My Online Services & Aetna Health
Native app design case study
About My Online Services
My Online Services was an application designed to allow Coventry and later Aetna insurance members to manage their claims.
Goal:
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Create a native iPhone app for the app store.
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Design the usability with our diverse customer groups in mind, including Medicare, small group, and Medicaid users.
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Design according to Apple Human Interface Guidelines.
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Understand that this was the first iteration. More features would be added later.
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Decrease the number of calls to the service desk from members wanting claims information
My Role
UX & Research
Worked with accessibility, Content, Research and the product team to deliver the project.
My Deliverables
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UX workshop leader
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Research & testing
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Create journey map
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Presentations to management
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Testing
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Low fidelity wire frames
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High fidelity designs
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Team
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Product
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UX/UI Design
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Accessibility
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Content
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Development​
Methodology
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Used existing Coventry Health Care personas to inform our work.
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Collaborated with marketing and product leaders to establish the user goals and user goals
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Conducted a brainstorming session where we created an affinity diagram of features and drew sketches.
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​Created a user flow.
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Conducted a competative analysis to understand what was currently out in the app store.
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Utilized a diverse array of personas including Medicare users.
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Created wire frames
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Tested the initial screens in User Testing.
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Designed that high fidelity screens.
Design System
While we were designing the high fidelity screens, we created a design system based on Coventry Health care branding standards. It included type styles, colors, and Sketch components.
Wire Frames
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Wire frames were created using Sketch.
Brainstorming: "How we might. . ."
I hosted a “How Might We…” brainstorming session to generate creative, user-centered ideas for a new iPhone app called My Online Services, designed for Coventry Health Care insurance members. The app will help users manage their health insurance by checking claims, copays, benefits usage, and accessing tools like doctor and lab finders, wellness resources, health records, and a digital insurance ID card. Using the framework from NN/g, our team—including product managers, developers, UX designers, and UI designers—worked together to reframe user needs and pain points into open-ended questions that sparked a wide range of design ideas. This collaborative session helped align the team around key opportunities and prioritize features that would bring the most value to users. Here are some of the statements we focused on:
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How might we make it easy for users to understand their copays and benefits?
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How might we help users quickly check the status of a claim?
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How might we simplify the process of finding an in-network doctor or lab?
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How might we show benefit usage in a way that’s clear and easy to track?
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How might we help users access their health records securely and quickly?
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How might we provide helpful wellness tips personalized to each user?
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How might we make the digital insurance card easy to find and use during appointments?
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How might we reduce frustration when navigating complex insurance information?
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How might we build trust through transparency and clear language?
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How might we encourage users to come back and stay engaged with the app?
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How might we support users who are less familiar with digital tools or healthcare terms?
Service Blue Print
Following a couple of days of workshops and back and fourth communication, I created a service blueprint for the My Online Services by mapping the end-to-end user journey of managing insurance claims, following the framework recommended by Nielsen Norman Group. This involved identifying key customer actions, frontstage and backstage interactions, support processes, and physical evidence across each phase of the experience. By visualizing both user-facing and behind-the-scenes activities, the blueprint helped reveal service gaps, align cross-functional teams, and inform improvements to the digital experience that ensure a more seamless and efficient claims management process.
Setting up the testing
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We recruited 5 users with a variety of backgrounds, including gender, ethnicity, and financial background.
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We created a series of questions associated with a collection of our screens.
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Focus areas included:
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Screen readability
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Vocabulary comprehension
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Overall screen layout and design logic
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Questions for users included:​
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“What do you think this screen is showing you?”
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“Are there any words or sections that confuse you?”
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“Where would you click if you wanted to find your doctor?”
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“What does ‘HRA Balance’ mean to you?”
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“Do you know what ‘In-Network Deductible’ means?”
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“Was the information easy to read on your phone?”
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Success metrics included:
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% of users who correctly interpret each screen
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Commonly misinterpreted terms (e.g., “deductible,” “HRA”)
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Areas of hesitation or confusion
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Qualitative comments on layout, trustworthiness, and tone
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We tested the wire frames:
Testing
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Login Screen:
“Looks fine, but I almost missed the ‘create an account’ link. It’s small.” -
Home Screen:
“I know what an ID Card and Find a Doctor are, but ‘Benefits Usage’ sounds too technical.” -
Benefits Usage:
“So the $2000 is what I have left to use? Or already spent? Not sure.” -
Family Usage Tabs:
“I’ve heard ‘in-network,’ but ‘Satisfied’ and ‘Maximum’ are confusing. Maybe add help icons?” -
Claims History:
“I get what pending means, but a status legend might help. Also, the dates should be clearer.”
Here are the responses from Tanya, one of our testers:
High-Fidelity Designs
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Following testing we tried to implement most of the comments focused on terminology. We also increased the font size.
MOS becomes Aetna Health
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Following the purchase of Coventry Health Care by Aetna, my team was tasked with redesigning MOS as Aetna Health.
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Aetna health would have everything that MOS had and more.
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The goal was to create an iPhone and Android application that would allow users to access their ID card anytime, view detailed coverage information, and track their deductible progress with ease. Manage and pay claims for your entire family, find in-network providers by location or specialty, compare costs for visits and procedures, and receive personalized health tips—all in one convenient place.
My Role
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Create a new set of wireframes in Sketch, including any new functionality.
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Work with Branding team to insure that the app was consistent with Aetna standards,
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Create the new screen designs.
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Develop a prototype for testing.
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I worked with the research team to analyze the testing results and make any necessary changes.
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I worked with the Aetna designers, accessibility experts, and branding to create a design system for the iPhone design to insure future designs were consistent.
Challenges
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It was a challenge altering the look and feel of the app from Coventry to Aetna brand standards. There was a lengthy approval process with many departments involved, which slowed down design and development.
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Development had to create new databases and API's which also slowed progress.
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Design often struggled to work ahead of development so that they could have the resources to continue working.
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Creating the design system was also a multi-team effort that proved very time consuming for us. Finding time to meet, agreeing to details, and documentation slowed our progress.
Design Choices
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The "Pharmacy" screen below illustrates some of our design thinking:
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We wanted to prioritize clarity, accessibility, and a task oriented navigation.​
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We organized the data into cards, with bold headlines and supportive text.
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We wanted the user to be able to quickly be able to scan information.
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The search enabled users to find what they needed quickly.
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We employed badges to communicate with the user.
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We wanted the design to convey calmness, trustworthiness, and soothing.
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We maintained a monochromatic color usage together with icons to add interest and help users scan their information.
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We also leveraged iOS native elements rather than creating custom ones.
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We deliberately tried to get away from the older "blocky" style of MOS.
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High-Fidelity Designs.
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After creating wireframes for a number of screens because of time constraints and the demands of executives we went straight to high-fidelity designs.​
I like that I don't have to dig through menus. It's all right here on the screen
Aetna Health test user
Conclusion
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My Online Services native app provided a robust platform which Coventry then used to build more features such as ID card, actual payment ability, and a health care concierge.
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The app was popular and reduced calls to the service desk by up to 25% over it's lifetime.
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MOS also provided Coventry Health Care with visibility in the Apple app store.
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Aetna Health also gave Aetna a presence on the Apple store.
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It presently has a 7.4 rating on the Apple store and has been downloaded by thousands of users.