What is a UX/UI Designer at Applied Systems?

As a UX/UI Designer at Applied Systems, you are at the forefront of transforming the insurance industry. With over 40 years of experience in the Insurtech space, Applied Systems builds the critical software that powers insurance agencies, brokerages, and carriers. In this role, you are not just designing screens; you are digitizing the entire round-trip of insurance, simplifying incredibly complex workflows, and creating enterprise solutions that make our products indispensable to our customers.

You will likely join highly impactful teams such as the EZLynx Product Team or the US Employee Benefits division. Your work will directly influence how insurance professionals manage policies, connect with carrier solutions, and serve their clients. Because you are designing for B2B enterprise users, the focus is heavily on efficiency, clarity, and robust information architecture rather than just visual polish.

This role requires a strategic thinker who can navigate the nuances of a highly regulated, data-dense industry. You will be expected to own the end-to-end user experience, from generative user research and strategic planning through to design hand-off and post-release testing. At Applied Systems, winning is a team sport, and you will collaborate deeply with product management and engineering to bring amazing career moments and innovative software to life.

Common Interview Questions

The questions below represent the types of inquiries you will face during your interviews. While you may not get these exact prompts, practicing them will help you structure your thoughts and prepare compelling narratives that align with the expectations for a UX/UI Designer at Applied Systems.

Portfolio and Past Experience

These questions assess your actual track record, the scale of the products you have worked on, and your ability to articulate your past design decisions.

• Walk me through a project in your portfolio where you designed a complex B2B workflow from scratch.
• Can you show me an example of how you used data or research to pivot a design direction?
• What is a project you are most proud of, and what specific role did you play in its execution?
• Tell me about a time a project failed or did not meet user expectations. What did you learn?
• How do you ensure visual and functional consistency across a large enterprise platform?

Research and Problem Solving

These questions evaluate your methodological rigor, how you uncover user needs, and how you translate ambiguity into clear information architecture.

• How do you decide which research methodology to use for a given problem?
• Walk me through your process for conducting usability testing on a new feature.
• Tell me about a time you had to synthesize conflicting feedback from different user groups.
• How do you balance qualitative user feedback with quantitative usage analytics?
• Describe your approach to structuring information architecture for a data-dense application.

Stakeholder Management and Collaboration

These questions test your soft skills, your ability to work within a team, and how you manage pushback from engineering or product management.

• Tell me about a time you had to convince a skeptical stakeholder to invest in UX research.
• How do you handle situations where engineering says your design is too difficult or time-consuming to build?
• Describe a successful collaboration you had with a Product Manager. What made it work well?
• How do you communicate your design decisions to non-designers?
• Tell me about a time you had to compromise on a design due to strict business or technical constraints.

Getting Ready for Your Interviews

Thorough preparation is the key to succeeding in the Applied Systems interview process. Your interviewers will be looking for a blend of hard design skills, strategic thinking, and the ability to thrive in a highly collaborative, cross-functional environment.

Focus your preparation on these core evaluation criteria:

• End-to-End Design Process – You will be evaluated on your ability to own workstreams from strategic discovery through to high-fidelity prototyping. Interviewers want to see how you synthesize research and translate it into actionable user flows and wireframes.
• Enterprise Problem-Solving – Designing for Insurtech means dealing with dense data and complex user journeys. You must demonstrate how you simplify complex B2B workflows and make logical decisions about information architecture.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration – Since you will partner closely with Product Management and Development, interviewers will assess your ability to negotiate trade-offs, handle pushback, and lead collaborative discovery sessions.
• Data-Driven Storytelling – You need to articulate the "why" behind your design decisions. This means showing how you use mixed-methods research, usability testing, and usage analytics to validate your solutions and measure success.

Interview Process Overview

The interview process for a UX/UI Designer at Applied Systems is designed to be thorough, collaborative, and reflective of our daily working environment. You will typically begin with an initial recruiter screen to align on your background, salary expectations, and basic cultural fit. Following this, you will have a deep-dive conversation with the hiring manager, focusing on your past experience, your approach to enterprise design, and your understanding of B2B SaaS products.

