The Gen-Z Onboarding Project
The Gen-Z Onboarding Project
A healthcare organization serving over 4 million members found that satisfaction and plan understanding was lowest among their youngest members. How could we improve new member onboarding experiences for this demographic? Using focus groups of 6-10 members, I worked with another researcher to identify areas of confusion and dissatisfaction in our online portal and plan materials. Ideation workshops were used to develop solutions for new member journeys.
According to a monthly survey given to our healthcare members, plan understanding is lowest among members under 27 or those in "generation Z". This group also reports low satisfaction with their welcome experience--or the materials they encounter when they first join our healthcare plans.
How can we use research to improve the welcome experience and plan understanding of our youngest healthcare members?
Executive Strategy Team
(1) Market Analytics Intern, (1) Product Performance Intern, (1) Service Design Intern (Me)
~4 weeks
Background/Desk Research
Before beginning qualitative research, we wanted to figure out what we already know about pain points and feedback from this demographic of healthcare members. I created a Mural board that documented all relevant internal company materials related to this issue and summarized each document. I found that shopping for a healthcare plan and confidence in plan was low due to complex and disparate materials. We used these insights to inform our research design.
Recruitment and Protocol Planning
With a limited budget and timeline, we leveraged the summer internship program to gather free and highly accessible input from young adults who had recently started or were planning to start their own healthcare plans. We recruited individuals for focus groups by sending screener surveys to all interns at the enterprise.
Our research aimed to identify feelings and questions that new members have when shopping for and navigating a new healthcare plan. Because of this focus on attitudes and beliefs, we chose to use focus group as a way to gather diverse input quickly. I designed protocols for focus groups that built rapport, gathered feedback on current state materials and welcome journeys, and ended with co-creation brainstorming sessions to gather ideas for improving the new member journey.
Focus Groups and Synthesis
I facilitated 2, 90-minuted focus groups among interns who will soon transition off their parents' health insurance plans to their own plans. We spoke to 11 respondents in total. As a team, we synthesized our findings to highlight 3 high-level concepts that new members wanted in their welcome experience: Transparency, Personalization, and Accessibility.
We summarized and presented our findings to executive leadership. Our presentation showed direct quotes and data points for each level of the new member welcome experience, from shopping for a healthcare plan to setting up their first appointment. We gave executive leadership 6 concrete recommendations directly tied to our data for improving our welcome experience for gen-Z members.