Delta Dental - Enrollment Dashboard

Delta Dental’s Enrollment Dashboard

Delta Dental is the nation’s leading provider of dental insurance, serving a wide variety of users. This initiative focused on Delta Dental Providers, who are responsible for managing the dental insurance of over 80 million customers.

Due to an oversight by enrollment analysts on the Coca-Cola account, Delta Dental incurred a loss of over $2 million.

The Problem

• Each Enrollment Analyst inspects over 150 files a day, using five to eight legacy tools that do not communicate well with one another.

• Errors had to be spotted manually or through overnight error reports, and those reports were sometimes delayed or never sent.

• This lack of visibility led to costly oversights. For nearly a year, these issues went undetected and resulted in Delta Dental paying out millions of dollars in claims.

My Role

As the Lead Product Designer on this project, I was responsible for:

• Driving design strategy across the full project lifecycle

• Facilitating research workshops and stakeholder alignment

• Leading prioritization exercises to define MVP scope

• Creating user flows, wireframes, and prototypes

• Conducting usability testing with real users

• Collaborating closely with engineering, product, and subject matter experts

• Delivering scalable solutions within Delta Dental’s design system

Research and Discovery

1. Cross-Functional Workshop

I partnered with the UX Research team to host a three-day workshop. We conducted user interviews and journey mapping sessions with Enrollment Analysts and Subject Matter Experts (SME’s) to understand:

• The day-to-day challenges of analysts

• Gaps in current workflows

• Opportunities for improvement

2. Key Findings

• Analysts used around eight different tools for every file

• Errors could only be seen manually or through delayed overnight reports

• Emails often failed without notice and had no simple way to be tracked

• Analysts had no internal communication system for file status updates

Defining the Scope

1. Impact vs Feasibility Matrix

I led a prioritization session to balance business needs and user pain points. We aligned on four MVPs to be built over a 9-month timeline.

2. Design Principles

To stay focused in a complex and technical space, we defined these principles:

1. User Control – Let users customize and focus on what matters to them

2. Efficient Information – Show only what is relevant and actionable

3. Live Feed Visibility – Display the most current system data available

4. Transparency and Communication – Make it easy to track what has happened and why

The Solution

This was a 0 to 1 initiative. My cross-functional team and I worked with stakeholders to break the problem into four core MVPs. I led the design direction and created a centralized dashboard where Enrollment Analysts could manage their investigative workload, access real-time updates, and stay informed without switching between tools.

MVP 1: Dashboard Landing Page

A simplified home view where analysts can quickly see the most important information.

• Highlights file statuses, recent errors, and email activity

• Helps analysts prioritize tasks without switching between tools

• Replaces the need to monitor disconnected platforms

MVP 2: Centralized Error Maintenance

A single place to review and manage all data errors.

• Shows what went wrong and which files are affected

• Removes the need to wait for overnight reports

• Reduces the risk of missed or delayed error handling

MVP 3: Daily File Receipt Status

Clear visibility into which files were received and processed.

• Identifies missing or delayed files immediately

• Saves time by removing the need for manual checks

• Prevents file issues from escalating unnoticed

MVP 4: Email Tracking

A full view of all emails sent to clients and partners.

• Shows what was sent, when, and whether it succeeded

• Allows analysts to resend failed emails without extra steps

• Eliminates the need to copy themselves on emails

Design Process

1. Exploration: My Stats vs Team Stats

We explored a concept that compared individual performance to team performance. While it provided transparency, users disliked how it felt like surveillance. We removed it based on user feedback.

2. Handling Large Data Sets

We worked closely with SMEs to determine what information was most critical. I used components like data tables and accordions to organize dense information, keeping views simple and scannable.

Usability Testing

Participants

• 14 Enrollment Analysts

• 2 EA Managers

Testing Goals

• Could users navigate the product?

• Did it make sense?

• Were the most important details easy to find?

Outcomes

• Strong validation of dashboard concepts

• Minor changes needed

• Estimated time savings: 40% of analysts' workday

Technical Constraint

We learned late in the process that real-time data was not possible for all features. Specifically, error updates had to go through system processing before they could be displayed.

How I Handled It

• Met with engineering and business teams to understand what could be delivered

• Updated the design to show pending errors and resolved counts

• Provided transparency as an alternative to real-time visibility

• Planned to test this solution further in future phases

Information Re-Architecture

During our second round of usability testing, we identified both strengths and opportunities for improvement in the dashboard experience.

What Worked

• Updates to how error data was displayed were well received

• Feedback was consistent with the first round of testing

• Users found the error-related changes helpful and easy to use

• The overall direction was validated, with only minor adjustments needed

What Needed Improvement

• Navigation was confusing and harder to follow than expected

• Users had trouble moving between key sections during their workflows

• Analysts expressed a need to:

  • Access file receipt statuses more easily

  • View email statuses alongside file-related information

• The layout did not fully match how analysts think and work in real time

What I Did

• Collaborated with the team to:

  • Restructure the navigation for greater clarity

  • Group related content (like file receipts and email statuses) in a more intuitive way

• Simplified access to high-priority features

• Created a roadmap for additional testing and refinements after the MVP release

Results

• 40% reduction in task completion time

• 5.56% error rate, within target thresholds

• $2.37 million in future losses avoided

What I Would Do Differently

• Investigate technical limitations more thoroughly at the start of the project

• Ask more specific questions about “real-time” capabilities

• Plan for data delays and exceptions from the beginning

Next Steps

• Explore integrated alerts for critical or recurring issues

• Improve navigation for faster access to high-priority actions

• Revisit data visualizations to reduce scanning time

• Continue refining the experience to reduce the error rate even further