The core of the evaluation usually revolves around a comprehensive portfolio presentation and a cross-functional panel interview. During the portfolio review, you will present one or two detailed case studies to a group of design and product stakeholders. The panel interview will test your behavioral competencies, your ability to collaborate with engineering and product management, and your alignment with the core values of Applied Systems.

Throughout the process, the emphasis is heavily placed on your reasoning, your research methodologies, and your ability to communicate complex concepts clearly. Expect a conversational but rigorous environment where interviewers will frequently ask follow-up questions to understand the depths of your decision-making.

This visual timeline outlines the typical progression of your interview stages at Applied Systems. Use this to pace your preparation, ensuring you have your case studies fully polished before the hiring manager screen, and your behavioral examples ready for the final cross-functional panel.

Deep Dive into Evaluation Areas

Portfolio and Case Study Presentation

Your portfolio presentation is the most critical component of the interview process. Interviewers are looking for articulate storytelling and the rationale behind your design decisions. They want to see how you tackle complex, multi-layered problems typical of enterprise software. Strong performance here means clearly defining the business problem, the user needs, and the measurable impact of your final design.

Be ready to go over:

• Problem Definition – How you identified the core user problem and aligned it with business goals.
• Iterative Process – The steps you took from low-fidelity wireframes to high-fidelity prototypes using tools like Figma or Miro.
• Metrics and Outcomes – How you used usage analytics or post-release testing to measure the success of your solution.
• Handling Constraints – Discussing technical limitations, tight deadlines, or shifting requirements, and how you navigated them.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Walk us through a project where you had to simplify a highly complex, data-heavy workflow."
• "Explain a time when your initial design hypothesis was proven wrong by user research. How did you pivot?"
• "How do you balance user needs with strict technical constraints or business requirements?"

User Research and Synthesis

At Applied Systems, we rely heavily on data to drive our product consistency and innovation. You will be evaluated on your proficiency with mixed-methods research, including user observation, interviews, card sorting, and usability testing. A strong candidate does not just collect data; they synthesize it into actionable insights that directly inform the product roadmap.

Be ready to go over:

• Research Methodology – Knowing when to use generative vs. evaluative research, and qualitative vs. quantitative methods.
• Usability Testing – How you construct tests, define success metrics, and iterate based on user feedback.
• Artifact Creation – Translating research into personas, experience maps, and user journeys.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Tell me about a time you conducted primary user research for a B2B product. What methods did you use and why?"
• "How do you turn raw behavioral data and user interviews into actionable design requirements?"
• "Describe a scenario where you had to advocate for the user when stakeholders wanted to skip research."

Cross-Functional Collaboration and Leadership

Because winning is a team sport at Applied Systems, your ability to partner with stakeholders is paramount. You will be evaluated on your interpersonal skills, how you facilitate discovery with Product Managers, and how you hand off designs to the development team. Strong candidates demonstrate empathy, clear communication, and the ability to lead without formal authority.

Be ready to go over:

• Product Management Partnership – Collaborating on strategic planning and defining problem spaces.
• Engineering Hand-off – Ensuring your prototypes and design specs are clear, feasible, and ready for implementation.
• Conflict Resolution – Navigating disagreements regarding features, timelines, or design direction.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Tell me about a time you disagreed with a Product Manager on the direction of a feature. How did you resolve it?"
• "How do you ensure that the development team implements your designs accurately?"
• "Describe a situation where you had to influence a stakeholder to adopt a specific UX strategy."

Key Responsibilities

As a UX/UI Designer at Applied Systems, your day-to-day work will span the entire product lifecycle. You will start by developing a deep understanding of our target users, exploring their motivations and the friction points they experience within our suite of products. You will spend a significant portion of your time collaboratively leading discovery sessions with Product Management partners, utilizing mixed-methods research to acquire both attitudinal and behavioral data.

Once problem spaces are identified, you will bring product ideas to life. This involves creating user flows, experience maps, and journey maps to ensure the information architecture is sound. You will then move into creating well-reasoned wireframes, mockups, and coded prototypes using tools like Figma, Miro, and Balsamiq.

Beyond the design phase, you will own the workstream through to execution. You will partner closely with development teams during implementation to ensure product consistency across the platform. Post-release, you will employ usage analytics and conduct formal Usability Testing to validate your solutions, track success, and iterate for continuous improvement.

