CDPHP — Transforming a health insurance company’s secure digital experience with co-creation.
Overview
CDPHP (Capital District Physicians' Health Plan) is a healthcare insurance company servicing 24 counties in New York State.
CDPHP partnered with We Are Experience (WAE) to conduct user-centered research that would transform the redesign of the company’s secure digital experience. They wanted to understand who their digital portal users were and to identify areas of opportunity to rethink the site and inform UX strategy and design.
My Role
Lead Design Strategist & Researcher
I led this initiative from concept to completion. Using a participatory research approach, I planned, developed, and facilitated co-creation workshops and contextual interviews for CDPHP customers across 4 segments.
I managed each step of the research process from turning the objectives into hypotheses, designing the workshop and interview activities, facilitating the interviews, and synthesizing and communicating insights.
The data and insights uncovered through the research were developed into findings reports, personas, and an internal CDPHP stakeholder workshop. These deliverables were then provided to a creative agency (KMV Digital) to inform the CDPHP secure digital experience redesign.
Duration: 9 weeks (2 phases, 2 customer segments each)
Objectives
The objectives of this research engagement were both evaluative and generative. We wanted to (1) understand the needs, habits, and expectations of CDPHP’s 4 core customer segments, and (2) use the insights to inspire the creative and business teams to rethink the secure experience with new and innovative ideas.
The 4 core CDPHP customer segments were: members, employers, healthcare providers, and insurance brokers.
Choosing the Methodology
I designed a research program that combined exploratory and in-depth methods for each of CDPHP’s 4 different target segments. Due to scheduling constraints, we divided the research into 2 phases, with each phase covering discussions with 2 customer segments. I reasoned that because the “end” customer of members and employers was the individual, these segments were likely to have “B2C” (business to consumer) relationships with CDPHP. Similarly, healthcare providers and insurance brokers were likely to have “B2B” (business to business) relationships with CDPHP. Thus, members and employers were grouped into the first phase and providers and brokers into the second.
In order to maximize the number of participants while also achieving depth with each discussion, we moved ahead with Co-creation Workshops with groups of members. Individual Contextual In-depth Interviews were planned for the other 3 segments given scheduling conflicts of healthcare professionals and the possibility of handling sensitive information.
Because CDPHP was new to participatory design and the final objective of the research was to inspire the business and creative teams, I also planned an Alignment Workshop for the internal CDPHP team at the end of the engagement as a jumping off point to rethink and redesign the experience.
Co-creation Workshop
My team moderated 2-hour group workshops with 3 sets of “online-active” members, grouped by age. They were asked to complete a series of co-creative activities and tasks that prompted them to articulate their emotions, needs, and ideas about the ideal experience. The group setting helped identify common experiences. (n=18)
Contextual In-depth Interviews
We conducted 21 customized 1-on-1 interviews at providers’, employers’, and brokers’ offices. The office setting provided meaningful context for their CDPHP experiences. We learned about specific needs and pain points with CDPHP unique to each organization and gathered ideas for improvement. (n=21)
Internal Alignment Workshop
To inspire the internal CDPHP creative and business teams and help the team internalize our findings, I planned a co-creative workshop to turn everyone into advocates of our research. CDPHP was new to the participatory design and I thought that the workshop would (1) be a fun and energetic deviation from their work routine and (2) provide the team with valuable leave-behinds. (n=28)
Designing the Co-creation Workshops & Contextual Interviews
Each discussion was divided into to parts: (1) Understanding the Current Mindset and (2) Co-designing the Future Experience. In order to generate new ideas and understand the “why’s” behind customer’s ideas, we needed to evaluate their current experience first.
Understanding the Current Mindset
CDPHP as Metaphor
We gave members a set of 20 image cards and asked them to choose one image that represented how they felt about CDPHP’s secure digital experience today and tomorrow.
Build a Story
We asked members to share their most recent experience with CDPHP and to describe the quality of the interaction using the worksheet to the right as a guide. Similar themes emerged as customers spoke about their experiences, despite having completed different tasks.
Humanize the Language
In order to understand the level of familiarity our participants had with health insurance terms, we created a customized version of the game Taboo. Participants were given cards like the ones at right and asked to provide a definition in their own words while their teammates guessed the correct term. We were able to determine several key insights about people’s understanding of health insurance vocabulary through this exercise.
Co-designing the Future Experience
Ideation Exercise
We asked members to share any ideas or features they would like to see in the future to improve their CDPHP experience. We used the format of “I want _______ because ______.” on preprinted post-its to encourage them to think about not only the features, but their needs as well.
Ideal Personality
We gave participants a set of 14 archetype cards and asked them to choose 1-3 cards that represented the ideal “personality” they thought CDPHP should have.
Look & Feel
To understand how members would react to different design strategies, we presented an “Art Gallery” showcasing the digital presence of a group of companies with strong digital branding. Each mood board emphasized a distinct concept. We asked members to choose which board represented what they wanted the “look” of CDPHP to be.
Insights Uncovered
“In a chocolate selection, you never really know what you’re getting, so you have to squeeze them to see. It would be great to have a diagram or guide [for the CDPHP portal].”
— Bill, CDPHP member
“I want [the CDPHP portal] to be a closet, but not just any closet. Organized, but also updated. It should be fashionable with the most up-to-date clothing styles.”
— Heather, CDPHP member
“I’ve been working with my old provider rep for so long. He gave me some tricks and I’ve been able to pass on the tricks to other people.”
— Jean, Provider Billing Manager
Communicating Results
We communicated the results of our research in several different formats.
Findings Report & Ecosystem Map
We delivered findings to the CDPHP through two meticulously drafted findings reports. Because we had collected a large quantity of data and identified common themes and distinctions across segments, we included an ecosystem map of how each group interacted with each other. We were also able to provide recommends such as creating unique tools for Higher Ed customers, who were previously categorized as employers.
Personas Development
As we moved through the phases of research, I realized that we had collected enough data to identify common themes and differences within the broader customer segments. As such my team also developed 10 personas for CDPHP to aid redesign. We included each persona’s key characteristics, attitude toward, drivers to, pain points, and desired features for the site, as well as our impressions of their insurance and digital profiles.
Internal Alignment Workshop
To help aid the delivery of findings and turn CDPHP stakeholders into advocates of our research, I planned an interactive internal alignment workshop. We asked them to co-create using the personas, among other activities.
Redesign & Outcomes
The data and insights uncovered were provided to a creative agency (KMV Digital) to redesign the new CDPHP experience. We received positive feedback from CDPHP for the research engagement - results from the redesign are below.
324% increase in conversion rates
92% decrease in cost per acquisition
10% reduction in call center volume
Source: KMV Digital
