Healthcare plans
Boosting KelseyCare’s site clarity for business growth driving a ~20% ↑ in leads
KelseyCare Health Plans provides cost-effective, high-quality healthcare coverage to employers and their employees in the Greater Houston area.
Project Overview
KelseyCare needed a stronger digital presence to reflect the quality of its offering. The site felt dated, unclear, and wasn’t driving leads. I led the design effort, aligning the team around shared goals and delivering a clearer, more user-friendly experience.
Lead quality improvement
~20% ↑
Conversion rate increase
8% ↑
Team: Product designer • Content writer • Digital manager • Devs
Tools: Figma, Miro
Skills: Strategic UX leadership • User research • Heuristic analysis • Stakeholder interviews • Persona development • Journey mapping • Information architecture • Wireframing • Design systems • UX writing • Responsive design • Usability testing • A/B testing • Content strategy
Lead quality improvement
~20% ↑
Conversion rate
8% ↑
Challenge
KelseyCare’s website was no longer meeting the expectations of users or the needs of the business. It lacked clarity, modern usability, and the flexibility required to support lead generation and brand growth. These issues showed up in both the experience and the underlying infrastructure.
The site’s design and messaging felt outdated and didn’t match the professionalism of the services. It lacked trust-building elements and didn’t clearly explain what KelseyCare offers.
Navigation was confusing, content was hard to access, and calls to action often led to vague or unhelpful pages. These issues hurt engagement and conversion.
The SharePoint platform made it difficult to update content, track leads, or scale the site. Internal teams were limited in their ability to manage or improve performance.
Solution
The redesign addressed both user frustrations and business needs by improving clarity, accessibility, and conversion flows. It introduced a responsive layout, simplified navigation, and visuals that better reflected the brand. It also created a foundation for a site that is easier to manage and scale.
I simplified the information architecture, reducing over 30 pages to five essentials. Clear pathways and less clutter made it easier for users to find what they needed.
CTAs like “Get a Quote” were rewritten and placed more intentionally to support user intent and help drive action.
Migrating to Sitecore gave internal teams better tools for managing content, tracking performance, and building for future needs.
Step one
Auditing the experience
User research ◇ Competitor analysis ◇ Stakeholder interviews
User research
I used Google Analytics to understand how users were interacting with the site, including what they clicked, where they dropped off, and what wasn’t working. From that, I identified key pain points and shared early recommendations with stakeholders to build alignment and shape the design direction.
12%
returning
visitors
Below Average
70%
drop-off
rate
Below Average
1%
conversion
rate
Below Average
55%
bounce
rate
Average
4,374
unique
page views
Below Average
This data painted a clearer picture of what users were experiencing and likely feeling.
Usability friction
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Confusing navigation
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Weak CTAs
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Complex sign-up process
Content issues
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Outdated or irrelevant content
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Lack of engaging material
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Poor content variety
Performance issues
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Slow load times
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Weak mobile experience
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Cognitive overload
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Confused, misunderstood, uncertain, overwhelmed, distrustful
Emotional response
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Bored, uninterested, disconnected, disinterested, unmotivated
Frustration and letdown
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Frustrated, annoyed, dissatisfied, disappointed
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Competitor analysis
As part of discovery, I reviewed competitor websites to understand how similar offerings were positioned and where KelseyCare could stand out.
This helped me:
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Identify common UX patterns and usability expectations
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Set a baseline for clarity, accessibility, and polish
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Spot gaps that KelseyCare could use to differentiate
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Navigation helped users get where they needed without friction
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The layout was clean and easy to follow
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Visual design supported trust and aligned with the brand
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The look and feel gave a strong first impression
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Messaging was clear and direct
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Calls to action made it easy to move forward
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Testimonials reinforced value and credibility
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Content was hard to skim and took effort to get through
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Layout sometimes pulled focus away from key info
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Some language was confusing or overly technical
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Mobile experience lacked consistency and ease
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Calls to action didn’t clearly set expectations
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Navigation cues were subtle or missing
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The overall experience didn’t offer much feedback or guidance
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Stakeholder interviews
To align the redesign with business priorities, I started with interviews across sales, marketing, and digital strategy. These conversations helped define goals, reveal content gaps, and highlight workflow needs.
One of the things that I think is super important is to make it crystal clear what KelseyCare really is.
Rebecca Hughes
Senior Director, Health Plan Sales
We want to remove as many barriers as possible for people to contact us.
Julie Pippert
Manager, Digital Lead Generation
If I’m looking for something specific, such as a Broker video, I don’t know where to go.
Ann Cook
Sr. Vice President, Business Development and Marketing
These interviews surfaced these recurring themes that guided the redesign strategy:
Many felt the site didn’t clearly explain what KelseyCare is or how it adds value. They wanted stronger messaging, clearer calls to action, and a more modern design that felt aligned with the professionalism of the brand. There was also a shared push to make the experience more intuitive, especially on mobile.
