Member Enrollment
This project focused on researching and designing a new module for Willis Towers Watson's (WTW) Health and Benefits platform. The goal was to address operational challenges in Central and South American (LATAM) enrollment processes with our new colleague tool.
My Role
As the UX Design Lead, I was responsible for managing the team and driving the end-to-end research and design process. This included leading the collaboration between designers and product analysts, and WTW’s technology and operations teams, and delivering final designs aligned with the strategic vision established by WTW Stakeholders at the outset the project.
Project Duration:
February 2024 - October 2024
Team Shape:
Spencer Spottiswoode - Design & Engagement Lead
Rida Bari - Product Lead
Manuella Melo - Senior Designer
Sahir Iqbal - Junior Designer
Scope of Work
The primary scope of this project was to research and redesign the end-to-end enrollment process and supporting systems. Initially focusing on the WTW colleague experience, however as the project evolved, the scope expanded to include both WTW colleagues and clients. This comprehensive redesign addressed multiple phases of the process, including:
• Configuring a client before their enrollments began.
• Initial enrollment for new clients and employees.
• Ongoing enrollment management for existing clients.
• Claims processing to support users effectively.
The team conducted extensive research and iterative design to uncover opportunities and address pain points. Collaboration was central to this process, involving cross-functional input from colleagues, clients, and operational teams across LATAM. This collaborative approach ensured that the solutions aligned with regional complexities while remaining scalable and efficient.
User Research and Discovery
Due to the scale and complexity of the task at hand, my team co-created a research plan with WTW Stakeholders to ensure we met their and our goals at the end of the discovery phase. We used many different techniques and sources from diverse perspectives to understand and make sense of the Enrollment processes across LATAM:
1-to-1 Interviews with WTW Colleagues and System Experts gave us room to understand how the current tool (Benefits Engine) was used across the globe. This helped us learn how different countries configurations had been set up to quickly set up clients and processed enrollments, while others relied heavily on manual efforts like building Excel templates to process data. By uncovering these techniques, we brought comprehensive insights to inform our solution.
Workshops and Playbacks: Throughout the research phase, we conducted workshops to synthesize insights and presented findings during weekly playbacks to stakeholders. This ensured alignment and iterative refinement of our approach.
Mapping LATAM Operations Journeys: We worked closely with LATAM operations to map out the various journeys and use cases involved in servicing enrollments. This process highlighted pain points and their impact on the business, including inefficiencies, bottlenecks, and areas where automation or process refinement could drive significant improvements.
Engagement with Other Technology Teams: We met with technology teams working on pilot programs in Mexico, France, and Brazil. These pilots showcased promising techniques but faced challenges in scalability. Analyzing these programs provided an understanding of the competitive landscape and inspired ideas for capturing, processing, and delivering optimal user experiences.
Insights & Challenges
After reviewing research findings with key stakeholders and analyzing the regional complexities that contribute to these challenges, we felt confident in identifying critical issues. These issues, if addressed effectively, could significantly improve our ability to process enrollments efficiently. They would also enhance the customer experience for all individuals utilizing our benefits while creating a more seamless and intuitive user experience for our WTW colleagues managing these processes.
Lack of Client Data Stanardization
Clients relied on diverse methods to send data, including email, phone calls, SFTP, portals, handwritten documents, and Excel templates. Data was often incomplete, unformatted, or incorrect, requiring extensive manual transformation for processing. Operational teams had to engage in prolonged communication cycles with client employees to validate and correct the data, adding significant lead time to the process.
Impact:
• Increased manual workload for operations teams.
• Delayed request processing and approval times.
• Reduced overall efficiency and scalability.
Delays Due to Data Quality Issues
Incomplete or incorrect data submissions from client employees frequently required back-and-forth communication to resolve discrepancies. This not only caused frustration for clients but also slowed down the entire enrollment workflow.
Incomplete or incorrect data submissions from client employees frequently required back-and-forth communication to resolve discrepancies. This not only caused frustration for clients but also slowed down the entire enrollment workflow.
Impact:
• Prolonged lead times for enrollment approvals.
• Increased administrative burden on operations teams.
• Negative client experience due to delayed processes.
