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Caregiver Decision-Making
Research & Service Foundations

GOAL:

ROLE:

​INDUSTRY:​

METHODS:​​​​​​​​​

Understand how people make decisions for their aging parents and translate these insights into personas and journey maps to guide service and product strategy.

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Lead researcher

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Healthcare

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  • Subject matter expert interviews

  • Stakeholder workshops

  • Participant interviews

  • Hands-on co-design sessions

  • Data synthesis

  • Personas

  • Journey maps

  • Collaborative design sessions

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This project explored how caregivers navigate complex emotional, logistical, and financial decisions on behalf of their aging parents. Through discovery research, workshops, and synthesis, I created personas and journey maps that served as foundational artifacts for the client’s long-term product and service strategies. These deliverables were integrated with existing market research to create a comprehensive view of the company’s caregiving audience.

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​​STEP 1: Secondary Research

  • Conducted interviews with customer service representatives and subject matter experts.

  • Reviewed existing research on caregiving, aging, and dementia to build a baseline understanding of caregiver challenges and contextual stressors.

 

STEP 2: Workshops

  • Facilitated workshops to clarify business goals and co-create hypothetical personas.

  • Because no personas existed, these sessions helped surface tacit internal knowledge and align teams before user research began.

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STEP 3: Planning & Recruiting

  • Developed research protocol, screener, and study plan.

  • Recruited caregivers through social media, community locations, and partner channels, using multi-step screening to ensure participant fit.

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STEP 4: User Interviews

  • Conducted in-person interviews in two markets, using co-design exercises to map experiences, decisions, and emotional highs/lows.

  • Recorded and transcribed all sessions to support rigorous analysis.

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STEP 5: Analysis & Synthesis

  • Led a collaborative workshop with stakeholders to walk through emerging insights and patterns.

  • Used this session to build shared understanding and generate opportunity ideas.

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STEP 6: Documentation & Presentation

  • Delivered personas and journey maps customized to the client’s goals, incorporating both primary research and previous market studies.

  • Included persona-specific strategies to guide future service and product decisions.

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OUTCOME

The work established a shared view of the caregiver journey, aligned internal teams, and provided the organization with clear, actionable service insights that informed multiple initiatives across the company.

Customer Motivation Survey to Guide Product Strategy

GOAL:

ROLE:

​INDUSTRY:​

METHODS:​​​​​​​​​

Understand why customers choose specific insurance products to inform upcoming product roadmap decisions

​

Lead researcher

​

Insurance

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  • Subject matter expert interviews

  • Survey design

  • Quantitative analysis

  • Data visualization​

Facing an accelerated product-portfolio decision, the company needed data to understand what motivated customers to select one insurance product over another. I led a rapid research initiative that delivered actionable insights within a three-week timeline, influencing major product decisions.

 

​​STEP 1: Project Approval

  • Proposed a survey-based study to capture customer motivations.

  • Secured senior leadership approval for a three-week accelerated timeline.

 

STEP 2: Questionnaire Development

  • Interviewed customer service representatives to refine sampling, tone, and question design.

  • Collaborated with Operations and Marketing on questionnaire review and finalization.

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STEP 3: Survey Execution

  • Distributed survey to customers who had recently selected a policy.

  • Collected data via SurveyMonkey.

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STEP 4: Analysis

  • Analyzed findings using Excel and Miro.

  • Compared motivations, satisfaction, and comprehension across three insurance products.

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STEP 5: Documentation and Presentation

  • Created a deliverable that included high-level insights and detailed cross-product comparisons.

  • Presented findings to leadership and facilitated follow-up discussions on product implications.

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OUTCOME

Research revealed that the free telematics device included with one product was not a major driver of selection. This insight drove a key roadmap recommendation to phase out the device and reallocate resources toward features customers truly valued.

Claims Education & Onboarding Service Redesign

GOAL:

ROLE:

​INDUSTRY:​

METHODS:​​​​​​​​​

Improve customer brand recognition and claims understanding to increase timely loss reporting and streamline internal processes.​

​​​

Lead researcher and service designer

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Insurance

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  • Generative research

  • Internal interviews

  • Contextual inquiry

  • Claims data analysis

  • Storyboards

  • Service blueprints

  • Information design

  • Pilot testing.

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Research revealed that customers lacked awareness of who their insurer was and where to report a claim — leading to delayed claims reporting, operational inefficiencies, and customer frustration. I led a service design initiative to redesign the onboarding experience and improve claims education across touchpoints.

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​​STEP 1: Generative Research

  • Conducted customer interviews and a survey to understand behaviors, motivations, and misconceptions.

  • Identified that many customers reported losses to agents instead of the insurer, creating costly delays.

 

STEP 2: Internal Research

  • Conducted interviews and contextual inquiry with operations and claims teams.

  • Analyzed claims data and identified key performance metrics related to reporting timeliness.

  • Learned that only half of customers received post-policy communication.

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STEP 3: Onboarding Redesign Proposal

Proposed a multi-component service update including:

  • A brief animated claims-education video to strengthen brand recognition.

  • A redesigned accident checklist to keep in customers’ vehicles.

  • A streamlined onboarding process with new tools and workflows.

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STEP 4: Collaborative Design

Partnered across IT, Claims, Customer Support, Marketing, and Innovation:

  • Storyboarded and guided video production.

  • Designed information architecture for the accident checklist.

  • Created current-state and future-state service blueprints.

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STEP 5: Pilot Testing & Launch

  • Conducted pilot tests with CSRs to refine materials and workflows.

  • Rolled out the updated onboarding service across the organization.

  • Facilitated training to ensure adoption.

 

STEP 6: Measurement & Impact

At 2 months:

  • 41% of customers watched the claims video.

  • 52% of viewers opted into text messaging.

  • Onboarding process time decreased from 5.5 hours/day to 2 hours/day.

  • Engagement with the Risk Management Portal increased.

At 1 year:

  • Video watchers were ~10% more likely to report claims within 48 hours.

  • On average, they reported losses one day earlier than non-viewers.

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OUTCOME

The redesigned onboarding service improved operational efficiency, strengthened brand recognition, and measurably increased timely claims reporting — directly supporting a key company metric.
It also provided a reusable service blueprint and operational model for the organization’s future initiatives.

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