CASE STUDYOnboarding Redesign | Firefly Health
Increasing completion rates while supporting multiple member types
Timeline: 2024, Q1 - Q2
My Role: Lead UX Designer - research, journey mapping, interaction design, and cross-functional collaboration
Challenge: During Firefly's pivot to a comprehensive health plan, we needed to update our onboarding to support fundamentally new member types. Meanwhile, we were also seeing conversion issues limiting long-term engagement. We recognized this as an opportunity to streamline our onboarding experience for both objectives.
Phase 1
Research & Discovery
I conducted comprehensive journey mapping sessions and analytics analysis to understand where new members were struggling.
Critical insights:
Complexity overwhelm: Existing onboarding collected too much information upfront
Unclear value proposition: Members didn't understand what made Firefly different
Missing context: Different member types had distinct needs but received identical experiences
Post-signup gap: Members who completed signup often didn't schedule their first appointment
Poor timing: We asked for personal health info before members understood and trusted the platform
Example of research readout from existing signup testing that revealed friction points and guided redesign strategy.
Phase 2
Design Process
Core design principles:
Progressive disclosure: Only ask for information when members understand why it matters
Value-first approach: Lead with benefits
Trust building: Introduce care team before requesting sensitive health data
Journey-specific customization: Tailor experience by member type without adding user complexity
Key design decisions:
Simplified entry point with welcoming introduction explaining Firefly's approach
Smart branching logic based on member type
Contextual health intake and team selection after members understand their care model
Integrated appointment scheduling as a natural final step in the onboarding experience
Phase 3
Validation & Testing
Before implementing the full redesign, I conducted validation testing to de-risk and refine the experience. This included Figma prototype testing on usertesting.com and detailed walkthroughs with cross-functional stakeholders.
Key findings:
Care team introduction timing tested well - new users felt more confident sharing info after meeting their providers
Progressive disclosure approach reduced perceived complexity without increasing actual completion time
First appointment integration significantly improved scheduling intent
Refinements made:
Simplified health goals selection based on user feedback about number of steps
Added contextual help for insurance verification step
Enhanced care team bios based on what information members found most important
23%
increase in completion rate
15%
increase in first visit bookings within 48 hours
0%
increase in user complexity
Key project insights
Context transforms compliance
People don't resist sharing health information - they resist sharing it without understanding why it matters. By introducing the care team and explaining our model before collecting data, we turned form completion from a compliance exercise into an investment in their care.
Complex redesigns require systems thinking
This project succeeded because we treated it as both a UX and systems challenge. Working closely with engineering to rebuild the backend infrastructure while redesigning the frontend meant we could create truly adaptive experiences rather than just restyling existing flows.
Progressive disclosure works differently in healthcare
Unlike industries like e-commerce, where the main objective is minimizing friction, healthcare onboarding requires building more trust and understanding. The "shortest path" isn't always the best path when people need to feel confident about their care decisions.
Complex requirements ≠ complex experience
Supporting three member types initially felt like a constraint, but it forced us to create clearer value propositions for each member type and ultimately more personalized near- and long-term experiences.
Let’s Build Something Great
Whether you need strategic UX consulting or hands-on design work, I'd love to hear about your project and explore how I can help.