Accessible transportation benefits for health-plan members

People were booking rides to medical appointments through a slow, multi-step flow that left them unsure it had even worked. I rebuilt it around fewer steps and obvious confirmation, and tested it with real members.

Company: UnitedHealth Group
Role: Principal UI/UX Designer
Industry: Healthcare
Timeline: 2022 – 2023

End-to-end ride scheduling flow from selecting details through booking — The scheduling flow was rebuilt around fewer, clearer steps, so members could book a ride without second-guessing each screen.

Context

Eligible members of certain health plans can schedule transportation to and from medical appointments as a covered benefit. The people using it are often older, managing health conditions, or arranging a ride under time pressure. The experience had to be dependable and easy to trust, because a missed or confusing booking can mean a missed appointment.

The problem

Scheduling a ride took too many steps and left members unsure whether the booking had actually gone through. In a regulated healthcare product, edge cases and eligibility rules add real complexity, and every added step is another place to get stuck or lose confidence. The challenge was cutting effort and doubt without dropping the details the benefit legitimately requires.

Ride confirmation screen summarizing appointment, pickup, and timing details — Explicit confirmation at the end of the flow gave members certainty the ride was booked — which matters most when the trip is to a medical appointment.

What I did

Led product design for the transportation scheduling experience as Principal UI/UX Designer
Designed the end-to-end flow across eligibility, booking, confirmation, and ride status
Ran user research and usability testing to validate the flow with real members
Partnered with product, engineering, and clinical stakeholders inside a regulated environment

How I approached it

Mapped the full scheduling journey to find where members hesitated or dropped off
Ran usability testing to check that each step held up under real conditions
Designed clear confirmation and status at every point, so members always knew where things stood
Worked through eligibility and edge cases with product and clinical partners so the happy path stayed simple
Held accessibility as a first-class requirement given the member population

Ride history and status views showing upcoming and past ride states — Clear ride states and history let members see what was scheduled, in progress, or complete at a glance.

Key decisions

Cut the number of steps it took to book a ride
Made confirmation and status explicit at each step, because certainty matters most when someone is arranging medical care
Limited choices at the critical decision points to lower cognitive load without hiding what members needed
Designed for accessibility and edge cases up front rather than retrofitting them

System notifications communicating ride status updates to members — Status messages were written as one consistent voice, so proactive updates reduced uncertainty instead of adding noise.

Systems & patterns

Reusable, accessible patterns for scheduling, confirmation, and status that could carry across regulated healthcare flows
One consistent voice for system messages, so updates felt coherent instead of noisy

What shipped

A clearer, more accessible scheduling experience: fewer steps to book, explicit confirmation at each stage, and a flow tested with real members.

Reflection

This was a reminder that in healthcare, clarity is the feature. People are not admiring the interface; they are trying to get to a doctor. The most valuable decisions were the quiet ones, like confirming a booking clearly and removing a step that added doubt. Designing for members under stress, inside real regulatory constraints, is the kind of high-stakes work I want to keep doing.