Problem

Currently, customers of health insurance plans can manage their healthcare through web applications that are accessible via desktop and mobile devices. However, the applications are primarily developed for the desktop. Claims management, viewing deductibles, contacting the health care provider, etc. is done via the website or telephone. Health Insurance providers have also begun providing mobile health solutions through applications published on various application stores such as the Apple app store or Google Play. However, they have limited acceptance among end users. 

Insight

Team Healthx is a group of four master's students in the Human-Computer Interaction program in the Human-Centered Computing department at the School of Informatics and Computing, Indiana University, Indianapolis. In association with Healthx, we started researching and designing a competitive, next-generation mobile application for health insurance providers seeking to better engage with their members. The application is meant to serve individuals with health insurance who need a quick and easy way to interact with their health care plan as well as track and improve their quality of life on a daily basis.  

Process

Below are the top five competitors. After reviewing their apps and reviews of their apps, two common themes stood out.

1. Applications need to be built for tablets as well as small handheld devices.

2. Many people’s initial reason for downloading the app was for the digital ID card.

Functional requirements

• Users can log into the app to view their healthcare information

• Users can access their Insurance ID card

• Users can manage claims for all the members in their healthcare plan

• Users can access information of their own, as well as that of dependents

• Users can find doctors and specialists

• Users can contact doctors

• Healthx can add integrations and modify the application to suit the needs of individual Payers and healthcare Provider

Usability requirements

• An easy to use interface that allows users to get started right away

• The information is organized in an easy to understand manner

• The information is secure

• The information is easily accessible

User requirements

• Users will require a smart device such as a smartphone or a tablet

• Users will require access to the internet via the smart devices

• All information accessed and requested should fall under the federal regulations (HIPAA Compliance)

Scenario

Information Architecture

Certain features like Account Overview and the ID Card are present higher up, representing that they are a part of the top-level navigation. The yellow fields indicate that these menu items will be spots for integrating various third-party services. 

Solution

Key features

• The Healthx mobile application would allow users to track their deductible and HSA/FSA accounts, track claims for all the members on the plan, view and request new ID cards, find doctors based on their specific requirements, and communicate with their primary care physicians via a secure messaging service.

• When users log into the application, they are greeted with a main screen that shows their deductible information in a graphical format using a donut chart. A tab view is used to show the various categories of their health plan, i.e. Medical, Dental, and Vision. The claims history is also shown in a tabbed layout.

• Hamburger-style navigation is used to access the various sections of the application. The app user can access any of the aforementioned features of the application via these menu items. 

Wireframing

Summary of product assessment

• Complex Terminology and Jargon

• Confusing Navigation

• Confusing Messaging Feature

Card sorting 

In order to improve the experience for new users, a card sorting study was conducted. It was a closed card sort, where the information categories were fixed, and participants were tasked with putting each menu item into the category that they found most appropriate. 

Results

Summative testing

• Total Participants: 10

• Number of Tasks: 6

• Platform: Mobile

• Type of study: Detailed study of a single application on one platform.

• Software used: Lookback.io, Google drive, Google survey.

• Metrics: Time on Task, Lostness, SUS

• Average Time taken: 25 minutes.

Each task was administered to the user in the form of a scenario. The test script for the summative evaluation can be found in the appendix. The following features were tested:

1. Identifying deductibles

2. ID Card

3. Checking a Claim

4. Renewing a Prescription

5. Explaining Coverage

6. Notification Setting

Key Takeaways

• The Average SUS score across all participants was 81.5.

• Participants had very positive feedback about the ID card feature.

• Task #3 was the most difficult task for the users and the users spent the maximum amount of time on it. Lostness calculations also mirrored these observations.

• A more detailed view of claims history was desired. Certain participants said that a way to sort the different columns on the claims page on the homepage would make the task of finding information easier.

• The donut chart view was received well overall, with the main feedback being that the chart should be annotated with more data or a legend to denote the meaning of various sections.

• The find menu item was universally confusing, as it implied a global search within the app. 

Second Iteration

After we received feedback from the first round of usability evaluations, we made changes to the prototype. 

• Fixed menu added for bottom navigation. It consists of three buttons- Pay a claim, Send a message, ID Card

• Added Deductible label above Donut chart

• Changed main menu item Finder to 'Find a service'

• Changed position of buttons for 'Find a Doctor' and 'Find a Pharmacy'

Product pitch video

Poster

With Dushyant Shrikhande, Lawrence Moore and Natalie Hall

Individual contribution and Takeaways

This project was designed in collaboration with Healthx and School of Informatics and Computing, Indiana University, Indianapolis.

This project had an immense learning curve due to the fact that health insurance is one of least explored domains when it comes to user experience. It required us to learn user behavior with respect to his usage of his health insurance. Not only did privacy laws like HIPAA come into picture, but also the amount of information that can be shared by the user with his doctor. The market research enabled us to understand the existing applications present on the AppleStore and Google PlayStore. Each team member was equally responsible right from the conceptualization of the project to the final submission of the report.  The unique backgrounds and experiences of each team member provide the advantage of an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the problem space.  One of the key design decisions that we took for the capstone was focusing on the core user experience as opposed to adding extraneous features in an attempt to get users engaged to the application. 

I gained valuable experience in collaborating with teammates in designing the information architecture of the application as well as coming up with a visual design layout that was somewhat consistent with the existing design guidelines at Healthx. I was also responsible in creating infographics for presenting the findings of the market research and testing. I had hands-on experience working with After Effects to create the product pitch video. The poster for the Final Capstone event was presented on 29th April, 2016.