Applied Underwriters Invitational

Project Type

Web Design

Role

Designer

Link

Invitational.com

The Applied Underwriters Invitational is a nationwide golf tournament series designed to bring organizations together through philanthropy, networking, and shared community impact. With more than 85 tournaments hosted annually across the United States, each event supports a local charity and reinforces Applied Underwriters’ commitment to giving back.

The website functions as a central platform for communicating the scale and credibility of the Invitational. It supports a wide range of audiences by surfacing event information, host opportunities, participating charities, sponsorship details, press coverage, and tournament logistics, while also serving as a lead-generation tool for potential hosts and sponsors.

My Role

I took ownership of the UX execution after the initial handoff phase, acting as the primary designer responsible for the site’s evolution. My role focused on translating strategy into scalable, system-aligned solutions across devices.

Responsibilities included:

Designing responsive mobile and tablet experiences for all existing pages
Creating new sections and pages using established components and patterns
Making UX decisions that balanced clarity, flexibility, and system constraints
Collaborating closely with product, engineering, and stakeholders to validate direction
Ensuring designs were production-ready and easy to implement

The Challenge

I joined the project after the core desktop experience had already been designed and aligned to Applied Underwriters’ existing design system. The primary challenge was evolving the product responsibly without disrupting an established visual and structural foundation.

Extending a desktop-first experience to mobile and tablet without introducing inconsistencies

Designing for scalability across a growing number of events, locations, and content types

Introducing new pages and homepage sections while adhering to a strict design system

Ensuring usability and clarity across content-heavy views

Providing implementation-ready designs that minimized ambiguity for engineering

Design Strategy

The design strategy focused on extending an existing experience with discipline and intent rather than reinvention. My approach prioritized consistency, scalability, and clarity by leveraging the established design system and patterns already in place. New layouts and interactions were designed to feel native to the product while supporting growing content needs across devices.

Design Execution

Designing Within Constraints

Rather than reinventing visual language, I focused on leveraging the existing design system to its full potential. Consistency was treated as a feature, ensuring that new experiences felt cohesive and intentional rather than additive.

Responsive and Scalable Thinking

I approached responsiveness as more than layout adaptation. Content hierarchy, scanability, and interaction patterns were reconsidered at each breakpoint to ensure users could quickly find relevant information, especially across long lists of events and locations. To manage content density without overcomplicating the experience, we introduced a “Search by State” interaction that balanced usability with development scope.

Incremental Expansion

As the product matured, I designed new homepage sections and supporting pages to highlight social engagement and host opportunities. One such addition was a “Stay Connected” section that integrated social media content through a carousel experience, reinforcing the energy and community behind the Invitational while driving users to external channels.

I also designed a Host Portal page that guided prospective sponsors and hosts through the value and expectations of hosting an event. This page reused existing components such as accordions, CTAs, and content blocks, reinforcing system integrity while supporting a new business goal.

Outcomes

The final experience provided a consistent, responsive, and scalable platform capable of supporting a growing number of tournaments, charities, and sponsors. Clear design documentation and system-aligned layouts reduced implementation friction and allowed engineering to move efficiently.

The Applied Underwriters Invitational website was recognized with an Indigo Design Award in 2025, with judges highlighting its ability to communicate both the excitement of the events and the philanthropic mission behind them.

Key Takeaways

This project reinforced the importance of UX stewardship over visual reinvention. Taking ownership of an existing product required strong judgment, respect for established systems, and a focus on long-term scalability rather than short-term design expression.

I strengthened my ability to: