Insight and education to the LTC claims process
As the UX lead for John Hancock’s Long-Term Care business, my focus has been on bringing clarity to every stage of the customer journey. One of the most critical and challenging moments is when a customer initiates a claim - a process that often comes during a difficult time and involves many complex steps beyond just managing their insurance. Recognizing this, much of our work has centered around educational content and tools to help customers navigate the claims process with greater ease and confidence.
This case study highlights two key feature launches designed to enhance the claims experience, providing customers with the information and guidance they need during this pivotal stage.
My contributions:
UX Design Lead, Content Strategy
Timeline:
April 2023 – September 2024
Beginning with LTC Claim education
The LTC Claims Education was the first phase of a larger initiative to improve the overall claims experience, focusing on giving customers the right information at the right time to make their journey smoother and less stressful.
I began by designing 3 concepts for how the new claims education section would appear on JohnHancock.com. Each concept explored different layouts, content structures, and interactive elements to determine the most effective way to present the information. These concepts were then shared in stakeholder meetings and user testing sessions, allowing me to gather feedback, assess clarity, and identify which direction best met customer and business needs before moving forward with final designs.
With a direction chosen, the next step was collaborating with stakeholders, legal, and marketing to finalize the educational content. It was crucial to ensure the information was clear, accurate, and aligned with regulatory requirements, while also being engaging and easy to understand for customers. Working closely with these teams, we refined the messaging, structured the content for readability, and incorporated customer-friendly language. This process ensured that the final education pages would provide the right level of detail without overwhelming users, setting them up for a smoother claims experience.
Launching the LTC Claims Education & moving to the next phase
With the content finalized, we successfully launched the LTC Claims Education section on JohnHancock.com, providing customers with clear, accessible guidance on what to expect when initiating a claim. The page quickly saw high traffic and engagement, confirming the strong need for this type of content. By addressing key pain points identified through call center data and NPS feedback, we helped set clearer expectations and reduce confusion during a critical moment in the customer journey.
Following this success, we shifted focus to the next phase of work—developing a Claim Initiation Status Tracker within the LTC portal. This new feature would allow customers to track the progress of their submitted claims in real-time, reducing uncertainty and the need for follow-up calls, further improving the overall claims experience.
With the next phase underway, I collaborated with key stakeholders, including claims operations, legal, and marketing, to align on the goals and requirements for the Claim Initiation Status Tracker. Our focus was to create a tool that provided clear, real-time updates while remaining compliant and easy to understand for customers navigating this process.
To determine the best approach, I designed multiple tracker concepts and conducted user testing with long-term care policyholders and their caregivers. Through these sessions, I gathered insights on what information was most important, how frequently users expected updates, and the best way to visually display claim progress. These findings helped us refine the tracker’s structure, ensuring it would be both useful and intuitive for customers.
Finalizing the design & defining claim statuses
With the next phase underway, I collaborated with key stakeholders, including claims operations, legal, and marketing, to align on the goals and requirements for the Claim Initiation Status Tracker. Our focus was to create a tool that provided clear, real-time updates while remaining compliant and easy to understand for customers navigating this process.
To determine the best approach, I designed multiple tracker concepts and conducted user testing with long-term care policyholders and their caregivers. Through these sessions, I gathered insights on what information was most important, how frequently users expected updates, and the best way to visually display claim progress. These findings helped us refine the tracker’s structure, ensuring it would be both useful and intuitive for customers.
The launch of the LTC Claims Education Content and Claim Status Tracker had a significant impact on improving the claims experience. By providing customers with clear educational content on what to expect during the claims process and increasing transparency with real-time status updates, we helped reduce call center volume related to claim inquiries. This not only streamlined communication but also set clearer expectations, leading to a notable increase in NPS scores for the claims experience.