Ethos
1. Overview
Ethos is a technology company that makes getting life insurance easier, faster, and more transparent. Leveraging deep technology and data science, their mission is to protect American families by streamlining the life insurance process—making it accessible, convenient, and ethical.
Location: San Francisco, CA
Role: Product Designer, collaborated closely with two co-founders and one Art Director
Scope: Brand identity, UI design
Timeline: Two months
Backstory
While in college, co-founder Lingke Wang was persuaded into purchasing an expensive life insurance policy he didn’t need and couldn’t afford. Believing it was a smart investment, he later canceled the policy—losing a significant amount of money.
Realizing that many people shared this same frustrating experience, Wang and his co-founder started Ethos with the mission to make life insurance affordable, transparent, and easy to understand.
The Problem
Life insurance is a long-established industry burdened by outdated processes and poor user experiences. Based on the founders’ own experiences and additional research, we identified the key pain points in the traditional customer journey:
Long, time-consuming phone calls with agents (often over an hour)
Lack of clear information on websites
Confusing questionnaires about health and lifestyle risks
Slow application processing times (3–4 weeks)
Limited or no online support
The Challenge
How might we simplify and improve the life insurance purchasing experience?
How might we build trust and drive acquisition for a new brand in a conservative market?
The Opportunity
Designing a modern, ethical approach to life insurance
Ethos wanted to transform a complicated, intimidating process into one that could be completed online in just a few clicks.
Design Goals
Offer flexible coverage options
Eliminate unnecessary friction
Provide access to intuitive online tools
Offer human support from licensed agents
Deliver a positive post-purchase experience
2. Design Process
Discovery
During our initial consultation, I gathered insights about the business goals, target audience, competitors, technological capacity, and design preferences. This informed the project roadmap and design milestones.
Business Goals
Build a credible, user-friendly web presence
Increase user sign-ups and conversions
Target Audience
Adults aged 25–45 who want to protect their families—covering future expenses such as mortgage payments or education costs.
Competitors
Oscar Insurance, Haven Life, and others—larger competitors that still relied on outdated, exam-heavy processes.
Technological Capacity
One co-founder served as a full-stack engineer, with flexibility to outsource if advanced features were needed.
Design Preferences
The client emphasized a simple, emotionally resonant experience—a design that feels human, trustworthy, and approachable.
Design Strategy
I explored a range of brand themes and presented ten mood concepts.
The client chose to move forward with the themes “Emotional” and “Simple.”
Design Exploration
Based on the client’s feedback, I worked on exploring the design elements such as logo, color palette, typography, photography, and copy (brand voice).
Logo & Color Exploration
I explored four logo variations, focusing on simplicity and warmth.
The client selected the third option for its balance of professionalism and friendliness.
Typography
Typography was chosen for clarity and approachability, reinforcing the brand’s trustworthy tone.
Copy Exploration
I proposed several tagline directions that balance clarity and emotion.
The client chose the two directions:
“Life insurance made simple” — emphasizes functional clarity and transparency
“This is how love lives on.” — conveys emotional storytelling and long-term care
Other options explored:
“Radically simple. Unconditional love.”
“Simple insurance. Unconditional love.”
“Give simply. Love unconditionally.”
“A simple gift of love”
“The gift of unconditional love”
Photography Exploration
We curated images that evoke authenticity, family warmth, and real-life moments.
Wireframes
Low-fidelity wireframes mapped out the key flows for mobile and desktop.
3. Final Deliverables
Mobile Mockups
Desktop Mockups
Onboarding Mockups
4. Outcome
The final design successfully communicated Ethos’s mission of “life insurance made simple.” The new brand identity and web experience helped establish trust and approachability, setting the foundation for Ethos’s later success as one of the fastest-growing insurtech startups in the U.S.