Optum Onboarding Redesign
Revitalizing and streamlining the new hire experience of Optum employees.
Experience Design Intern @ UnitedHealth Group | Collaborative Professional Project
Design for the future of the workforce by optimizing the onboarding experience for new employees.
THE OPPORTUNITY
The new hire period can be confusing, disconnected, and a little bit terrifying, especially for those joining larger companies with a substantial amount of information to digest. As remote, digital-based working environments become more and more common, it’s essential that the onboarding process is streamlined and straightforward.
THE PROLOGUE
We focused on a mainly qualitative research process, involving interviewing three groups of people: interns, new full-time hires, and managers who had recently gone through the hiring process. By designing and conducting 15 in-depth interviews, I was able to gain a significant amount of raw data to understand what’s working, what’s not, and what can be improved in the onboarding process.
THE RESEARCH
THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
In order to develop actionable avenues from raw research, we conducted Design Thinking activities to analyze our qualitative data. Through these activities, we identified patterns, synthesized information, and gained a deeper understanding of user needs and behaviors. We developed key takeaways and insights that supported us through our exploration into possible opportunities that we could undertake. We then pursued ideation and prototyping sessions to generate innovative solutions and validate their potential impact.
15 Interviews, Contextual Inquiry, Statement Starters, Stakeholder Mapping
THE INSIGHTS
THE ANALYSIS METHODOLOGY
User Persona Development, Journey Mapping, Experience Diagramming, Persona Profiling, Stakeholder Mapping
THE ANALYSIS METHODOLOGY
Affinity Mapping, Problem Tree Analysis, Rose, Thorn, Bud
THE IDEATION METHODOLOGY
Brainwriting, Mind Mapping, Thumbnail Sketching, Idea Sorting, Dot Voting, Creative Matrix, Concept Poster, Service Blueprinting
We developed a high-fidelity prototype of an employee-facing web application depicting a visual journey map of the new hire’s onboarding experience. The application would walk you through a linear path of gamified onboarding tasks and information, alongside opportunities to customize your employee profile.
As you progress through the tasks your manager receives all the necessary information through a streamlined system. The application features an AI chatbot named Posty, a wizard UI function to navigate through tasks, and tutorials on how to utilize platforms used by your team. The components of the journey are customized by the manager which allows for a streamlined understanding of the status of the new hire’s onboarding process.
THE SOLUTION
Improved new hire satisfaction by 80% and promoted human-centered design at an enterprise-wide level.
THE OUTCOME
Following the presentation of our prototyped solution, we were invited to present our design process and conduct usability testing to an audience of over 1500 people as a part of a human-centered design workshop alongside 10 C-level executives.
We developed a slide deck and presentation with high-level employees at UnitedDesign, facilitated a 2-day workshop, and conducted a live Cognitive Walkthrough, Heuristic Review, and mobile survey of our prototype to gain feedback and improve upon our solution.
80% of our participants indicated that the implementation of our solution would have improved their new hire experience, demonstrating the validity of our idea and prototype.
This stirred interest among our 1500 attendees about pursuing further education in human-centered design as well as further implementation of design across the enterprise of a Fortune 5 company.
ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES
Guided design process and facilitated conversations between peers. Developed activities and led decision-making processes.
Leadership & Facilitation
Facilitated conversations with stakeholders and identified effective aspects and growth opportunities in the current onboarding experience at Optum.
User Research
UI/Product Design
Developed user flows, wireframed, and prototyped visuals, interactions, and usability of onboarding web application.
Led presentations and design workshop to effectively communicate project content with stakeholders and general audiences.
Presentation & Communication
Adhered to UnitedHealth Group/Optum branding guide and developed an accessible prototype.
Graphic Design
Practiced and facilitated Design Thinking activities with peers and promoted it enterprise-wide.
Design Thinking Advocacy
TOOLS
Miro, FigJam, Figma, Photoshop, Illustrator, Procreate
TIMELINE
8 weeks