Role Requirements & Qualifications

To be successful in this role, you need a strong foundation in enterprise product design and a proven track record of solving complex user problems. Applied Systems looks for candidates who can seamlessly blend research, interaction design, and strategic thinking.

• Must-have skills – 5+ years of experience in UX, specifically working on B2B enterprise software or SaaS products. You must be highly proficient in design and prototyping tools like Figma, Miro, and Balsamiq. You also need a demonstrated ability to conduct and interpret user research (interviews, usability testing, card sorts).
• Analytical and Communication skills – Excellent storytelling, facilitation, and reasoning skills are required to articulate the "why" behind your design decisions to cross-functional stakeholders.
• Nice-to-have skills – Experience in the insurance industry or Insurtech space is a major plus, as it flattens the learning curve for understanding complex workflows. An ability to adapt to new technologies like AI and Machine Learning is also highly valued.
• Educational Background – While a degree is common, Applied Systems actively encourages candidates from all backgrounds, including military members and those without a traditional tech background, provided they have the requisite portfolio and experience.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How technical do I need to be for this role? While you do not need to write production code, you must understand technical constraints and be able to converse intelligently with engineers. Experience with coded prototypes or a strong understanding of HTML/CSS and component libraries will help you ensure your designs are feasible.

Q: What makes a candidate stand out at Applied Systems? Candidates who demonstrate strong business acumen alongside their design skills stand out. Interviewers look for designers who understand how their UX decisions impact business metrics, customer retention, and workflow efficiency in a B2B SaaS environment.

Q: Do I need prior experience in the insurance industry? No, prior Insurtech experience is a "nice-to-have," not a strict requirement. However, you must demonstrate the ability to quickly learn complex, highly regulated domains. Showing examples of how you have mastered complex industries in the past will be highly beneficial.

Q: What is the remote work culture like? Applied Systems offers a flexible culture, with roles often being fully remote or hybrid depending on your location. The company emphasizes that "winning is a team sport," so expect a highly collaborative virtual environment with regular use of digital whiteboards and video conferencing.

Q: How long does the interview process typically take? The process usually takes between 3 to 5 weeks from the initial recruiter screen to the final offer. This timeline allows for scheduling the comprehensive portfolio review and the cross-functional panel interviews.

Other General Tips

• Master the STAR Method: When answering behavioral questions, strictly use the Situation, Task, Action, Result format. Be incredibly specific about the Action you took as an individual, rather than just what the team did.
• Showcase Enterprise Complexity: Consumer-facing apps are great, but Applied Systems builds B2B software. Highlight case studies that involve dashboards, data tables, complex forms, and multi-step workflows to prove you can handle enterprise density.
• Ask Strategic Questions: Use the end of your interviews to ask insightful questions about the product roadmap, how the design team measures success, or the specific challenges facing the EZLynx or Employee Benefits teams.
• Emphasize Storytelling: Your portfolio review should not just be a tour of screens. Frame it as a story: What was the villain (the problem)? Who was the hero (the user)? What was your weapon (the research and design process)?

Summary & Next Steps

Securing a UX/UI Designer role at Applied Systems is a fantastic opportunity to shape the future of the Insurtech industry. You will be tackling meaningful, complex problems that directly impact how insurance professionals do their jobs every day. By focusing your preparation on enterprise problem-solving, cross-functional collaboration, and data-driven storytelling, you will position yourself as a highly capable and strategic candidate.

Remember to deeply review your portfolio, ensuring that every case study clearly articulates the business problem, your research methods, and the measurable outcomes of your designs. Approach your interviews with confidence, curiosity, and a collaborative mindset, proving that you are ready to be a vital teammate in this fast-paced, innovative environment.

The total anticipated annual compensation range for this position in the US and Canada is generally between $100,000 and$130,000. Your specific offer will depend on your depth of experience, skill set, and location, and may also include comprehensive benefits, bonus days, and potential variable incentive pay.

You have the skills and the background to succeed. Take the time to practice your narratives, refine your presentations, and review additional insights on Dataford to ensure you walk into your interviews fully prepared. Good luck—you've got this!