Simplifying multi-unit insurance for emilia.ch

The Challenge

Until this point, Emilia users who owned multiple rental units had to buy separate insurance policies for each property. This approach was not only inefficient but also caused unnecessary administrative effort, user frustration, and potential drop-offs during the policy creation flow.

Stakeholders approached our team with a clear request:

“We need a way for landlords to insure several properties at once, easily, accurately, and without changing the rest of the flow.”

From a UX perspective, the challenge was to add a layer of complexity (multi-unit input, dynamic pricing, address validation) to an already well-established funnel without making it feel more complicated.

Goals

• Enable multi-unit insurance in a single flow for both business and private clients.
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• Keep the existing user journey intact to avoid retraining or confusion.
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• Maintain clarity and trust, even with added logic like address validation and dynamic pricing.
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• Minimize support dependency by making the process self-explanatory.

Success would be measured qualitatively by smoother policy creation, reduced broker involvement, and positive stakeholder validation.

Process

I started by reviewing the existing flow and the new requirements from the business and tech sides. The briefing was detailed but dense - multiple paths, conditions, and backend dependencies had to align.

I mapped out the key points where this new feature (Vermieterrechtsschutz add-on) would interact with the current structure:

• the "add property" step,
• address validation logic,
• cumulative price display,
• and confirmation and payment screens.

After a few concept sketches, I shared the first flow proposals with developers and the project owner. We held a short brainstorming session to align on what was technically feasible and what would require backend adjustments.

I created interactive prototypes in Figma, iterated based on feedback, and later refined the visual design using Emilia’s existing design system - introducing a new progress bar component that improved process visibility and was later added to the system library.

Design Solution

The final design allows users to:

• Add multiple rental properties (Liegenschaften), each with its own address and number of rented units.
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• See real-time progress - how many units are added versus the total planned.
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• Automatically validate Swiss addresses via the postal database.
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• View cumulative pricing updates directly in the flow.

This created a transparent, efficient experience for landlords who manage several units.

The “sticky progress bar” I initially designed was a UX highlight idea — giving users continuous feedback even while scrolling, but it was later replaced by a static version due to technical limitations.

Implementation & Impact

The design was fully implemented and went live on Emilia’s PWA for both business and private clients.

For the first time, landlords could insure multiple properties within a single policy, a major UX improvement and business milestone. The feature simplified quoting and purchase, making Emilia more flexible and competitive in its market.

Internal feedback from stakeholders and developers was positive, emphasizing the clarity of the new flow and the ease of handoff.

What I Learned

Working on this project taught me a lot about designing for regulated industries, where UX progress often means simplification, not reinvention. I learned how to integrate complex logic (pricing, validation, data dependencies) within existing flows and how to advocate for small, meaningful interactions that improve user understanding.

This project also reinforced the value of cross-disciplinary collaboration: aligning business needs, backend logic, and user experience early on saved weeks of iteration later.