As part of Optum Advisory's consulting team, I led the end-to-end redesign of an inquiry management app within a multi-application insurance platform, eliminating platform switching, lowering cognitive load, and helping over 100 users confidently complete critical workflows.
This project, which is covered by a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), restricts the sharing of detailed information and visuals. However, I can share an overview of my contributions, design approach, and the project's impact.
Role: Lead UX/UI Designer
Company: Optum Advisory
Team: 3 designers, offshore team
Deliverables: 100+ screens, 30+ components
Enterprise Scale & Complexity
The system served hundreds of insurance processors across multiple departments who relied on it daily to manage healthcare inquiry affecting millions of members. The workflows required seamless integration with three legacy backend systems with limited API capabilities, real-time data validation across state-specific regulatory requirements, and HIPAA compliance throughout.
The technical ecosystem was highly fragmented: a legacy quoting processing system with outdated UI patterns, a separate authorization platform, an Excel-based manual tracking tool, a third-party benefits verification service, and a disconnected workflow management system. Each required different login credentials and operated on incompatible databases, creating critical failure points in time-sensitive workflows.
Before: Five disconnected systems users had to navigate for a single workflow
Impact at a Glance
Business Results
Secured CEO approval and Phase 2 budget
Delivered multi-month contract extension for full implementation
40% reduction in design-to-development handoff time
95% task completion rate in usability testing
Scope & Leadership
Led offshore UX team through 7-month engagement
Delivered 100+ production-ready screens
Managed 8 user shadowing sessions, 5 in-depth interviews
Presented bi-weekly to 15-20 stakeholders and client leadership
Design Transformation
Consolidated 5+ fragmented applications into unified experience
Built scalable component library with 30+ documented components
Eliminated manual handoffs through workflow automation
Enabled business-controlled configuration for non-technical users
The Challenge
Our client's existing workflow required users to navigate between five different applications and manual processes to complete a single task. This fragmented approach introduced unnecessary complexity, disrupted task continuity, and increased errors.
For Users
Constant platform switching disrupted task continuity
Manual processes ran alongside digital workflows (doubled effort)
High cognitive load from managing multiple systems simultaneously
System limitations prevented users from focusing on their goals
For Business
UI inconsistency made it nearly impossible to scale or update
Technical debt from legacy architecture blocked innovation
New employee training took 2x longer than industry standard
Leadership needed a measurable ROI to justify the full implementation investment
Participant #2, 3 years experience
"I have to switch between applications, and when I try to enter information in this application, it disappears and I have to type it again…"
My Role & Approach
As Lead UX/UI Designer, I owned the complete design strategy from discovery through delivery while managing an offshore UX team.
My responsibilities included:
Team Leadership: Led offshore UX team with daily design reviews, quality assurance, and mentorship to ensure consistent delivery across multiple time zones
Strategic Design: Made critical architectural decisions like building components iteratively vs. upfront, directly impacting timeline and scalability
Stakeholder Management: Presented bi-weekly to 15-20 stakeholders including C-suite executives, translating complex UX decisions into business impact
Research & Validation: Conducted 8 shadowing sessions and 5 in-depth interviews, plus 2 rounds of usability testing with 11+ participants
Hands-on Execution: Designed 100+ production screens and built a 30+ component library with comprehensive documentation
Agile Collaboration: Participated in daily standups, sprint planning, and retrospectives; delivered design work in 2-week sprint cycles aligned with engineering; balanced ahead-of-schedule design work (1-2 sprints) to prevent development blockages while maintaining flexibility for iteration.
UX Design Leadership and Delivery Process
Design Process
Discovery: Uncovering the Real Workflows
I took extra steps to really understand real user behavior beyond the documentation provided by the business team. Through 8 user shadowing sessions and 5 in-depth interviews, I discovered workflows that lacked documentation, showing that users encountered over 15 different scenario variations, not just the two that the business team had outlined.
Key Research Activities:
Observed real-time workflows to document exact application switching patterns
Analyzed usage analytics to identify where users spent the most time and encountered friction
Facilitated workshop with Optum UX team to map all 15+ workflow scenarios across 4 primary user personas
Documented current-state technical architecture and integration challenges
Critical Discovery: Hidden Workflow Complexity
Users managed authorization workflows requiring coordination across 3 user roles with varying permission levels, data validation across 3 legacy systems with incompatible data formats, and accommodation of 4 state-specific regulatory requirements and 4 scenario workflows, all while switching between 5 disconnected applications.
Complex workflow requiring coordination across 3 roles, 3 systems, and 4 state-specific requirements
Discovery - Design workshop strategy system and initial state diagram
Service Blueprint - Current state
Participant #1, 4 years experience
"I just need to look for more benefit information in the previous tool while I work on the form in the other screen..."
Solution Definition: Balancing Speed & Scale
With a clear 7-month timeline, an offshore team, and the need for CEO approval, I needed a design strategy that could deliver both quality and speed.
Problem Statement:
'How might we create a cohesive, accessible internal insurance application that reduces task completion time for operations teams while meeting WCAG 2.0 compliance and integrating with legacy backend systems?'
Strategic Decision: Component-First Approach
Instead of creating a component library upfront, I made the call to build components iteratively alongside hi-fi prototypes. This allowed us to:
Start with wireframes to understand workflow needs first
Design specific solutions for each context, then extract reusable patterns
Test component patterns in real workflows immediately, not in isolation
Ensure every component solved real design problems, resulting in higher reuse rates
Adapting Mid-Stream: Business Configuration
Midway through the project, the client requested business configuration capabilities to reduce dependency on engineering for workflow changes. I quickly adapted the design strategy to enable non-technical users to control workflows, adding flexible validation rules and customizable field visibility. This addition became a key differentiator that helped secure Phase 2 funding.
