Erie Insurance, a prominent player in the U.S. insurance industry and a regular on the Fortune 500 list, boasts over 6,000 employees across more than 20 field offices. Serving over 6 million policyholders in 12 states and the District of Columbia, Erie has been committed to its core value of exceptional customer service since its inception in 1925. Their motto, “The ERIE is Above All in SERvIcE,” reflects this dedication.

While Erie’s customer portal had been mobile-responsive for years, the need for native iOS and Android applications became evident to enhance the digital customer experience. However, without mobile-specific developers, Erie faced a challenge. They needed a solution to quickly create these applications using their existing resources.

Having collaborated with Mendix for over six years on a vital portal for commercial insurance agents, Erie was confident in the speed and flexibility offered by low-code development. At Mendix World 2021, Andy Luebke, Senior Solutions Engineer, and Mike Grimes, Senior Software Engineer, shared how low-code agility facilitated their app development journey.

Reimagining Web-Based Needs

Erie had several key requirements for their native apps:

• Full control over development
• Ability to quickly respond to feedback and iterate
• Strong emphasis on security
• Maximizing the capabilities of native applications, including on-device features like biometrics, the camera, and the gyroscope

The transition to a native application allowed Erie to streamline user interactions, focusing on primary actions such as viewing ID cards and making payments. Grimes, the technical lead on the project, emphasized the importance of reassessing their web-based portal to align with their native application goals. This reassessment ensured that both platforms would work seamlessly together.

Leveraging Native Application Features

The Erie app showcases the advantages of native development from the moment it opens. Customers can use biometric authentication for logging in, eliminating the need for passwords and enhancing user convenience. The main page of the app prioritizes essential actions like accessing policy information, payments, and ID cards. This user-centric design was achieved using Mendix’s nanoflow-to-microflow workflows, which ensure secure and reusable connections to Erie’s data center. Secondary actions are neatly organized into menus to avoid clutter.

Enhancing Platform Flexibility and Iteration

To refine their platform, Erie’s team incorporated custom code and developed several custom widgets, including partial- and full-page modals. These widgets provided a clear and straightforward way to present information to customers. Another significant feature was the ability to view, share, and download PDFs within the app, allowing users to access their ID cards without leaving the app environment.

Mike Grimes highlighted this feature’s importance: “Instead of forcing the customer to download the PDF and then viewing them in a separate app, we display it within our own application, ensuring they stay focused within our workflow.”

These custom widgets were created using React Native third-party libraries imported into the Mendix platform. Despite being new to mobile development, the Erie team managed to navigate the complexities of developing for both iOS and Android, as well as integrating their customized widgets. Mendix Studio Pro facilitated this process by providing robust testing environments.

As Mendix’s platform capabilities evolved, Erie increasingly utilized out-of-the-box features instead of custom components. For instance, they initially built a custom widget for displaying SVG images in a React Native application. When Mendix introduced this functionality, Erie transitioned to the Mendix-provided solution. Grimes noted, “We usually prefer to stick with base applications as much as possible to simplify future updates.”

A Flexible Solution for Future

Today, Erie Insurance offers both native iOS and Android applications, significantly enhancing their digital customer experience and competitive edge. This achievement was made possible without any mobile developers on staff. By adopting a low-code approach and partnering with Mendix, Erie gained the confidence and capability to develop and maintain native mobile apps using existing resources.

This solution not only meets current customer expectations but also positions Erie to attract and retain customers for years to come, ensuring their services remain competitive and user-friendly in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Photo by Towfiqu barbhui (unsplash.com)