Product Design Intern @ Justworks:
Helping small business employees navigating life’s big moments with clarity and confidenceOn the Benefit – Health team, I led the redesign of the legacy employee insurance update experience from problem framing and user testing to design, enabling 170k+ employees of SMBs to retain access to high-quality health benefits during life events (aka. QLE
OUTCOMESI delivered dev-ready prototype, research results, streamlining experience across two product lines of JW’s ecosystem to improve user retention, reduce support tickets and Ops work lift.
Side project – Designed and shipped a plan selection onboarding page with an engineer peer, reducing onboarding time and support outreach.
TEAM2 PMs
Content Designer
Software Engineers
Business Operations
TIMELINEMay - Aug 2024
Most of us experience a few Qualifying Life Events (QLE) at some point. You know, life stuff.
“Significant life changes that make individuals eligible to make health insurance changes outside the annual open enrollment period.”
A few QLE examples IRL
😢 🥰 🤯
Big life moments bring a lot emotions –the happy and the tough ones, plus the responsibility of updating health insurance.
Employees
It’s another overwhelming task on an already packed to-do list—with deadlines, forms, and confusion.
Ops team
Over 200k+ employees rely on Justworks to manage their health insurance during transitions. Confusing steps meant more support tickets and more time spent untangling the mess.HMW
Reimagine a guided experience to reduce friction and support users in managing health insurance with confidence during life events?
Break down 1 long form
Match the design with the first thing come up in the user’s mind.
UI updates to reduce user’s cognitive load
User can explore new insurance options ahead of time to feel more confident with the upcoming changes.
Want to dive deeper into my design process ?
• Research •
I started by talking to internal stakeholders since the problems are not well defined (no PRD)
I pin pointed areas that have the potential to improve user experience. I involved content designer in this process since the flow is information heavy.
METHOD TWO
Interviewing internal experts (PMs, designers, Ops, etc.) to gather insights and secondary data on the benefits management flow designed for life events.
I scheduled multiple meetings with them to ask clarifying questions — past product requirements, common areas of complaint, and their vision for what employees need most.
Primary takeaways that shaped what and how I planned to test with users
The form-heavy experience lacks structure and guidance. It feels overwhelming rather than helpful when users is already navigating a complex and high-stakes process—filled with deadlines, documentation, and unfamiliar terms.
TAKEAWAY TWOThe IA may not match users’ mental model.
“I want to make changes to my insurance” vs. “”I had a QLE”. Which one comes to users’ mind first, and the entry point aligns with how they think?
TAKEAWAY THREEThe emotional context of life events is often overlooked in the UI and language used.
Not all life events are joyful. Some, like divorce or the loss of a loved one, are emotionally difficult. The language, tone, and visual design of the interface should reflect empathy and provide a sense of support.
I designed multiple versions of prototypes with an ideal experience in mind and ran a number of user testing. Here are a few things I tested...
User testing objectives:
To validate our assumptions such as user’s mental model, the overall user experience of the flow, their response to view and select new insurance plans before receive admin’s approved, and identify area of improvement for copy (including the voice and tone)
View the detailed research plan here
THE WHATWhat if managing health benefit feels like shopping...?
THE WHATEntry point
Instead of “request QLE”, the first thing came to people’s mind is to “change my insurance”
Users know the term QLE only when they have prior experience. This is an opportunity to educate users the rights they have as employee.
Users need clear guidance when they are in the process, and also what’s after because insurance change is a big thing.
Adapting interaction to effectively handle different use cases while addressing user pain points
VISUALIZATION OF THE SYSTEM
For example, the flow and requirement are different when the user is updating their insurance due to birth of child vs. getting married.
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Thank you for stopping by!
Summer Intern @ Justworks