UX research and website design
Medical Cost Finder
The Medical Costs Finder (MCF) website is an online tool provided by the Department of Health (DoH) that helps Australian health consumers better understand the costs of medical procedures provided by non-GP medical specialists. Its data is drawn from publicly available Government information about what patients have paid out of pocket for medical services.
The tool allows consumers to compare costs estimated by specialists and health providers to see whether their projected out of pockets costs sit at a high or low end of the cost spectrum.
Additionally, the tool allows consumers to see additional payments which may impact their projected out of pocket costs.
To improve transparency, instil confidence in the MCF, and more closely align it to Department objectives, the Department engaged CRE8IVE to redesign the website. To inform the design, we needed to undertake detailed, extensive UX activities and conduct website testing before the changes went live. This included:
- Consulting with the MCF project team to identify main users of the MCF website and seek feedback on their needs
- Assess and validate research participant feedback received from focus groups, surveys and a workshop report.
- Conduct a Moderated study with 20 participants from a specific demographics exploring real life scenarios to action through the website
- Provide advice (with a human-centred design approach) that addressed feedback and outcomes of the user testing research
- Compile and provide IA, UX and UI recommendations based on research above
- Provide and iterate design concepts of designs for key pages on desktop and mobile
- Test usability of website before Go Live and uncover user’s navigation pain points
Our UX team worked closely with the MCF team to understand how best to approach users, particularly users in the medical professions who were not wholly supportive of what the tool was looking to achieve.
We also needed to find a way to convert current data and information, including patient journeys, into infographics designed in a way that would allow users to digest data quickly and easily. Additionally, as the MCF tool is not a marketing platform or a standard consumer platform, it needed to be designed in a way that did not appear commercial.
As most site users did not have medical backgrounds, we designed the platform so that it would be intuitive, educative, and guide users through the process of finding the right specialist for them.
The extensive nature of the user research conducted in this project was challenging but the benefits were immense, delivering valuable insights into the useability of this unique, user focused tool. The highly informed website design will increase uptake and engagement, and ultimately benefit and inform Australian health consumers.
