A major health insurer
CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield is a not-for-profit health insurer serving more than 3 million members in Maryland, Washington, DC and Northern Virginia.
Research → strategy → product8 min readBroker
experience
How 32 interviews in three weeks pointed CareFirst to the one fix its brokers needed most, validated with a broker survey before anything was built.
- Problem
- Brokers loved CareFirst’s network and brand, but doing business with CareFirst was really hard. CareFirst needed to know where the experience was breaking, and what to fix first.
- My role
- Lead product designer & researcher. I ran all of the research myself, from the interviews and survey to the synthesis, archetypes and service blueprints, and designed the future state. I worked with a strategist, a project manager and a visual designer.
- What I did
- Ran 32 interviews in 3 weeks, solo and with no notetaker. Mapped 8 backstage processes, built archetypes and an end-to-end service blueprint, validated the direction with an 18-broker survey, and designed the future state.
- Result
- 16 of 18 brokers said seeing the status of their support issues would make them write more business with a carrier. It was their #1 answer. That made issue submission & tracking the priority.
- Timeline
- 8 months
- Interviews
- 32 in 3 weeks
- Survey
- 18 brokers
- Processes mapped
- 8
- Team
- 4 people
Tools
- Miro
- Dovetail
- Qualtrics
- Google Surveys
- Figma
Methods
- Interviews
- Visioning workshop
- Survey
- Affinity mapping
- Archetypes
- Service blueprinting
- Prototyping
Context
The company and the stakes
Why brokers matter
The people who sell its plans
Independent brokers sell CareFirst plans to employers, then help those groups through enrollment, service issues and renewals.
Growth runs through brokers
At CareFirst’s 20% close ratio, every 10% more pipeline from existing brokers means about 2,000 new members. Poor service was putting that pipeline at risk.
At a glance
From noise to one priority
Narrowed to one decision
- Listen32interviews + 1 workshop
- Trace8backstage processes
- Connect1service blueprint, 4 archetypes
- Diagnose3moments of truth
- Validate18brokers surveyed
- Decide1product priority
ImmerseListen
ConceptTrace · Connect · Diagnose
SolveValidate · Decide · Design the future state
KickoffWk 3Month 3Month 8
Challenges
What made it hard
Three months to a strategy
Research and strategy had a three-month window, so all 32 interviews had to land in the first three weeks.
How I handled it
I logged every interview in the same template the day it happened, so themes surfaced while interviews were still underway.
Participants picked for us
CareFirst arranged every interview. We had no say in which brokers or employees we heard from.
How I handled it
I ran an 18-broker survey to test the interview themes with a wider group before we committed to a direction.
One researcher, no notetaker
I ran all 32 interviews myself, with no notetaker and no AI transcription tools at the time.
How I handled it
I took notes live in every session, then synthesized the raw data by hand, affinity diagramming in Miro.
01 · Listen
Weeks 1–3
What brokers told us
I ran all 32 interviews myself, taking notes live, across both sides of the relationship (the brokers selling CareFirst plans and the internal teams who support them after the sale). Two ideas came up again and again. People love CareFirst’s network and brand, and doing business with CareFirst is really hard. Every broker said response times were far too long.
17
Broker interviews with general producers and wholesalers
15
Stakeholder interviews across sales, implementation, underwriting and support
1
On-site visioning workshop with CareFirst
“Is it CareWorst, CareLess, or CareFirst?”
“A lot of the time [our clients] think it’s us… but it’s that we can’t reach someone at CareFirst.”
“They’ll put 65 people on an email hoping that someone will chime in and resolve it.”
“I can sometimes be on the phone for 45 minutes trying to get something small resolved. That time is costing me money.”
Four archetypes, one chain of trust
Instead of demographic personas, I built archetypes around roles and emotions. They showed that a broker’s reputation depends on every link. Brokers aren’t happy until members are happy.
- MemberThe HeroRelies on everyone else’s expertise to get covered and get care.
- Employer / HRThe AllyAdvocates directly for employees to make sure their needs are met.
- Direct brokerThe MentorWorks across every channel as the conduit between the insured and the carrier.
- General agencyThe ShapeshifterA carrier partner that gets the job done in many different ways.
02 · Trace & connect
Backstage → blueprint
Where the system breaks
Brokers only see the frontstage. To find out why things went wrong, I mapped eight backstage processes, from contracting and credentialing to renewals that go to RFP. The cost showed up everywhere.
25%+of account consultants’ time goes to broker service issues
50%+of renewals are affected by those service issues in some way
4analysts watching one shared inbox, ~100 contracts a month, all manual
1 moto release a broker’s withheld pay, an “extremely common” issue
Key finding 01No one at CareFirst owns the complete broker relationship.
Key finding 02Employees feel pressure to keep broker issues from escalating.
More maps →
Then I connected it all into one blueprint
The service blueprint spans sales, implementation and retention, and it tracks how brokers and CareFirst employees feel at every step. Both lines sink in the same place, plan administration.
03 · Diagnose
Fail points in the blueprint
Three moments that cost trust
The blueprint made one thing obvious. When CareFirst stumbles, the broker takes the hit in front of the group they’re trying to keep.
01 · Administration
Broker administration
When a broker can’t give a group the best service because of CareFirst’s limitations, their reputation is on the line, and they risk losing the client.
A support center in the broker portal for submitting issues and tracking their status, so brokers can keep groups informed instead of waiting in the dark.
Jump to the solution ↓02 · Renewal
Broker renewal
Renewing is easiest for everyone. But if a group isn’t happy with renewal rates, the broker has to shop for an alternative carrier.
A future-state renewal with meetings five months out, data-backed proposals, and a post-renewal retro so the next one starts with what was learned.
See the future state ↓03 · CareFirst
CareFirst administration
The time it takes to resolve broker issues is tarnishing CareFirst’s reputation.
A service request system that routes every ticket to the broker’s designated customer success manager, tagged by urgency. No more fishing through inboxes.
Jump to the solution ↓04 · Validate
18-broker survey
Validating the direction before building it
Interviews told us what hurt. Before recommending a product, I wanted to know what would actually change broker behavior, so I surveyed 18 brokers on what would make them write more business with a carrier.
89%said visibility into the status of support issues would make them write more business. It was the #1 answer
88%were interested in a self-service system for submitting and tracking issues
55%would write less business with a carrier because of poor service
2 in 3would stay with a carrier with superior service, even if it didn’t win on price
What gave us pause
“Another login on top of the 50 or so I already have is an extra burden.”
“It would not work if it replaced my account rep.”
Brokers, surveySo the design had three rules
- 01No new login. It lives inside the broker portal brokers already use.
- 02A human owns every ticket. Requests go to the broker’s designated customer success manager. Self-service adds visibility, it doesn’t replace people.
- 03Status without chasing. Brokers see who has it and what’s next, so they can answer their clients right away.
05 · Decide
Strategy & roadmap
The decision we made, and why it matters
+2,000
members for every 10% increase in pipeline from existing brokers, at CareFirst’s 20% close ratio. Better broker service isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s growth.
Why issue tracking won
- 01It was brokers’ #1 lever for writing more business. 16 of 18 picked it.
- 02It was the one place in the blueprint where delays clearly reached customers.
- 03One system could fix both sides, with transparency for brokers and triage for teams with flooded inboxes.
Broker portal recommendations · ranked by revenue impact
Primary
- Workflows
- Accessibility
- System functionality
- Consolidated systems
Secondary
- Training resources
- Information architecture
- Hierarchy
- Visual design
Beyond the screen
A new Customer Success function
Software alone couldn’t fix a relationship nobody owned. We recommended a new team that gives every broker a single point of contact 100% focused on broker needs, so account consultants can focus on sales.
06 · Design
Future state
From lost emails to tracked tickets
I designed the experience on both sides of the counter, with a support center in the broker portal, and a service request system that routes, prioritizes and reports on every request.
