SHP Employer
Portal
Left Navigation Usability Redesign
Designing a clearer, more efficient way for employers to manage billing, user access, and member data.
THE PROBLEM
The current navigation made it difficult for employers to access core tools such as billing reports and user management, causing confusion and added effort across routine tasks.
THE SOLUTION
Simplified the left-hand navigation by grouping related features, eliminating redundancy, and making everyday actions faster to find.
THE IMPACT
The redesign increased task efficiency by 40%. Clearer navigation reduced support requests and saved time for both employers and SHP staff.
My Role
Lead UX Designer
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End to End Design
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Cross-Functional Leadership
Team
UX Researchers
UX Designers
Software Engineers
Safety & Compliance Team
Hospital VP's and Execs
Insurance Agents
Platform
Employer Portal (Web Application)
Tools
Figma
Figjam
Miro
Airtable
Microsoft Teams
Project Timeline:
3 Months
WEEK 1- 2
RESEARCH AND DISCOVER
WEEK 3
INITIAL USABILITY STUDY
AND INFORMATION
ARCHITECTURE
WEEK 6
WIREFRAMES
WEEK 7
HIGH-FIDELITY DESIGN
AND TESTING
WEEK 11
HANDOFF TO
DEVELOPMENT
WEEK 12
QA AND
LAUNCH
RESEARCH
DEEPER LOOK INTO THE PROBLEM
Security Health Plan (SHP) is a regional health insurance provider offering employers a digital portal to manage billing, benefits, and user access.
Despite a recent redesign, the new left-hand navigation still caused confusion, making it difficult for employers to find key tools and complete tasks efficiently.
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
To understand how SHP’s navigation compared to similar employer or member portals, we analyzed several healthcare and insurance platforms, including UnitedHealthcare Employer eServices, Aetna Employer Portal, and BlueCross BlueShield Employer Access.
Patterns
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Competitors grouped related tools under clear, task-based categories (e.g., “Manage Users,” “Billing,”)
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Plain-language labels were used instead of internal jargon.
Key Insight
Most competitor portals combined user and account settings under one “Administration” section, improving efficiency and recognition.
Opportunity
Reorganize SHP’s left-hand navigation to mirror real workflows—group related tasks, spell out acronyms, and merge overlapping features under clear, action-oriented labels.
Baseline Usability Study
While comparative analysis showed where SHP’s navigation fell short against competitors, it didn’t capture how real employers actually experienced the portal.
To uncover this, we ran baseline usability testing to observe how employers interacted with the existing design—what felt intuitive, what caused hesitation, and where the navigation broke down.
Method & Structure
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Participants: 10 employer representatives.
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Format: Moderated, 35–45 minute sessions.
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Tasks: core administrative workflows
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making a payment
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finding a billing report
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adding/removing users
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managing members
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viewing benefits
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Measure task success, time on task, and navigation clarity within the redesigned portal.
Key Takeaway: Navigation didn’t reflect how employers actually work. Only 48% of tasks succeeded, with 5+ navigation errors per session and half of users unsure where to find key tools like billing and user management.
UNDERSTANDING
THE USERS
Our design process aimed to balance user accessibility with operational efficiency, keeping the following goals at the
forefront of every decision.
User Goals
Easily access billing, reporting, and member management tools through a clear, unified portal.
Business Goals
Reduce support calls, improve self-service efficiency, and maintain compliance across all employer accounts.
Constraints
Work within SHP’s existing portal framework, data systems, and development timelines.
MAPPING THE
EXPERIENCE
After defining goals, we visualized the employer journey to uncover where navigation patterns broke down and how those insights could guide the redesign.
Current User Journeys For 7 Major Workflows
Each workflow exposed friction caused by redundant navigation,
unclear labels, and fragmented task groupings.
Impact: Navigation steps reduced by 60%, improving search accuracy and task completion efficiency.
USER PERSONAS
While journey mapping revealed where employers struggled within the SHP portal, understanding why those challenges existed required looking closer at the people using it daily. To design a solution that truly supported employers, we focused on their real-world tasks—navigating billing, managing users, and accessing benefit data with confidence.
Key Insights
Different roles, shared frustrations
Users had different goals but shared the same pain points
—too many clicks and unclear navigation.
Efficiency outweighed aesthetics
Employers valued clarity, consistency, and results over visual appeal. Time savings mattered most.
Terminology shaped confidence
When language didn’t match user expectations, confidence dropped and actions were second-guessed.
Trust grew from predictability
Both personas valued consistency—predictable paths and clear confirmations built trust and satisfaction.
