Sandbox Mutual Insurance

Sandbox Mutual Insurance is a Saskatchewan-based mutual insurer with more than 115 years of history. Formerly known as Saskatchewan Mutual Insurance (SMI), the organization has long been rooted in serving families, farms, and communities across the province. But as customer expectations shifted and digital services became central to how people manage their lives, Sandbox recognized the need for a fundamental transformation.

Sandbox engaged zu with a clear ambition: to become a digital-first insurance provider, one that could meet customers where they are, simplify complex insurance journeys, and remain competitive for the next generation of policyholders. The challenge was not simply modernizing a website. It was reconciling a century of trust and legacy systems with the expectations of tech-savvy, self-service-oriented users.

The work began with a bold repositioning. Sandbox started where many mature organizations must when redefining their future: with a new name and identity. The Sandbox brand was designed to signal change both externally and internally: modern, friendly, and delightfully simple. The sandcastle mark and visual system nod to the company’s heritage while inviting creativity, experimentation, and approachability into an industry often defined by complexity.

Transformation, however, went far deeper than brand. zu worked closely with Sandbox to understand the technical landscape, security requirements, and real-world needs of employees, brokers, and policyholders. This discovery informed a "phygital" strategy, one that balanced physical presence and human support with digital tools that enable high levels of self-service.

From there, experience design took center stage. zu designed and developed a new public website alongside secure digital platforms for claims, brokers, and customers. Clear coverage descriptions, simple navigation, and intuitive workflows were prioritized to reduce friction and build confidence throughout the insurance journey. Behind the scenes, modern frameworks and integrations surfaced real-time insurance and claim data in ways that felt effortless to users.

The policyholder hub offers dashboards, claims submission and tracking with a pizza-tracker-inspired system, payments including ApplePay, and automated reminders. The broker hub mirrors the client experience and includes an AI-powered resource library, enabling brokers to respond efficiently. The staff view allows real-time session observation without live modifications, improving support accuracy and reducing operational friction.

The ecosystem is tightly integrated with policy management and other backend systems via APIs, with secure authentication handled through Auth0. Hosting and platform support are provided in Canadian data centers, ensuring the architecture meets regulatory compliance while maintaining high performance, uptime, and data integrity. Modular, API-first development enables future feature expansion and smooth vendor integrations.

A validated prototype became the foundation for all subsequent development, aligning teams around shared workflows, interface patterns, and long-term scalability. Security considerations were addressed in parallel, ensuring that ease of use never came at the expense of trust.

The result is a cohesive digital ecosystem that supports Sandbox’s evolution into a digital-first insurer. Customer satisfaction increased, adoption of self-service tools grew rapidly, and the organization strengthened its position as both a trusted mutual and a modern employer. By pairing empathetic design with invisible integration, Sandbox transformed how insurance is experienced, making it simpler, clearer, and firmly rooted in the future.