Timeline
1 year & 4 months for v1 and various improvements
First Main Squad
Me (Senior PD)
Neil (Creative Director)
Hans (PD)
Lauren (Program Manager)
Adam (Eng Manager)
Second Main Squad
Me (Lead PD)
Dominika (PD)
John (PM)
Weston (iOS/Accessibility Lead)
Sami (Android Lead)
Kaiser Permanente chose Y Media Labs for its digital transformation
Kaiser Permanente (KP) is, according to Wikipedia, the largest managed care organization in the United States. They operate 39 hospitals and 700+ medical offices in 8 states, and they offer health insurance to their 12+ million members. Kaiser Permanente approached Y Media Labs (YML) to help improve their digital experiences. I joined YML several weeks after the engagement with KP kicked off in February 2020😅.
We focused on usability, accessibility, and proactive healthcare
The possibilities are practically endless when working with an organization of this size seeking digital transformation services. We needed to move fast and make a tangible impact to continue to win their business. YML is known for their native mobile product design and development expertise, so that's where we focused our initial efforts.
Improving usability, increasing online appointment booking, managing expectations and triaging for COVID-19 concerns, and reducing "Care Gaps" would not only keep the proverbial lights on, but improve the health of millions of KP members.
Short-term wins gave way to longer-term bets
You may have noticed earlier that I listed two different squads. While there was some overlap between team members, I like to think these squads define two distinct periods of the engagement.
The work with the first squad was all about making a big impact in a short period of time. We would make significant IA changes that, under the hood, weren't incredibly high effort. We would also align their mobile app's visual design with their website's, provide an extensive UI kit, and build strong ties with the KP design team. Since I was new, my role was primarily focused on execution.
The second stint was more ambiguous. YML made its positive impact and were now involved in more open-ended problems. COVID-19 work, while straightforward, had many bureaucratic challenges. I was promoted to Lead Product Designer and my focus was split between day-to-day execution and higher-level strategy. Kaiser Permanente would go on to win Fast Company's 2022 Design Company of the Year (with honorable mention to YML).
Deeper dive slide deck
In the deck below, you'll see a sample of what we shipped while I was working with the team, how I contributed, and how the project progressed over time. I'm unable to show design iterations for this project.