Technology and Integration Gaps
Many insurance vendors often lacked advanced APIs or had prohibitively expensive integration options. This created challenges in automating data handling and necessitated manual interventions to bridge the gaps in processing. Additionally, the lack of integration and process transparency left client HR and employee users with little to no visibility into the status of their requests. This lack of visibility led to frequent follow-up calls and emails from clients, further delaying the processing of requests and adding to the workload of operational teams.
Impact:
• Bottlenecks in onboarding new vendors.
• Limited scalability for partnerships with smaller providers.
• Increased operational costs due to manual workarounds.
• Poor client experience due to lack of transparency.
• Additional delays caused by repeated follow-ups from clients seeking status updates.
Workshops & Team Collaboration
At the end of our discovery phase, having completed extensive research and identified key challenges and opportunities for a full product redesign, our team convened in Colombia. Representatives from 12 countries, key stakeholders, and the design and technology teams came together to align on the product vision and roadmap.
Activities
Workshop Outcomes
The workshop focused on presenting research insights, mapping core and country-specific workflows, and collaboratively exploring solutions to the challenges uncovered. These sessions enabled us to prioritize opportunities and refine the backlog while ensuring the design was scalable and adaptable to LATAM’s unique needs.
The team achieved a shared understanding of the challenges, alignment on the product vision, and agreed on the core user journeys we would prioritise for our roadmap. This workshop solidified the foundation for the next phases of design and development.
Design Process
Rapid Visualization and Iterative Refinement
Incorporating Feedback and Usability Testing
I oversaw all aspects of the design process, delegating specific user journeys to my team while maintaining close collaboration. Designers were empowered to create solutions aligned with the project’s vision and KPIs, engaging directly with subject matter experts (SMEs) and stakeholders to validate their work.
Working in parallel, the team quickly produced visualizations of workshop ideas, enabling us to refine designs and secure buy-in efficiently. By maintaining open communication with stakeholders and aligning designs to the challenges identified during discovery, we ensured early-stage concepts remained grounded in real-world needs.
Once conceptual designs were complete, we re-engaged the workshop group to gather feedback and conducted several rounds of usability testing. These tests revealed a key insight: colleagues needed a comprehensive view of all records, both in progress and completed, to manage enrollment workflows effectively. This finding directly informed design iterations, enhancing visibility and usability for WTW colleagues.
Refining System Structure
Completing End-to-End Designs
As we moved further into the design phase, we revised the system’s structure to shift from viewing beneficiaries as individual entities to decoupling them into multiple entries based on individual records. This critical change enabled:
• Better support for users overseeing the system.
• The ability to intervene on problematic records while allowing valid records to progress without delays.
This refinement significantly improved operational efficiency and usability, aligning the system’s design with both the complexity of LATAM processes and the need for scalable solutions.
With these insights incorporated, the end-to-end designs were completed ahead of schedule. This allowed additional time for testing and iterative refinements while awaiting decisions on key business strategies, such as segmentation and RPA feasibility. The resulting designs not only addressed the core challenges but also provided a solid foundation for a scalable, user-centered solution.
Project Outcomes
Core Product Delivery: Designed and delivered an end-to-end enrollment solution, exceeding initial expectations.
Streamlined Operations: Reduced processing time and centralized operations in Colombia, resulting in significant cost savings.
Scalable Design: Created a reusable and configurable platform adaptable across LATAM markets.
Stakeholder Buy-In: Achieved alignment across diverse teams through clear communication and iterative collaboration.
Lessons Learned
The Power of Intentional Collaboration: Tailoring collaboration methods to stakeholders’ needs fostered trust and efficiency.
Scalability Requires Balance: Iterative design helped balance flexibility with standardization.
Empowered Teams: Delegation and ownership accelerated progress without compromising quality.
Tech-Process Alignment: Close collaboration with technical and operational teams ensured practical, implementable solutions.
Lessons Learned
The Power of Intentional Collaboration: Tailoring collaboration methods to stakeholders’ needs fostered trust and efficiency.
Scalability Requires Balance: Iterative design helped balance flexibility with standardization.
Empowered Teams: Delegation and ownership accelerated progress without compromising quality.
Tech-Process Alignment: Close collaboration with technical and operational teams ensured practical, implementable solutions.
Want to Learn More?
This case study provides a brief overview of the work I led for Willis Towers Watson. It highlights key aspects of the project but only scratches the surface of the challenges addressed, insights uncovered, and solutions delivered. If you’re interested in a deeper dive into this project, I’d be happy to discuss it in more detail—please feel free to reach out!