TITLE MIDWEST

Automating the title insurance examination process

Automating the title insurance examination process

Automating the title insurance examination process

PRODUCT TYPE

Custom cloud-native enterprise platform that automates the title examination process.

ROLE

Senior product designer leading end-to-end design process.

Timeline

March 2022 - February 2023

product type

Custom cloud-native enterprise platform that automates the title examination process.

ROLE

Senior product designer leading end-to-end design process.

Timeline

March 2022 - February 2023

Overview

Overview

Title Midwest is a multi-state group of companies that provide title insurance commitments, policies, and title search services to its clients. Currently, the search and commitment process requires a largely manual process of examining public records on a property to confirm the property’s rightful legal owner and to surface any claims or liens on the property that could affect the purchase, such as any outstanding property taxes, liens against the property of easements of any kind.

Overview

Title Midwest is a multi-state group of companies that provide title insurance commitments, policies, and title search services to its clients. Currently, the search and commitment process requires a largely manual process of examining public records on a property to confirm the property’s rightful legal owner and to surface any claims or liens on the property that could affect the purchase, such as any outstanding property taxes, liens against the property of easements of any kind.

The Problem

The Problem

The Problem

The Title Examiner’s workflow is burdened with non-value-added steps, resulting in an overly complex process that poses challenges in onboarding and training new employees and being able to complete the examination process in a consistent and efficient manner. The over-reliance on tribal knowledge, concentrated within a select few essential employees, accompanied by a manual and undefined process creates a significant vulnerability for the organization, as the potential loss of any of these key individuals could lead to disruptions in operations.

The Goal

The Goal

The Goal

The primary objective for the new Title Midwest portal is to design and implement a streamlined process aimed at achieving the following key outcomes:

  • Reduce cycle time: Implement improvements that significantly decrease the time required for creating the title commitment, ensuring a more efficient and timely workflow.

  • Increase capacity: Optimize the process to enhance the team's capacity, enabling them to handle a higher volume of title commitments without compromising quality.

  • Scalability to other markets: Develop a flexible and adaptable solution that can be seamlessly extended to other markets, promoting scalability and ensuring the applicability of the process across diverse operational environments.

The primary objective for the new Title Midwest portal is to design and implement a streamlined process aimed at achieving the following key outcomes:

  • Reduce cycle time: Implement improvements that significantly decrease the time required for creating the title commitment, ensuring a more efficient and timely workflow.

  • Increase capacity: Optimize the process to enhance the team's capacity, enabling them to handle a higher volume of title commitments without compromising quality.

  • Scalability to other markets: Develop a flexible and adaptable solution that can be seamlessly extended to other markets, promoting scalability and ensuring the applicability of the process across diverse operational environments.

The Approach

The Approach

The Approach

Understand & Plan

  • Comprehend existing business processes

  • Evaluate business and user requirements to determine project objectives

  • Define scope and estimate effort

  • Collect required data for research stage

Analyze & Define

  • Shadow user's workflow

  • Conduct user interviews to gather needs and pain points

  • Identify personas

  • Map out future state user flow and road map

Conceptualize

  • Brainstorm fresh ideas and concepts for the examiners' platform, focusing on the user's insights, discoveries, and automated technical features.

Design & Prototyping

  • Initiate model displays for admin and regular user according to their permissions and subtle situations.

  • Set up a design structure and style manual

Test & Validate

  • UAT will be conducted on the new portal platform.

  • Iterate design based on feedback and insights.

Understanding the current state business methodology

Understanding the current state business methodology

Understanding the current state business methodology

In order to asses what the future state solution would look like and entail, I first began my process by understanding what the current state of operations were by mapping out the existing business walkthrough from receiving an order to title commitment closure.

*frequency of process: daily upon order receipt*

User interviews unveil personas and their respective roles

User interviews unveil personas and their respective roles

User interviews unveil personas and their respective roles

After gaining a clear insight into the current state process, I moved onto the initial portion of the research phase of conducting user interviews. In conducting user interviews, I gained valuable insights into the diverse perspectives and experiences of our users. Through these interviews, I was able to identify and define distinct personas within our user base, each with specific responsibilities, pain points, and needs.

After gaining a clear insight into the current state process, I moved onto the initial portion of the research phase of conducting user interviews. In conducting user interviews, I gained valuable insights into the diverse perspectives and experiences of our users. Through these interviews, I was able to identify and define distinct personas within our user base, each with specific responsibilities, pain points, and needs.

After gaining a clear insight into the current state process, I moved onto the initial portion of the research phase of conducting user interviews. In conducting user interviews, I gained valuable insights into the diverse perspectives and experiences of our users. Through these interviews, I was able to identify and define distinct personas within our user base, each with specific responsibilities, pain points, and needs.

