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Well-being Speedway
HR TECH • UX DESIGN • UX RESEARCH
Elevating the employee experience and promoting well-being through a revitalized benefits portal
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Overview
The Heritage Group has incredible benefits for its employees that often go unnoticed. To amplify these offerings, the Total Rewards team—a dedicated HR unit focusing on benefits and well-being took the initiative to elevate awareness by enhancing the benefits portal. In close collaboration with the HR and Marketing teams, I took the lead role, leveraging user-centered design principles to craft an engaging benefits portal that would speak to the heart of 5000+ employees of this massive $500M corporation.
Client
The Heritage Group
Timeline
June 2023 - Sep 2023
Role
UX Designer
Key Contributions
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Led the design of a well-being-focused website
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Persuaded leadership to invest in user research
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Conducted user research
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Conceptualized solutions and utilized lo-fi sketches to validate ideas
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Developed interactive Figma prototype for leadership presentation and usability testing
Client Expectations
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Lead Project
Lead the design and development of a comprehensive well-being website for employees
Stakeholder Collaboration
Collaborate with key stakeholders to meticulously identify and understand project requirements
UI Design and Prototyping
Design intuitive UI mockups and prototypes to vividly illustrate the visual and functional aspects of the website
Challenge
Ineffectiveness of the current portal
The existing benefits portal lacks effectiveness and fails to encourage exploration.
Underutilization of well-being benefits:
Numerous well-being-related benefits are underutilized, with employees not fully leveraging the offerings available.
Widespread lack of awareness
Many employees face challenges in locating and understanding the benefits portal, leading to questions such as "Where is the portal?" and "What is the portal?"
Direct contact with HRSS
Employees often bypass the portal, going directly to HR Shared Services (HRSS) instead of exploring the available resources on the portal.
How might we educate and engage employees about well-being and associated benefits through a process of continuous learning?
Solution
The solution takes the well-being journey through a streamlined three-step process. It's all about exploration—start with key categories, delve into the offerings beneath, and finally, discover detailed information about each benefit coupled with mini-games for engagement and information retention.
Research
Target Audience
Employees across The Heritage Group and its operating companies, spanning a diverse demographic spectrum. From truck drivers and plant workers to corporate employees, the platform would cater to the well-being needs of every individual within this extensive workforce.
Research Methods
User Interviews
Conducted 9 user interviews spanning 5 operating companies, engaging employees with diverse job titles to gather comprehensive insights
Focus Group
Participated in marketing Focus Groups as observer to identify user sentiments, challenges, and areas for improvement in the existing portal
Personas
Got insights into the diverse demographic of 5000+ employees
Define
Key Goals
Increase awareness on enhancing well-being and accessing benefits for “moments that matter”
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Deliver information in a way that is simple to understand, user-friendly, fun, and engaging
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Establish a flexible, foundational framework that supports future growth and ongoing education with new content
Ideation
Stakeholder Ask
Help us design a "game-board" for employees to learn and connect with well-being benefits during important moments
Is game-board an ideal direction? Not Really!
Linear progression, limited to predefined steps
Everyone has a different story, and a game-boards linear progression does not resonate with real-life experiences
Outcome determined by external factors like dice
The steps and events of a typical game board are fixed and determined by random factors. People should have command of navigating the information they need.
My Proposal - Building an exploration catalyst!
Drawing inspiration from the captivating world of museums, my proposal unfolds a three-step journey of exploration:
#1 - Dynamic Categories
Much like a museum map guides visitors, the platform strategically outlines key categories of all benefits. This user-friendly navigation empowers employees to identify the category that resonates most with their current needs.
#2 - In-Depth Exploration:
Taking a cue from navigating through museum sections, the next step involves a deep dive into the selected category. It mimics the immersive experience of exploring a specific exhibit.
#3 - Benefit Discovery:
Comparable to approaching an art piece in a museum, this stage showcases the selected benefit as a masterpiece. Leveraging elements of credibility, such as testimonials and reviews, it offers a mini-game for engagement. This not only enhances information retention but also adds a touch of interactive fun to the learning experience.
Outcome
With unanimous approval, the team decided to take this approach for leadership proposal
Theme Selection
Although the team liked the exploratory nature of the museum concept, it lacked a connection to The Heritage employees. After brainstorming multiple options and a short survey, we landed on the dynamic and engaging theme of a racetrack!
Why Race-track?
Ties with Indiana Motor Speedway
One of THG's operating companies "Monument Chemicals" laid the track of Indiana Motor Speedway (IMS), one of the world-renowned race track
Operations in Asphalt Research
Asphalt Materials (AMI) is another operating company owned by The Heritage Group with rich operations in Asphalt Research
Racing Fans
Being located in Indiana, a huge demographic of The Heritage Group is a big fan of Indy500 - the pride of state.
Shaping the race-track to resonate with "well-being" and "benefits"
Pit Stop
I noticed a strong advocacy for the 'race-track' theme from the team. While I'm not a racing enthusiast, I recognized the importance of making it relatable to everyone. Putting on my Sherlock hat, I explored ways to connect the theme beyond flashy visuals, ensuring that it resonates with a broader audience and aligns with the entire concept.
My exploration led me to the concept of 'Pit-stops,' a resonant idea that reflects how benefits intersect with the various stages of employees' lives.
Prototype
Visual Identity
Aligned with The Heritage design guidelines, I incorporated custom components to envelop the interface in a visually appealing race-track theme.
Gameplay and Leaderboard
I incorporated a gamification elements into the design, allowing users to earn points (laps) as they explored each benefit. Completing a set of laps would unlock rewards. While the leadership requested a gamification and reward mechanism, my primary goal in the design was to create a platform that was inherently informative and engaging, ensuring users would visit the platform for the experience itself, not just for the rewards.
Leader-board
The Heritage logo-shaped track represents the leaderboard with users' laps and possible laps
Mini Games
The benefit exploration is intricately connected with a series of mini-games. Each game completed represents progress in the form of laps.
Idea behind mini-games
Research indicates that people are more likely to remember information if they interact with it rather than passively skimming through it.
Play with Well-being Speedway!
Experience
Undoubtedly, this project was a unique endeavor, collaborating with HR and Marketing teams in a non-tech company was a one-in-a-billion experience. What made this collaboration particularly successful were a few key factors:
Transparency of Processes:
Given that my stakeholders came from an HR background and had limited exposure to design methodologies, the transparency proved instrumental in aligning everyone on the same page throughout the project's execution.
"Why" Behind Every Decision:
Whether it was a requirement or a recommendation, I always provided the rationale behind each decision. This commitment to understanding the 'why' helped create clarity and conviction in the project's direction.
Supportive Team:
Working with genuinely awesome people who granted the freedom to be creative was a highlight. This freedom allowed for innovative thinking and resulted in a project that truly stood out.
A big shoutout to...
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Steph Kaiser - One of the most amazing humans I've had the privilege of working with in my professional journey. Thank you for believing in me and setting the highest standards for work culture.
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Savanna Jarmon - The person who turned my aspirations of conducting user research into reality, helping me connect with the right participants and making the project come to life.
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Alex Mattingly & Matt Miller - To the vibrant marketing duo, thank you for your weekly receptiveness to my ideas and for helping me shape something I never imagined I would conceive—the racing theme.
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