Late 2020, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan started building out an internal Design-Thinking team. A year later, I was contacted by their Operations Lead notifying me that they were expanding their team. They wanted me to join–I uniquivically did.
A card-sorting deck developed as a workshop study into member sentiments within healthcare–turning every decision into a real member impact, forces stakeholders to live the consequences of that aftermath.
Our mission? Envision innovative solutions, re-imagine stakeholder experiences, and co-create high-value strategies services, products, and process with our business partners to serve our members and BCBSM.
I worked with a team of service designers to crafted immersive experiences that blended data-driven narratives, infographic dashboards, and blueprints to guide stakeholders through real member stories—turning synthesized research into empathetic, human-centered insights.
As part of a studio initiative to explore systemic drivers and member barriers, this prototype serves as a DEIA reflection board. It visualizes core themes, barriers, and their interconnections, and offers interactive touch-points with AI-generated narratives illustrating how these barriers affect individuals. For optimal viewing, use desktop and expand to fullscreen.
To bring innovative futures to life with strategic human centered design
Surface critical member frustrations (billing confusion, appointment hurdles, care coordination, etc.) through narrative storytelling.
Transform qualitative and quantitative research into clear, compelling visuals that highlight patterns at a glance.
Expose gaps in current and future-state processes to spark high-value improvements.
A blueprint outlining the end-to-end current state experience for senior health services—from transitioning off commercial coverage to enrolling in Medicare Advantage and through re-enrollment.
Throughout research, I co-facilitated over 200 empathy led interviews–logging thousands of notes in Word, Mural, and Dovetail. We leveraged dScout, Human8, and User Interview to host and import supplementary materials, where I later synthesized with service designers to discover key themes and patterns. This granular experience grounded me with insights and a new understanding of member sentiments and the complexities of the healthcare workflows.
While mapping several large scale blueprints, I learned that linear flows were not meeting our project needs. Static, they lacked the depth that was required to capture much broader interconnected relationships. Opting for interactive nodes, I worked with another visual designer to explore and provide stakeholders ways to choose their own exploration path within Figma–an innovative departure from traditional ways of working within BCBSM.
Early cross-team collaboration often felt transactional and lost sight of who and what we were designing for. By pairing visual metaphors with member quotes, I helped bring our research to life. As our team resources increased, I later refined my process and enriched our data driven narratives with generative ai. Member quotes transformed from written blocks of text to HIPA compliant member stories that now had a unique voice and digital heartbeat. Within surveys, stakeholders said this approach “felt human” and “made the data memorable,” paving the way for more member-centric initiatives.
In-person workshops lent room for projecting live Figma prototypes and other material during  co-creation. Where service designers led and facilitated these meetings, I coached stakeholders through unfamiliar tools and design decisions, yielding real-time feedback. Post-workshop surveys showed 93% of participants had a clear, shared understanding of top member challenges and approach to new tools—up 61 points from pre-session levels.
Post-workshop surveys revealed that 93% of attendees achieved a unified grasp of key member challenges, thanks to our enhanced dynamic blueprints and advanced software capabilities.
Co-led 8 cross-team initiatives; 6 concepts were greenlit for prototyping within weeks.
Developed modular visual libraries across Figma, Mural, and Power Point–effectively cutting down production time for deliverables and project staffing.
Increased access to care, helped drive equity in the member experience, and improved selected vendor outcomes by grounding stakeholder decisions in human centered research.
