Medicare Customer Journey Map and Site Revamp

The previous Medicare site was lacking in content and was not helpful to the users. A Customer Journey Mapping session helped to map out the user's journey and the pain points. The site was revamped to meet customers where they were at.

Case Study

BACKGROUND

Selecting and purchasing a Medicare plan is a long confusing process for consumers that generally takes about 18 months. Not only do people need to learn about how this complex government program works and the types of Medicare plans available, they also need to research prices and offerings from various companies. People are very confused by the options available, and the complicated rules associated with a government program.

PROBLEM

Previously, the Medicare section on HealthPartners consumer-facing site asked users to pick a state (Minnesota or Wisconsin), then the plans options were displayed in a super long table. The experience was not helpful to consumers, and people were not spending much time on the site. Marketing research suggested that Medicare buyers came to the site at many different phases of the buying process. People wanted to find information that was relevant to their place in the process. However, the HealthPartners site did not guide users through the Medicare education and plan selection process.

In addition, HealthPartners was about to expand into new markets where getting people to switch plans was a key market. People in this group "switchers" have an entirely different set of questions, about the rules for switching to a new Medicare plan.

Finally, we needed content for current Medicare members, and an easy path for them to answer their questions about prescription drug coverage, coverage while traveling, etc.

MY PROCESS

Not only were consumers confused about Medicare - the team working on the project (including me) needed to learn about Medicare too. My first step was to attend a HealthPartners Medicare Information meeting, where real potential customers came to learn about the plan offerings and ask a great deal of questions. The variety of questions, and the desire for people to get answers was astonishing.

To help us learn more about the research that the marketing team had, and to help us map out the 18-month Medicare sales process, I moderated a Customer Journey Mapping session with the marketing partners for Medicare to learn more about the journey users go through when buying Medicare. The Journey Mapping process helped to identify the various stages, as well as the pain points. Next, we met with a larger group of Medicare stakeholders (including customer service reps, and sales reps) to validate the journey map as well as fill in the gaps.

After the journey map was complete, I performed a competitive analysis on other competing sites in the market were solving the problem of meeting customers at the stage where they were at in the buying process, and how they educate users about the Medicare.

Deliverables:

• Competitive Analysis

• Customer Journey Mapping

• Content Strategy

• New Site Map

• Wireframes/Prototype

SOLUTION

Using the Journey Mapping document, I mapped out an improved flow to the site. The main page with the map  was replaced with a set of content blocks that allowed users to identify what they were on the site to do - essentially where they were at in the buying process. They we gave them the information they were looking for. The long tables of plan information were replaced by user-friendly abbreviated tables that highlighted perks and benefits, such as a free gym membership, which were key to being competitive.