approach to Product Design, combining design, facilitation, coaching, and the structuring of Design practices.
Looking Back
This experience helped me define my approach to Product Design: adapting the process to each context, creating the conditions for collaboration, and helping teams make more informed decisions.
What Worked
Involving business stakeholders throughout the design process made it easier for them to embrace the solutions and helped us build products that were better aligned with their needs.
What I Would Do Differently
I would seek to incorporate more user research, even on highly constrained projects, to better ground certain design decisions in evidence.
What This Project Taught Me
This experience reinforced a belief that now guides my practice: Design is most valuable when it helps teams structure their ideas, share their knowledge, and build a shared understanding before designing solutions.
Get in touch
I believe great products are built through collaboration, curiosity, and a genuine focus on the people who use them.
If this approach resonates with you, I’d love to hear from you and explore how we could create meaningful products together.