Persona One: Lead Examiner/ Admin (master user)
Persona 2: Examiner/ Reviewer

Findings show examiners experience similar pain points in operational challenges of working in a complex workflow

Findings show examiners experience similar pain points in operational challenges of working in a complex workflow

Findings show examiners experience similar pain points in operational challenges of working in a complex workflow

Our user interviews also uncovered pain points and challenges faced by both our core users in their current workflows. These pain points ranged from inefficiencies in the existing process, inaccurate information, lack of standard procedural guidelines, and manual data entry. By categorizing the main pain points, I was able to then prioritize which issues to tackle first and inform the overall design solution.

Too many websites

  • Too many websites to tab through during search process

  • Different websites for each county present information differently

  • Takes extended time to build examiner package

  • Processors and examiners are both looking at the same websites

Manual note taking

  • Deed websites don't easily show when items are released so they are tracking them manually by writing on the paper-inconsistent workflow

  • Easier to scratch down information and then scan it back in versus editing the pdf

  • Processors print out paperwork for closers

Incorrect informatiom

  • Order of paperwork doesn't match deed information

  • Missing information on paperwork

  • Paperwork comes in from multiple sources with no specific template

Too many codes

  • Codes are not updated

  • Codes being used that shouldn't be used

  • Codes are stored under several different buckets making it inefficient to access

Transforming tribal knowledge into a streamlined user flow

Transforming tribal knowledge into a streamlined user flow

Transforming tribal knowledge into a streamlined user flow

Through collaborative insights from key team members possessing decades of experience and expertise, a streamlined user flow emerged. This enhanced flow optimizes efficiency, minimizes bottlenecks, and ensures a more intuitive and productive journey for the examiners as they are navigating and working through the title examination and search process.

The goal of this new user flow was not only to guide the design of the new Examiner portal but to ease the amount of shadowing and onboarding for new employees who were previously relying on the tribal knowledge of the senior examiners.

With the automation framework in place, the Title Midwest Examiner Portal is born.

With the automation framework in place, the Title Midwest Examiner Portal is born.

With the automation framework in place, the Title Midwest Examiner Portal is born.

Onboarding new users into the system

Landing screen for returning users and sign-up screen for new users who need to register within the Title Midwest system. Users will be met with an approval pending or denied message following the form fill out.

Admin Dashboard Home and metrics Screen (Admin only)

The admin dashboard and metrics screen provides a comprehensive snapshot of key metrics and trends, enabling administrators to make informed decisions and track progress through visually intuitive representations of complex data.

Examiner’s search review process screens

The title search examination screens provide a detailed and user-friendly interface for thorough examination, ensuring accurate and efficient processing of title searches within the system. Once an automated search is completed, the system will pull all relevant and necessary documents and information where examiners are then able to easily navigate, review, make notes for the final commitment.

Examiner’s search review screens
Examiner’s search review screens

Once an examiner has completed the search examination process, they will be able to review all critical notes, marks, and documents in the final review stage before submitting the search package.

Once an examiner has completed the search examination process, they will be able to review all critical notes, marks, and documents in the final review stage before submitting the search package.

Results

We successfully delivered 3 phases of a streamlined examiner portal automating the title search examination process, resulting in:

Increased Efficiency

Users report significant time savings, improved productivity resulting in higher order turnover rates by 55%, and improved accuracy throughout the examination process.

Standardized workflow

The implementation of a standard workflow drastically lessened dependence on tribal knowledge, facilitating a quicker ramp up and onboarding for new employees.

Positive user feedback

User feedback underscored the efficacy of automated processes in managing previously manual tasks, even though there were initial apprehensions that this technology might take over their workforce.

‹ Title Midwest

IBM x Airwire ›

Results

We successfully delivered 3 phases of a streamlined examiner portal automating the title search examination process, resulting in:

Increased Efficiency

Increased Efficiency

Users report significant time savings, improved productivity resulting in higher order turnover rates by 55%, and improved accuracy throughout the examination process.

Standardized workflow

The implementation of a standard workflow drastically lessened dependence on tribal knowledge, facilitating a quicker ramp up and onboarding for new employees.

Positive user feedback

Positive user feedback

User feedback underscored the efficacy of automated processes in managing previously manual tasks, even though there were initial apprehensions that this technology might take over their workforce.

‹ Stessa-Roofstock

‹ Title Midwest

IBM x Airwire ›

IBM x Airwire ›

Results

We successfully delivered 3 phases of a streamlined examiner portal automating the title search examination process, resulting in:

Increased Efficiency

Users report significant time savings, improved productivity resulting in higher order turnover rates by 55%, and improved accuracy throughout the examination process.

Standardized workflow

The implementation of a standard workflow drastically lessened dependence on tribal knowledge, facilitating a quicker ramp up and onboarding for new employees.

Positive user feedback

User feedback underscored the efficacy of automated processes in managing previously manual tasks, even though there were initial apprehensions that this technology might take over their workforce.

‹ Stessa-Roofstock

IBM x Airwire ›

Patricia Benavides

Patricia Benavides

Patricia Benavides

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© 2025 – Patti Benavides. All Rights Reserved.

Let's Connect

Email

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CV

© 2025 – Patti Benavides. All Rights Reserved.

Let's Connect

Email

LinkedIn

CV

© 2025 – Patti Benavides. All Rights Reserved.