Worklife® Employee Benefits Portal | Case Study
Hire, meet retire.
Behold the embodiment of simplicity and elegance - a revolutionary adaptation meticulously crafted to guide your workforce through the intricate realm of employee benefits. This transformation redefines the very essence of holistic well-being. Transcending convention, it emerges as a dynamic, modular platform, poised to intuitively usher employees from hire to retire. Elevate your employee experience to a new echelon of empowerment.
Unauthenticated. Authenticated.
Embark
Align and evolve.
Beginning in 2022, we embarked on a new stage of our product evolution. After being spun off from Aon and acquired by Alight Solutions, we underwent a total transformation. After an initial corporate rebranding, we initiated a massive undertaking with the integration of Alight's Worklife® Design System. I was positioned at the forefront of this endeavor.
Aon is a leading professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions. Aon's Health Exchange is an individual market solution that supports employers and their employees with long-term engagement necessary to secure appropriate benefits and healthcare coverage. Alight Solutions leverages proprietary artificial intelligence and data analytics to optimize business process as a service (BPaaS) to deliver superior outcomes for employees and employers across a comprehensive portfolio of services. Alight allows employees to enrich their health, wealth and work while enabling global organizations to achieve a high-performance culture. Alight will integrate the Health Exchange into their existing Worklife® platform.
Design System Library
There was an evolving design system in place within the Alight product team. Although somewhat robust, many components had not yet been designed.
A Responsive Design
Our site had recently been rebuilt to be responsive and the Alight Design System fully embraced the same approach.
Multiple Time Zones
We were a dispersed, remote team. I had to coordinate and manage deliverables globally across multiple time zones. My day typically began at 4:30 AM.
8 Minutes
Align
Two become one.
Post acquisition, I was entrusted with the challenging task of integrating our live product into a newly evolving design system. This endeavor required a meticulous approach that involved carefully mapping the design elements, styles and components from the design system onto our product while ensuring a continuing seamless user experience.
To begin, I conducted a comprehensive audit of both our product and the new design system. This involved a deep dive into the visual elements, such as typography, color schemes and iconography, to ensure consistency. I also analyzed the existing component library, comparing it with the components of our existing product. In some cases, I needed to evolve or create new components to align with the acquired design system's standards. One of those is covered further below.
Once the audit was complete, I initiated a phased implementation plan. First, I standardized typography and color across the product, harmonizing it with the design system's guidelines. Next, I integrated common UI components like buttons, forms, and navigation bars, leveraging the design system's existing code and assets wherever possible. This approach not only accelerated the integration process but also ensured a cohesive user experience. Regular design reviews and user testing were critical in refining the implementation and ongoing collaboration with the development team ensured that the design system's principles were faithfully translated into code. Ultimately, this strategic approach allowed me to successfully apply the existing design system's styles, elements, and components to our legacy product, delivering a unified and visually consistent user interface that met our users' expectations.
Evolve
Extending the vision.
For a follow-on act, I embarked on a journey to extend the maturing design system into uncharted territories within our existing product. I systematically identified unexplored facets. I cultivated new design patterns and elements, weaving a tapestry that elegantly intertwined our product with the design system. User feedback was my guiding light, refining these extensions to perfection.
To proceed, I collaborated closely with our product and development teams to define new design patterns and elements that would seamlessly integrate with the established system. I devised a systematic process for creating these extensions, which included detailed documentation, analysis and prototyping. This allowed me to maintain a consistent look and feel while tailoring elements such as custom elements, complex components, or unique interaction models specific to the product's functionalities.
Each pixel danced with purpose, creating a captivating experience that seamlessly bridged the old and the new, resulting in a product that whispered, "Welcome”. With each interaction, I nurtured the user's well-being, creating an experience that seamlessly connected the old and the new, evoking a sense of inclusiveness.
Meticulously, I brought my visions to life - contributing an evergreen design language capable of nurturing both tradition and innovation. The result was a product that didn't merely adapt to change; it cultivated it, setting the stage for a timeless performance of well-being.
Outcome
An ongoing quest.
For me, work is a quest for knowledge and understanding fueled by insatiable curiosity. I feel the same can be said about life to some degree. As my curiosity never ends, neither does my learning - and neither does the work.
As usual, I learned a lot. I learned that designing and solving problems for the ones who need to use digital tools, but lack the capacity to do so, is incredibly rewarding. This was reflected in my work here. As a designer who had no prior background in healthcare, all I needed was empathy, curiosity, taste and constant iteration to design an experience that can get our users motivated in the selection and management of their healthcare. With these elements, I've learned I can create meaningful relationships with your users that can ultimately shape our product into a product of well-being. But the journey doesn't end here. I am continuing to evolve both the product and the Design System. Check back for more updates in the near future.
Worklife® Benefits
This case study extends my current journey as I am entrusted with the challenging task of integrating our live product into a newly evolving design system. This endeavor required a meticulous approach that involved carefully mapping the design elements, styles and components from the design system onto our product while ensuring a continuing seamless user experience.
ClientAlightServicesResearch, Ideation, Prototyping, Visual & Interaction Design, Design SystemsYear2024Linkretiree.alight.com