While the vision was ambitious, the team needed a solution that worked within tight technical and budget constraints. That meant making smart trade-offs: choosing features that delivered the most value without overcomplicating the build or stretching internal resources.
I facilitated alignment between stakeholder goals and user needs, often translating between competing priorities to ensure the experience supported both. Stakeholder feedback shaped my priorities from the start. It helped focus user research, frame content strategy, and define the site’s core structure. Their insight also ensured that every decision I made supported not just user needs but measurable business outcomes.
Empathy maps
This informed better design decisions and kept the experience rooted in real-world use.
Broker
Employer
Step Two
Getting to know the users
Empathy maps ◇ Personas ◇ User journeys
Personas & user journeys
This helped shape the layout, tone, and how we prioritized features.
User #1: Broker
Persona
User Journey
User #2: Employer
Persona
User Journey
Step Three
Exploring the right ideas
Brainstorming ◇ Information architecture ◇ Lo-fi wireframes
Brainstorming
I guided the team through exercises to prioritize features, resolve misalignment, and align on next steps with clarity.
The final, organized view of our Miro board.
Information architecture (IA)
The original site had over 30 pages, many of which were unnecessary or redundant. I restructured the content into five streamlined pages, making navigation more intuitive and reducing cognitive load.
Lo-fi wireframes
Creating lo-fi wireframes helped us test layout ideas and user flow early on, allowing for quick iteration before moving into high-fidelity design.
Step Four
Bringing the design to life
Design system ◇ Responsive designs ◇ Prototype
Design system
I initiated and built a flexible design system to bring structure to the work and improve team efficiency. This system aligned visual styles, UI components, and documentation to ensure consistency throughout the project.
Here’s a glimpse at some of those system elements.
Usability testing
I tested the redesigned experience with brokers and employers, using both structured sessions and open-ended feedback to evaluate usability and clarity. I also shaped our testing priorities and reporting process, ensuring that results were clear, actionable, and grounded in business context.
Step Five
Validating what worked
Usability testing ◇ A/B/n testing
Broker feedback: CTA and sticky alert
1. Homepage CTA clarity
Problem: The “Save on Cost” CTA led users to a generic contact form, which was confusing.
Solution: Rewrote it as “Contact Sales to Learn More” to align better with expectations.
2. Sticky alert transparency
Problem: “Contact our team…” felt vague.
Solution: Updated to “Contact our sales team…” to provide clarity on who the message would reach.
Team feedback: Language clarity
Some terms on the Employer page, like “Hospital Agnostic” and “Utilization Management,” felt too technical. I proposed simpler alternatives:
Original
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“Utilization Management” – industry-specific and unclear to a general audience
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“Hospital-agnostic” – uncommon phrasing that most users wouldn’t recognize
Alternative
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“Quality, cost-effective care” – emphasizes tangible value without relying on jargon
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“Flexible care (not tied to a specific hospital) – clearly describes the benefit in everyday language
Takeway
The primary stakeholder chose to keep the original language, which reflected the real-world tradeoff between ideal UX and internal business preferences.
A/B/n testing: Member banner
To reduce confusion among members landing on the wrong site, I tested three banner designs. Each version aimed to clarify the path and reduce support requests.
Goal
Help members reach the correct KelseyCare site faster and reduce distractions for sales teams.
Process
Version A: My original version was clear, but the stakeholder felt it lacked strong visual presence.
Version B: A version based on stakeholder input had high visibility but overwhelmed the design.
Version C: The sales team preferred a design that balanced visibility and aesthetics.
Final outcome
The final design selected was the version preferred by the sales team. It successfully:
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Reduced misdirected contacts from existing members
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Enabled the sales team to focus on more qualified, high-intent leads
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Demonstrated how collaborative iteration can lead to effective compromise
Conclusion
Reflecting on progress and impact
Progress before launch
In December 2023, I completed the design phase and handed it off to development before transitioning to a new opportunity. I’m proud of the strategic foundation I laid, leading key decisions that shaped the user experience, aligned stakeholders, and created lasting momentum for the team.
Early work had already made a meaningful impact:
Valuable user feedback
Input from brokers and employers led to clearer messaging and more intuitive site interactions.
Navigating stakeholder needs
I balanced user priorities with business goals, making smart trade-offs while advocating for clarity and usability.
Data-informed decisions
A/B/n testing helped shape key design choices and showed how user insights could support both experience and performance.
Personal takeaway
I had to balance user needs with real-world constraints, and that wasn’t always easy. But it reminded me why I love this work. I'm solving the right problems, staying collaborative, and keeping the experience clear and human.
Final reflection
This project showed how even small design choices can make a big difference. It’s still in development (as of December 2023), but the work already points to a more helpful, user-friendly KelseyCare site.