Enterprise tool
MTR automations
Task framework increases efficiency
Client
Policygenius
Role
Lead Product Designer
Collaborators
Danielle Vainburg (Product), Brian Ruddy (Eng)
Problem
Beyond the immediate operational challenges at Policygenius, we faced a more fundamental issue: how to standardize and eventually automate complex insurance processes. Each policy type had its own unique requirements and workflows, making it difficult to create consistent processes or identify automation opportunities. The lack of standardization was limiting both operational efficiency and the ability to communicate policy status to customers.
Approach
Through careful analysis of various insurance workflows, we identified a pattern: while the specific steps varied, all processes could be broken down into similar hierarchical structures. This led to the development of the Milestones/Tasks/Requirements (MTR) framework – a systematic approach to organizing and automating work.
Solution
The MTR framework organized work into three levels: Milestones (key moments in the fulfillment process), Tasks (actionable pieces of work), and Requirements (structured data points that determine task completion). The genius of the system was in the Requirements layer – rather than requiring manual completion, tasks could be automatically marked complete based on underlying data. This meant that as we received information from third-party sources or other systems, tasks would automatically update.
To enable adoption in situations where structured data wasn't yet available, we allowed Requirements to be simple Boolean flags that could be manually toggled. This created a path for gradual automation: start with manual processes, then incrementally replace manual requirements with data-driven ones.
Impact
~20% reduction
in manual case touches
Within six months of implementing MTR, we had standardized operations processes across the organization and automated numerous previously manual tasks. The framework provided clear visibility into each case's status and established a blueprint for continued automation. Beyond the operational improvements, MTR enabled better customer communication by providing clear status updates throughout the policy lifecycle. The framework proved so successful that it became the foundation for process automation across multiple insurance products.