- 01 · BrokerEmails CareFirst about a group’s issue and hears nothing for days
- 02 · BrokerChases every contact they know, from sales rep, renewal rep, by email, text and phone
- 03 · CareFirstThe request bounces between teams. Nobody owns it.
- 04 · GroupLoses patience with the broker
- 01 · BrokerSubmits the request in the portal, with known details pre-filled
- 02 · CareFirstIt lands with their customer success manager, tagged by urgency
- 03 · BrokerSees live status. No reminders, no chasing
- 04 · BothIssue resolved; reports show volume so teams can plan staffing
ScenarioA member can’t get care because of an enrollment issue, and the broker needs CareFirst’s help to fix it fast.
ScenarioA group is setting up with CareFirst for the first time.
ScenarioA broker is negotiating a renewal for a client of one year.
Broker portal · Screen 1 of 7
Same portal, same login
Brokers already juggle dozens of logins, so support lives inside the broker portal they already use.
↳ Rule 01 · No new loginBroker portal · Screen 2 of 7
Open requests, front and center
Every open ticket and its status (New, In progress, Overdue) is the first thing a broker sees after signing in.
↳ 16 of 18 brokers asked for status visibilityBroker portal · Screen 3 of 7
Search before you submit
A keyword search surfaces support resources, so simple questions don’t wait days for a reply.
↳ Brokers wanted to troubleshoot minor issues themselvesBroker portal · Screen 4 of 7
Answers, organized by topic
Frequently asked questions grouped by category, with a jump menu for fast scanning.
↳ Self-service for the simple stuffBroker portal · Screen 5 of 7
Known details, pre-filled
Name and email come from the broker’s profile, and a request type routes the ticket to the right team.
↳ Replaces “65 people on an email”Broker portal · Screen 6 of 7
Expectations, set up front
A request number, response times by priority (same day for urgent, 24–48 hours for the rest), and updates in the portal and by email.
↳ Ends “hear nothing for days”Broker portal · Screen 7 of 7
Try the broker prototype ↗A name on every ticket
Status, dates and a named assignee, so the broker always knows who has their request.
↳ Rule 02 · A human owns every ticketCustomer success view · Screen 1 of 2
Priorities, not a flooded inbox
Customer success managers see their open tickets, the high-priority requests, and their progress against service goals like resolution time.
↳ Replaces fishing through shared inboxesCustomer success view · Screen 2 of 2
Try the customer success prototype ↗Own it, update it, route it
Reps change a ticket’s status, take action or reassign it, and every update reaches the broker without a follow-up email.
↳ Rule 03 · Status without chasing07 · Impact
Handoff
What I handed off
Handoff
My part ended with a validated strategy, ready to build. It included the research, 4 archetypes, current- and future-state service blueprints, a prioritized portal roadmap, an org recommendation, and two clickable prototypes.
Success measure 01Time to resolve broker issuesBaseline is days of silence, and up to a month for withheld pay
Success measure 02Consultant time back for salesBaseline is 25%+ of their time spent on service issues
Success measure 03Pipeline from existing brokersEvery +10% ≈ 2,000 new members
- 01Prioritize and organize issues by urgency and severityCareFirst
- 02More transparency for brokers, with ticket status updatesBroker
- 03Faster issue resolution and higher customer satisfactionBoth
- 04Reporting and activity tracking to plan staffing and operationsCareFirst
- 05Customer success managers resolve issues and route tickets to the next available resourceCareFirst
- 06Broker self-service through a new support center in the portalBroker
08 · Reflect
Looking back
If I ran it today
I took every note by hand and affinity-mapped all 32 interviews myself. Today I’d use AI transcription and clustering to get there in hours and spend the time saved testing prototypes with brokers.
I’d turn the backstage numbers (time to resolution, consultants’ hours on service) into baselines at kickoff, so impact could be proven, not just predicted.
I’d push for a say in who we interview, including brokers who had moved groups away from CareFirst.