Designing UnitedHealth Group’s Employee Experience

Streamlining workflows and creating meaningful ways for employees to connect with their work and each other

The Challenge

UnitedHealth Group’s internal digital ecosystem served over 350,000 employees across mobile and web, but data and feedback showed employees struggled to find tools, complete routine tasks, and stay engaged with company content.

My challenge was to simplify the experience, improve usability, and strengthen engagement by rethinking how employees interact with their digital workplace.

My Role

As the UX/UI designer on a cross-functional team of product managers, developers, and communicators, I was responsible for:

• Leading UX design for new features and enhancements.

• Leading design reviews with leadership, developers, and stakeholders.

• Translating insights and feedback into wireframes, prototypes, and production-ready designs.

• Driving the redesign of both the employee app and the intranet homepage.

Process

My approach centered on research, iteration, and validation — continuously designing, testing, and refining based on real employee and stakeholder feedback.

Research & Insights

• Gathered feedback from employees and stakeholders to identify business needs.

• Analyzed usage metrics to uncover the most utilized areas, friction points, and drop-off patterns.

• Found a clear need for faster access to key tools and more relevant, personalized content.

Iterative Design

• Mapped streamlined task flows and created low-fidelity wireframes to test structure early.

• Designed new tools, including Out of Office Planner, Employee Actions, Digital Badges, and Activity Tracker.

• Introduced a customizable card-based homepage and app design, allowing users to prioritize the tools and content they use most.

Testing & Validation

• Guided usability testing and synthesized results into data-driven design decisions.

• Worked closely with developers and stakeholders during testing to align technical implementation with user expectations.

Impact

Approved designs moved into phased rollout targeting higher NPS, engagement, and task completion. The redesign unified the digital experience and gave employees faster, more personalized access to tools that supported their daily work.

• A more unified digital experience across web and mobile, helping employees complete tasks faster and engage more consistently.

• Increased satisfaction, task efficiency, and engagement

• A unified design framework that brought consistency and usability to UnitedHealth Group’s internal digital ecosystem, laying the groundwork for scalable enhancements and stronger employee engagement.

Learnings

• Success depends on alignment across stakeholder groups and ongoing user testing.

• Incremental, user-driven improvements can create meaningful change at scale.