the client

Optum Electronic Payments and Statements offers providers and payers an online solution to setup direct payment from payers to their bank account, access their latest claim payment documents, search for historical payment information, and manage user access to their account.  

the challenge

The client was looking to provide better information design for their claim reports, a more user friendly enrollment process, a streamlined claim search tool, and an enhanced user dashboard with data visualizations that surface important claim information directly to the user. 

MY ROLE

I served as user experience lead on the project, working within the experience team made up of one other UX designer and a user interface (UI) designer.   

utilized user-centered design methods

I planned and coordinated user research activities,  such as user interviews, and leveraged the collected intelligence to drive and prioritize new product features and existing feature enhancements.

design execution

I created design specifications, including wireframes, workflow diagrams, site maps and personas that define the features, functionality, and design patterns used within the site.

Design, Test, Iterate

I built a clickthrough prototype using Axure software and used this to test the designs using remote user-testing techniques. We prioritized future enhancements with a focus on high-priority usability issues. We regularly user tested throughout the design and development phases. 

Ensure Quality Deliverables

I pushed to ensure our design artifacts and assets were delivered on time, of the highest quality, and maintained a consistent visual language and style across the systems we were building.

First Step: talking with customers

Our first goal was to talk with current customers about how they use the service and ask them about what they like and dislike about it. We worked fast to find local users in the area who are regular users of the system and asked them to show us their actual work environment, tools, and applications in their work space. They walked us through a typical interaction with the EPS website.  

These interviews gave us insight into what aspects of the system worked well - such as the remittance search feature and PDF download service - but they also revealed major gaps in the experience that stunned us. For instance, users were completely unaware of how to add additional users to their organization's account. This resulted in users sharing their login credentials around their office. This was a major revelation that immediately focused our attention on insuring users had a deeper awareness to core administrative controls they have access to within the site.

heighten awareness of features via coach notes

To bring awareness of features and functionality, we designed a series of help tips that would appear the first time the user visited a page. These "coach notes" served to highlight features and information across each page and encouraged the user to try-out tools they may have otherwise overlooked. The user could invoke these helpful notes at any time via "Help Me With This Page" links at the top of every page.

inline assistance that keeps the user engaged

I designed a help assistant component that provided helpful tutorials and advice throughout the application. The widget was contained within a panel that was anchored to the bottom-right corner of the user's window. The panel would pop-up via links throughout the application - recognized by a small book icon. Once invoked, the pane would persist, even when the user would click from page to page. All help content displayed within the panel would be housed in a central location that was content managed. This allowed the business team to make updates to the content as the site would evolve. 

actionable insights and reporting tools available right on the dashboard

Another finding we gleaned from user interviews was that billing administrators want their payment data served up to them with as few clicks as possible. "Please don't make me work hard. I have enough on my plate as it is" was something we heard more than once. This lead to a concept for an "information dense dashboard" or homepage that surfaced payment summaries and visualizations of payment data directly to the user. Below are a few data widgets we designed. Notice the small blue report icons. This was a highly requested feature for this reporting tool that exported the reports to Excel, making it easy for the user to share these insights with their internal teams. 

better information design for payment detaiLS

User survey feedback collected by the product team showed that users struggled with the layout and information design for the claim and remittance detail pages. Finding a specific payment amount within the page was difficult due to the confusing layout of the data grid (see the 'before' screen below). Our goal was to produce a new layout and order for the payment details to make scanning and finding the information easier.

BEFORE

AFTER

During testing, we created specific tasks that asked users to find certain dollar amounts and codes listed within the payment details. This was a task they would ordinarily do everyday with our system. We timed these tasks and found that the new layout had reduced browse time dramatically.

Rapid prototyping and testing

In order to validate our designs, we used Axure prototyping software and remote usability testing techniques. Our tests were conducted over teleconference using screen sharing tools. This allowed us to get feedback on these new features quickly. We also recruited from the current pool of EPS users, which cut recruiting time and costs in half.

Reflection

Interviewing customers gave us tremendous insight into the current user experience. It revealed a massive issue that needed to be addressed immediately. By using rapid prototyping and testing techniques, we were able to quickly spin-up a clickable demonstration we could get in front of users, and get feedback on the designs quickly. This series of user research activities is something I continue to use on every project I'm involved in.