Blue Shield of CA
User Research & Product Redesign
Client:
Blue Shield of CA
Timeline:
6 months
​
Roles:
User Research & Design
​
Tools:
Figma, UserTesting (formerly UserZoom), Microsoft Teams
​Challenge:
This health plan's HMO plan was losing $127 per member per month on members who weren't utilizing the plan (members with 0 claims), versus $88 PMPM on healthy plan members. Retention was also an issue. Members would enroll, but switch plans after the first year. I was tasked with finding out why enrolled Trio members were not using their plan, what they were unsatisfied with, and what strategic improvements could be made to increase member retention.
Annual Losses:
$127 PMPM
Per Member Per Month
6 point NPS drop
Net Promotor Score as it relates to member satisfaction
Solution:
The plan strategy was developed during 2022 to address significant financial losses and improve the quality of care and the member experience by developing a new guided digital onboarding process. This was aimed at ensuring the appropriate plan selection and guiding members through their plan benefits at the start of enrollment.
I used the double-diamond design process to create and facilitated surveys, interviews, and usability studies of our member population to define and discover plan onboarding and benefit pain points. I then collaborated with the health plan's Product Strategy team, and Covered CA Portfolio Team to create a product definition that outlined the necessary capabilities for a new digital onboarding process and virtual health risk assessment. Finally, I supported my manager in developing and delivering digital onboarding recommendations and design modification mockups.
Define & Discover
Interview Insights:
To gain perspective on the current state, I conducted 10 45-mintute interviews with both the health plan employees and non health plan employees that reflected our member population. The interviews provided us with qualitative data on why members selected their plans, how they utilized their plans, their relationships with their primary care providers, their onboarding experience, and feelings around plan renewal.
5 IFP Interviewees
5 Existing Plan Members
Survey Insights:
I also conducted 8 surveys of California residents enrolled in health plans that focused on:
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Overall member pain points
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Their plan selection criteria
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Their onboarding experience
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Their primary care provider selection criteria
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Their experience selecting a primary care provider
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Their experience with the providers in their network
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Whether or not they would reenroll, and why
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Their ideal benefits
Example interview conducted through UserTesting
Study Output:​
We found that many study participants struggled with the HMO onboarding process, and the selection of a trusted primary care provider.
Personas:​
In collaboration with the product strategy team and the health solutions team personas were used to make human-centered recommendations for plan enhancements that would drive the most benefit.
Despite choosing the plan, members do not always know what they've signed up for.
Finding a trusted provider and building that relationship is where the difficulty lies.
Develop
Initial View
Illustrative: A simple popup screen with the simple capability of linking the user to their main member dashboard
First Iteration
Initial process map
First design mockups of popup window used in usability testing
The Onboarding Process Evolution: ​
The difference between existing digital onboarding, and new design mockups include:​
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Full-screen lightbox instead of partial window takeover for popup onboarding window
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Improved and simplified messaging
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Direct and simple calls to action
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Adding a benefits needs survey to provide appropriate care management recommendations
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Adding a post-survey screen to thank participants for completing the survey
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Improved messaging around PCP auto-assignment
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Improved call to action to schedule first PCP assignment with information about the associated $0 co-pay
Final Iteration
Prototyping iteration process done in Figma
Usability Testing:
Usability testing of onboarding mock-ups performed better than existing onboarding designs overall (however results were not statistically significant due to testing platform limitations).
The redesigned onboarding full-screen lightbox had a 0% exit rate compared to the original 20% exit rate, and survey skips were decreased by 50%.
Design System / Style Guide:
Primary Colors:
Accent Colors:
Typography:
Heading 1
Inter | Medium | 32px
Heading 1
Inter | Bold | 32px
Heading 2
Heading 2
Inter | Medium | 24px
Inter | Bold | 24px
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
Inter | Bold | 24px
Inter | Medium | 24px
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
Inter | Medium | 22px
Inter | Bold | 22px
Link
Link
Inter | Medium | 20px
Inter | Bold | 20px
Iconography:
Final Mockup
Final onboarding process mockup of popup windows with simplified benefit language and clear calls to action
Deliver
Results:
We aligned with the health plan's Covered CA Team on the recommended onboarding flow and associated virtual health risk assessment. Recommendations were approved by stakeholders, and implemented. The product redesign produced cost savings between $5-10M from risk adjustment and improved disease management.
Reflection:
My survey research was limited to the members and member size available through the Userzoom platform, so that data is not completely representative of the products member demographics. Next time I would place more strict filters and screening criteria to ensure we are get perspectives that are representative of the member population. This project has taught me how difficult it can be to gain diverse perspectives through a limited research budget. I also realized how valuable qualitative data is to understanding member or customer motivations. Interviews allowed me to dig deeper into the things that influenced their purchasing behavior and improve overall plan messaging.