Constraints I Navigated:
Technical: Required backward compatibility with legacy backend systems that had limited API capabilities and sparse documentation
Regulatory: HIPAA compliance throughout, with audit trail requirements for every user action
Organizational: Multiple stakeholder groups with competing priorities, requiring constant alignment
Timeline: Aggressive deadline with offshore team requiring daily coordination across time zones
Story Mapping - a future state workflow focusing on multiple users / different levels of authorization.
Execution & Validation
My goal was to create detailed documentation that allows engineers to implement independently, focusing on component structure, interaction states, and edge cases. For the final validation, I developed the testing plan, documented the proposed approach, facilitated user testing, and collected all research data, including each participant's summary of their test session.
Development Approach:
Built complete flows from low-fi → mid-fi → hi-fi, testing concepts before committing to final designs
Developed component library simultaneously with workflows, extracting patterns as they proved successful in context
Created 30+ documented components with detailed anatomy specs, interaction states, and accessibility notes
Published Figma library with style guide, ensuring team scalability beyond my direct involvement
Example: Benefit Quote Request Screen
Low-fidelity wireframe showing benefit quote request workflow with generic labels
Major Design Iteration:
During accessibility review, we discovered that some font colors didn't meet accessibility standards when displayed on a darker background. I immediately updated the accessible font color and made all components using the same color match the updated one for consistency. I also added iconography to all status messages, achieving WCAG 2.0 AA compliance and enhancing understanding for all users.
Continuous Validation:
Daily Reviews: Conducted design reviews with offshore team to maintain quality and provide mentorship
Stakeholder Presentations: Presented bi-weekly to 15-20 stakeholders including C-suite to maintain alignment and momentum
Usability Testing: Two rounds with 11+ participants validated workflows, revealing 95% task completion rate
Engineering Partnership: Walked engineers through designs, answered questions, and ensured smooth handoff
The Solution
We delivered a unified application with guided workflows, replacing five fragmented systems with a single cohesive experience. Users now follow clear pathways through each stage, with embedded contextual help and automated processes eliminating manual handoffs.
After: A single unified application that consolidates all upgrade benefit inquiry workflows.
Unified Workflow
Consolidated five applications into a single, guided experience with progress indicators and contextual help, eliminating platform switching entirely.
Component Library
30+ documented, reusable components with anatomy specs and accessibility features, reducing design-to-dev handoff time by 40%.
Business Configuration
Flexible system allowing business users to control workflows, validation rules, and field visibility without engineering dependency.
Sample component documentation showing button states, form inputs, and interaction patterns
Project Impact & Results
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Task Completion Rate in Usability Teingst
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Production Screens Delivered to Client
Business Outcomes:
Secured CEO Approval & Phase 2 Funding: Design work directly contributed to budget approval for full implementation during the final presentation.
Contract Extension: Client has extended the engagement to support Phase 2 UI and API development.
Engineering Independence: Engineers implemented designs without ongoing design support, demonstrating documentation quality and thoroughness.
Eliminated Training Bottleneck: Intuitive workflows are expected to reduce new employee onboarding time significantly.
User Impact:
Eliminated constant platform switching and data re-entry that disrupted task flow
Automated manual processes that previously doubled user effort
Provided clear navigation and embedded guidance, reducing reliance on training and support tickets
Enabled confident decision-making through better information architecture and workflow design
"It's very easy to use. I can use it now, especially since we are in the busy month..."
What Drove Our Success
Offshore Team Leadership - Daily design reviews and facilitated workshops kept our distributed team aligned and productive. By providing consistent guidance and clear feedback loops through daily syncs and bi-weekly design critiques, I fostered accountability without micromanagement, enabling junior designers to deliver client-ready work.
Iterative Component Library Approach - Building the component library alongside hi-fi prototypes (not upfront) was the right strategic call. Starting with wireframes to understand workflows, then extracting components as we designed each screen, ensured every pattern solved real problems and was battle-tested in context.
Validation: 40% reduction in handoff time proved both the quality and practicality of the approach
Stakeholder Presentation Cadence - Presenting twice weekly to large groups (15-20 people, including client leadership) kept everyone aligned with sprint demos and planning sessions, caught issues early, and built trust. This cadence was critical to securing Phase 2 approval.
What I'd Optimize Next Time
Earlier Developer Collaboration - Although our engineering partnership was strong, involving developers during the initial creation of components (rather than afterward) would have identified technical constraints sooner and minimized iteration cycles.
Continuous Guerrilla Testing - Our two formal usability testing rounds were thorough, but quick hallway tests between rounds would have identified small issues faster, especially accessibility concerns that we caught late. I would schedule weekly 15-minute guerrilla tests with available users
Documented Decision-Making Framework - I made dozens of strategic design decisions, such as choosing a component-first approach over three alternatives. Still, I did not systematically document the reasoning and trade-offs at the time. I would create a simple "decision log" in real-time for future reference and team knowledge sharing
About
I am a full-stack product designer with five years of experience crafting end-to-end applications, particularly in healthcare, insurance, and fintech. Passionate about continuous learning, I actively explore new design tools and methodologies to enhance product outcomes and my skill set. From ideation and prototyping to final delivery, I take a comprehensive approach to creating user experiences that are both impactful and meaningful.
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© Created by Mara Suwannawat. 2025