Introducing Prudential API into Ladder

Introduction

Leadership tasked me with expanding Ladder's third-party distribution capabilities, starting with Prudential-one of our highest-value partners. With Prudential's new underwriting API, we had an opportunity to replace a disjointed redirect flow with a native, transparent, decision-ready experience inside Ladder.

This case study covers how I led the product design, strategy, cross-functional alignment, and UX integration for Ladder's first embedded partner product-improving product matching, strengthening trust, and unlocking meaningful revenue growth.

The Challenge

• Users were being redirected off-site mid-application without context, creating confusion and distrust.
• The experience required users to re-enter information, causing frustration and duplicated effort.
• This was Ladder's first 0→1 API partner integration, with no existing patterns or infrastructure to build from.
• We needed a seamless, transparent, scalable experience that could support future multi-carrier expansion.

My Role

I led research synthesis, UX strategy, interaction design, cross-company alignment, prototyping, and the creation of reusable design patterns for future integrations.

Phase 1 - Study & Research

Identifying the Problem

Redirecting users to Prudential's external site-after they had already completed part of Ladder's flow-caused:

• Trust loss: sudden redirect ≈ scam-like
• Redundant effort: users repeated questions they already answered
• Low performance: a 1.1% conversion rate

Together this highlighted the need for a continuous, predictable, native-feeling partner experience.

Research & Discovery

I partnered closely with Prudential's product and underwriting teams to understand their API and data requirements, conducted user interviews to pinpoint trust failures, and audited multi-carrier industry patterns.

I synthesized these findings into a clear product direction shared across Ladder and Prudential-aligning both teams on the experience, scope, and success metrics.

Scoping the Opportunity

Data modeling showed that embedding Prudential (instead of redirecting) would eliminate a major drop-off and drive a 167% increase in monthly policies (≈78 additional) at a conservative 60% materialization rate.

Additionally, Prudential's decision API unlocked, for the first time, the ability to serve alternative products when users were declined-laying the groundwork for a future multi-carrier system.

Phase 2 - Create

Designing the MVP Integration

We targeted Smart Routing-the moment after onboarding questions and before entering the application-because of its high 25.2% saw → app/start leverage.

1. Setting Clear Expectations on the Quote Page

To reduce cognitive load and avoid visual clutter, I transformed this section into concise, scannable elements:

• Prudential branding embedded directly into the quote
• Clear explanation of why the Prudential product is being shown
• Callouts of included Prudential value (e.g., riders, coverage structure)
• Transparent expectations of what happens next

This mitigated the "Why am I seeing this?" confusion and made the partner recommendation feel intentional.

2. Enabling Instant Underwriting Decisions

Through deep collaboration with engineering, BD, and Prudential's API team, we:

• Passed all relevant Ladder application data directly into Prudential's underwriting API
• Removed all duplicated question sets
• Triggered instant decisioning
• Delivered a native offer inside Ladder without extra user effort

This turned a clunky redirect into a seamless, trusted, embedded experience.

Phase 3 - Learn & Impact

Early results from the first 2 months confirmed the integration was solving core user issues, setting the stage for something bigger.

• +4% lift in saw → app/start
• +1.1% increase in overall conversion
• Fewer CX tickets, significantly reducing confusion-related support
• Lower internal underwriting cost, since Prudential handled qualified applicants

Overall validation:

A native, transparent partner flow increases trust, improves funnel performance, and strengthens unit economics.

Phase 4 - True Impact

Those early signals compounded. This integration didn't just improve UX. It transformed Ladder's partner performance.

1. Hit Prudential's 3,500-Policy Goal Early

Prudential challenged Ladder:

Issue 3,500 policies by the end of 2025 in exchange for a $300k performance bonus.

With enhanced funnel efficiency from the API integration, Ladder hit the target with a month to spare-securing the full bonus.

2. Unlocked a Higher Compensation Tier (+2% Commission)

The flow also accelerated Ladder past $2M in written premium, triggering Prudential's next compensation tier-earning Ladder an additional +2% commission on every Prudential policy sold.

These two levers combined created a significant and recurring revenue lift.

Reflection & Key Learnings

The mid-project discovery that reframed everything: we could design the experience however we wanted, but Prudential's API needed specific data at specific points: an auth signature here, a particular question sequence there. Those requirements were non-negotiable. What looked like full design freedom was actually a hidden data contract we had to reverse-engineer into the UX.

That changed how I thought about the whole project. The real design challenge wasn't the flow or the aesthetics. It was making those technically-constrained moments feel completely invisible to users. Every screen where the API needed something had to feel like a natural part of the Ladder application, not a data checkpoint for an external system. That required staying close enough to both sides, Prudential's API team and our own engineering, to catch conflicts before they became user-facing problems.

What I carry forward: in API-driven integrations, the designer's job is to be the translator between technical constraints and user experience. Someone has to understand both sides well enough to make the seams invisible. When that person doesn't exist, you become it, and whoever holds that view ends up shaping the product more than anyone else in the room.

Next Steps

I'm now extending the integration across other entry points in the funnel and introducing new UX patterns to optimize the partner experience. The plan is to replicate this success across future partner products-creating a scalable, high-trust multi-carrier platform.

This foundation will allow Ladder to confidently support new partner products in the future, accelerating growth while maintaining a best-in-class user experience.