Behavioral Health
Pioneering the first mental health triage experience in healthcare insurance industry - guiding members to appropriate care through empathetic, personalized digital support.
Duration
6 Weeks
My Role
UX Designer
Innovation
Industry First
Impact
2M+ Members
Project Overview
Breaking new ground in mental health accessibility through innovative UX design
Industry-First Achievement
This project represents the first comprehensive behavioral health triage system designedspecifically for the healthcare insurance industry. No existing precedent existed, requiringus to pioneer entirely new approaches to digital mental health support within traditionalinsurance frameworks.
Mental health care has historically been one of the most challenging aspects of healthcare to navigate. At Florida Blue, we recognized a critical opportunity to remove barriers and create a more compassionate, accessible entry point for members seeking behavioral health support.
This project required designing for emotional sensitivity while maintaining clinical accuracy creating user experiences that feel supportive rather than clinical, and pioneering new interaction pattens that had never been tested in the insurance industry.
-
60%
Reduction in mental health access barriers
-
85%
Member confidence in care matching
-
40%
Faster path to appropriate care
-
90%
Positive member feedback on experience
The Challenge
Healthcare cost opacity was creating barriers to care and eroding member trust
Confusing provider directories that offered no guidance on which type of mental health professional was appropriate
Generic search results that didn’t account for individual needs, conditions, or treatment preferences
Clinical language and processes that felt intimidating and impersonal during emotionally vulnerable moments
No differentiation between care levels - therapy, counseling, psychiatry, and crisis support were presented equally
Member abandoning the search process due to overwhelm and lack of clear guidance
Design for Vulnerable Moments
Accessing mental health care requires extraordinary empathy in design. We needed to create an experience that felt supportive, not clinical
Emotional Safety
Every interaction needed to feel welcoming and non-judgmental, reducing anxiety rather than adding to it.
Cognitive Load
Simplify complex decisions during moments when mental capacity may already be strained.
Privacy Confidence
Members needed absolute confidence that their mental health information would remain private and secure.
Clear Next Steps
Eliminate uncertainty about what happens after completing the triage - clear expectations reduce anxiety.
Research & Testing Approach
Extensive user testing to ensure we got this sensitive experience right
Since healthcare cost transparency tools were limited across the industry, we expanded our research to e-commerce and financial services platforms to understand how other industries handle complex pricing comparisons and transparent cost discolsure.
Definition Placement Testing
Tested three different approaches for providing definitions of mental health care types to ensure members understood their options without feeling overwhelmed.
Key Finding:
Tooltip definitions performed best - accessible when needed but not cluttering the main interface.
User Journey Scenarios
Tested all happy path scenarios as well as edge cases including child accounts and spouse accounts to ensure comprehensive coverage.
Key Finding:
Family account navigation require special consideration for privacy and appropriate care level matching.
Emotional Response Test
Measured not just task completion but emotional response to language, visual design, and interaction patterns.
Key Finding:
Visual selection methods reduced anxiety compared to form-based approaches.
Design Solutions
A compassionate, guided experience that matches members with appropriate mental health care
Initial Need Assessment
Care Type Matching
Guided Questions
Provider Results
Confident Next Steps
Key Pattern Display
Key Screens
Desktop
Native Mobile
UI Pattern
Visual over Textual
Replaced clinical terminology with visual icons and plain language to make mental health care feel more approachable and less intimidating
Privacy-First Design
Built transparency privacy controls and clear data handling explanations to build trust during vulnerable moments
Personalized Match
Created intelligent filtering that considers member preferences, plan benefits, and care urgency to provide truly relevant results.
Reduced Friction
Streamlined multi-step processes into single page selections, reducing abandonment during emotionally difficult moments.
Cognitive Accessibility
Designed for users who may be experiencing depression, anxiety, or other conditions that affect concentration and decision-making.
Crisis-Aware Design
Integrated clear pathways to immediate crisis resources while maintaining the supportive, non-clinical tone throughout.
Impact & Results
Setting new standards for mental health accessibility in digital healthcare
The behavioral health triage project didn’t just improve Guidewell’s member experience - it established a new benchmark for the entire health care insurance industry. The innovation has been recognized as new standards for mental health accessibility in digital platforms.
-
60%
Reduction in mental health access barriers
-
85%
Member confidence in care matching
-
40%
Faster path to appropriate care
-
90%
Positive member feedback on experience