Simplifying Benefits Access: SAG-AFTRA's Member-Centric Portal Redesign

Challenge

SAG-AFTRA, with over 170,000 members, faced significant challenges with their health insurance and pension benefits portal:

• Only 12.7% of members qualified for the union's health plan

• Members struggled with account creation, password resets, and finding key information

• High volumes of support requests and member dissatisfaction

• Complex eligibility criteria and prohibitive costs for some members

As the UX lead, I was tasked with redesigning the benefits portal to:

• Simplify navigation of health and pension information

• Reduce the need for extensive support

• Improve member satisfaction and understanding of their benefits

What I Did

Leading a cross-functional team, I spearheaded the following actions:

1. Discovery & Research:

   • Conducted in-depth interviews with members and SAG-AFTRA support staff

   • Identified common pain points in the existing system

2. User Insight Development:

   • Uncovered key issues:
     a. Difficult account creation process
     b. Unclear password reset procedures
     c. Confusing navigation between pension and health care information
     d. Challenges in accessing earnings information

3. Design & Prototyping:

   • Designed a new benefits manager portal focusing on:
     a. Simplified account creation
     b. Clarified password reset process
     c. Easy access to health care eligibility and pension earnings

   • Created a streamlined dashboard with an optimized Earnings View

   • Overhauled navigation for improved intuitiveness

4. Iterative Testing:

   • Conducted usability tests with real users

   • Gathered and incorporated feedback to refine the user experience

5. Technology Integration:

   • Utilized HTML and CSS for frontend development

   • Employed Figma for prototyping and visual design

Outcome

Our efforts resulted in significant improvements to the SAG-AFTRA benefits experience:

• Dramatically reduced support requests related to account setup, password resets, and navigation

• Improved member understanding of health care eligibility and pension earnings

• Enhanced overall user experience and satisfaction

• Allowed SAG-AFTRA support team to focus on higher-value tasks

While the new portal addressed many issues, it's important to note that challenges remain:

• Complex eligibility criteria still exist (e.g., "Earned Eligibility" requirements)

• Costs remain prohibitive for some members (e.g., COBRA coverage at $1,005-$2,501 per month)

• The SAG-AFTRA Health Plan still receives mixed reviews from members

This project represents a key step in modernizing how members interact with their health and pension benefits. Future updates will focus on expanding self-service options and potentially addressing broader issues of eligibility and affordability.