End-to-end design for HDFC Life International — a consumer platform for NRIs buying USD-denominated insurance. A distinct visual identity (line-art + red/blue duotone), a real-time education calculator, and Etty virtual assistant replaced the parent brand's domestic template with something that speaks to the global Indian.
NRIs (non-resident Indians) live a financial life with one foot in two countries — earning in dollars, supporting family in India, planning retirement abroad, sending kids to college overseas. The existing insurance buying journeys treated them as a footnote of the domestic experience: same forms, same illustrations, same tone, with USD-denominated products clipped on as an afterthought.
The brief was to launch HDFC Life International (the IFSC-licensed, GIFT-City-based subsidiary) as a consumer-facing site that actually speaks to the global Indian — visually distinct from the parent brand, emotionally tuned to the cross-border life, and clear about USD products + tax/regulatory differences without hiding behind jargon.
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ HDFC LIFE INTERNATIONAL │ │ "Live Limitless. Live Proud." │ │ │ │ ┌──────────────┐ ┌────────────┐ ┌────────────────┐ │ │ │ Education │ │ Retirement │ │ Health │ │ │ │ (Nurture) │ │ (Strong) │ │ (Abundant) │ │ │ └──────┬───────┘ └──────┬─────┘ └───────┬────────┘ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ▾ ▾ ▾ │ │ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ Education Calculator Engine │ │ │ │ child age × destination × stream → forecast │ │ │ │ ┌─────────────┐ ┌────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ Parameters │ │ Real-time Forecast │ │ │ │ │ │ (left) │──▸│ Graph (right) │ │ │ │ │ └─────────────┘ └────────────────────────┘ │ │ │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ │ │ │ │ ▾ │ │ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ Etty — Virtual Assistant │ │ │ │ Buy · Track · Pay · Loan · Contact · Downloads │ │ │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
I owned this end-to-end — visual direction, UI, micro-interactions, the line-art illustrations, the animation, and the user flows. The "Live Limitless. Live Proud." positioning anchored the voice; three identity verbs — Nurture, Strong, Abundant — each got a dedicated line-art illustration that animates in on scroll, drawn so the same visual language could carry across product, marketing, and content surfaces.
Each product line (Education, Retirement, Health) got its own emotional anchor mapped to a specific NRI life moment — sending a kid abroad to study, retiring anywhere in the world, accessing care globally. The header CTAs (Tools / Pay Premium / Login) stay consistent across surfaces while the body adapts to the anchor.
The Education calculator was the conversion engine. Most insurance UIs are either a wall of math or a black box; I designed a two-pane structured + visualised flow where parameters (child age × destination × stream) project against a forecast graph in real time, with the matching plan and required premium surfaced on the right. Math becomes obvious instead of intimidating.
In parallel I designed Etty — HDFC Life's virtual assistant — for the parent brand. Same product family, same visual DNA, just compacted into a launcher-and-panel chatbot pattern that handles policy queries, premium payments, downloads, and quick-reach actions. A small launcher invites you in; the full panel takes over with a structured action grid (Buy a Policy / Track Request / Pay Premium / Loan against Policy / Contact Us / Downloads) so the bot can route you to the right surface without making you type if you don't want to.
- CONTRIBUTIONS
- —End-to-end UI, micro-interactions, animation, user flows
- —Heuristic evaluation on insurance quote app — 24% reduction in journey time
- —Designed Etty — HDFC Life's virtual assistant chatbot
The brand now has a recognisable, ownable visual language — line-art with red/blue duotone — that scales across products without leaning on the parent brand's template.
Live at hdfclife-international.com. The redesigned insurance quote experience cut journey time by 24% in heuristic evaluation, translating into a 24% reduction in drop-off across the funnel.
Beyond numbers: the brand now has a recognisable, ownable visual language — line-art with red/blue duotone — that scales across products, marketing collateral, and the Knowledge Centre, without leaning on the parent brand's template.