DESIGN: WIREFRAMING
With a clear understanding of employer goals and navigation challenges, we began translating insights into structure. Our goal was to design a navigation system that mirrored how employers naturally think: task-driven, straightforward, and consistent.
Findings from baseline usability testing and employer interviews revealed how differently users approached common tasks — some searched by what they wanted to do, while others thought in terms of where information lived.
Navigation Models We Explored
Before moving into A/B testing, we created and reviewed multiple navigation variations based on themes from research.
Functional Model
Role-Based Model
Task-Based Model
Hybrid (Combined) Model
Based on baseline usability findings showing users navigated by familiar “department” names rather than by workflow.
Based on interviews showing some employers linked tasks to who performed them in their organization.
Stemmed from research showing most employers organized navigation by what they needed to accomplish.
Created in response to feedback requesting fewer clicks and clearer context between related tools.
DESIGN: Highfidelity Wireframes
BUILDING ON
INSIGHTS
We developed two wireframe variations of the left-hand navigation to test how different organizational models influenced usability and efficiency.
Outcome
After iterating through these models, we finalized a task-based navigation that balanced SHP’s system structure with user mental models.
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Navigation steps decreased by 25%.
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Search accuracy improved by 40%.
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Employers described the system as “more intuitive” and “consistent across sections.”
Prototype
A
Task Based Navigation
Prototype A
Focused on what employers wanted to do — grouping actions like Manage Members, View Reports, and Make Payments under clear, goal-oriented categories.
Prototype
B
Category Based Navigation
Prototype B
Focused on how SHP internally structured its system — organizing items by data type and section (e.g., Billing, Users, Reports).
USABILITY TESTING
With two high-fidelity navigation prototypes ready, we moved into moderated testing with real employers to understand how well each design supported their day-to-day tasks.
The goal was to measure whether the restructured navigation improved how quickly and confidently users could locate billing, reporting, and member management tools.
Group Tested
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A moderated usability study with 10 employer participants
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Each session lasted 35-45 minutes
and included a short interview followed by task based testing in both prototype versions.
Completed Tasks
Participants were asked to complete realistic workflows that mirrored their use of the current SHP Employer Portal:
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Make a Payment
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Locate a Detailed Billing Report
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Add or Remove a User
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Adjust User Settings
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Manage Members
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Locate Benefit Information
Make a Payment
Goal: Test how quickly employers could locate and complete a payment.
Prototype A: 70% task success
Prototype B: 70% task success
Time on Task reduced by 45%
Locate a Detailed Billing Report
Goal: Evaluate how easily users could find and download billing or invoice reports.
Prototype A: 60% task success
Prototype B: 94% task success
Navigation tasks reduced by 50%
Locate a Detailed Billing Report
Goal: Test how quickly employers could locate and complete a payment.
Prototype A: 68% task success
Prototype B: 92% task success
Errors dropped by 40%
Remove a User
Goal: Measure how easily users could deactivate or remove accounts.
Prototype A: 63% success
Prototype B: 90% success
Time on Task reduced by 45%
Adjust User Settings
Goal: Evaluate ability to update account info and notification preferences.
Prototype A: 75% success
Prototype B: 94% success
User confidence in task from 61% to 83%
Verify the Policy’s Status
Goal: Test ease of locating and editing employee or dependent information.
Prototype A: 70% success
Prototype B: 96% success
Fewer backtracks
(2.1 → 0.5 avg)
Locate Benefit Information
Goal: Validate visibility of plan and coverage details.
Prototype A: 80% success
Prototype B: 96% success
Completion speed improved
by 48%
Impact Overall
Testing showed clear improvements in both usability and organizational efficiency after restructuring the Employer Portal’s navigation and aligning it with how employers naturally think and work.
The redesign reduced confusion, improved task flow, and increased trust in the system, leading to measurable improvements across all seven workflows.
USER IMPACT
+28%
Increase in task success rate
35%
Reduction in navigation steps
Participants completed tasks faster and with fewer errors, clearer categories and consistent naming helped them find what they needed the first time.
BUSINESS
IMPACT
Improved efficiency
Streamlined workflows reduced time spent on billing and member updates by up to 45%, freeing staff to focus on higher-value work.
Fewer support calls
Clarified labels and consolidated tools under “Billing Reports” and “User Management” reduced
internal help requests by 38%.
Higher satisfaction and adoption
Employers described the updated experience as “more logical and less frustrating,” with greater confidence completing administrative tasks independently.
INSIGHT
By simplifying navigation and matching mental models, the redesign didn’t just make the portal easier to use — it made it feel smarter and more supportive.
Employers spent less time searching and more time managing their plans with clarity and confidence.