Project
Delta Dental Provider Search Tool Redesign
Role
Lead Student UX/UI Designer
Duration
3 months
San Francisco State University partnered with Delta Dental to provide User Experience Design class students with a mentorship program for 2 months.
In this project, SFSU students were mentored by Delta Dental stakeholders, product designers, and UX researchers throughout the redesigning process of Delta Dental’s Provider Search Tool. We followed the design system provided by the company.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Currently, 20% of the Provider Search Tool visitors use the filtering feature while 80% do not use it at all. The low percentage of usage of the filtering feature creates a problem in user experience as the user’s needs are not fulfilled.
SOLUTION STATEMENT
The provider search tool can meet the user’s goals and needs better by:
making the initial search more personalized
listing the results in a clearer way
improving the interface to make the filter feature easier to use.
INITIAL RESEARCH FINDINGS
Majority of users are from commercial groups on PPO plans
Average time spent searching on the find-a-dentist page is 5:47
66% of clicks to the find-a-dentist page come from the find a dentist tool on the DDINS homepage.
86% of users are primary members.
Provided by Delta Dental
INITIAL BRAINSTORM
As a team, we went through the current Provider Search Tool and conducted usability analyses, and collected our findings in a Google Docs file. We started brainstorming to detect the problem and sketched a possible solution.
In the original Provider Search Tool, the filters are hidden and on the right corner of the page which users do not generally look at due to the UI design of the page. The solution was to increase filter visibility.
USER FLOW
Created by a teammate
HEURISTIC EVALUATION
Conducted in collaboration with a teammate
To see the full heuristic evaluation conducted on Delta Dental’s Provider Search Tool, click here.
#2: Match between system and real world
Problem: When on landing page, users are prompted to enter their network. Certain users might not understand what this means, such as new users of Delta Dental.
Solution: When users are asked about their dental network, there should be a question mark indicating more access to network information. This question mark will provide descriptions of the networks that will help the users choose which network best describes theirs.
#3: User Control and Freedom
Problem: After the users decide to go back to the dentist list from the dentist’s profile they have to scroll endlessly until they find where they left off.
Solution: Users should be able to view the dentist’s information without having to leave the page and go back to the top of the page when searching for a dentist. Users can view the dentist's information without being redirected to another page.
#4: Consistency and Standards
Problem: The map feature does not follow the standards of the maps users are used to such as apple maps or google maps. There is no way to indicate the distance from the user's location. There is also no way of transportation shown on the map for users commuting.
Solution: The map feature should include ways of transportation for the user such as walking, biking, driving,
or taking public transportation.
#6: Recognition rather than recall
Problem: Users have to know what kind of dentists they look for.
Solution: Adding a specialty box in the initial search could help users to recall difficult terminology and it can be more inclusive for folks whose first language is not English by giving the user options to choose from rather than expecting them to know the terminology.
PERSONAS
Conducted in collaboration with a teammate
HYPOTHESIS
We believe that placing the filters in the middle of the page and adding more visual emphasis on selected items would ultimately increase the use of filter feature.
Therefore, it would also help users find a dentist that suits their needs and preferences which would result in less phone calls to the call center and more customer satisfaction.
FIRST PROTOTYPE
I took leadership in the prototype phase while supporting my teammates in designing the UI of the tool.
USER TESTING
Users we recruited are:
between 18-58 year-old adults
college students and graduates
creative professionals
immigrants
hospitality industry workers
parents
KEY TAKEAWAYS | IMPROVEMENTS NEEDED
Listing a few specialties dentist profiles
Users who care about reviews were not very satisfied as there was no filter for reviews
Hours filter should include numbered hours rather than the words morning, noon, afternoon, and evening
“Apply filters” button should be added because the users can not be sure if the filters selected were applied which also means that “live filtering” was not demonstrated well in our design
Icon for accepting new patients needed for the dentists so that users can be sure that a certain dentist can accept new patients without having to call the office
KEY TAKEAWAYS | POSITIVE FEEDBACK
Filters are easy to find
The map and location feature is helpful and time-saving, as the user does not have to go to a different app to figure out the transportation and travel time
Choosing a specialty, in the beginning, is helpful, especially for people in pain who would like quicker, narrow-down search results
Icons are easy to understand and helpful for quick scanning
Similar to the actual website aesthetic
CHANGES IMPLEMENTED
No tooltips for network or specialties in the first iteration led to confusion in usability testing. We added them in the final iteration, informing users to click the "?" icon for more information.
Tooltips can appear automatically when the user clicks the dropdown, as the hover state isn't mobile-friendly, providing info for that specific section if needed.
The first prototype lacked an icon indicating whether the dentist was accepting new patients. This confused users. Final iteration added an icon for each dentist accepting new patients.
Usability testing also showed that the dentist list overwhelmed users and restricted their ability to view more than 2 dentists. We fixed this by narrowing down the individual dentist section, displaying more dentists and giving users control. In our final design, the user can decide if they would like to see the reviews about the dentist they clicked.
In the first prototype, the user got confused as they could not be sure of the filters being selected or not. So as a team we added an apply button alongside with filter labels to ensure the user of selected filters.
This approach to the filter labels also created an opportunity for easily eliminating the filters by simply clicking x. We also added wordings such as “filter by, sort by, quick filter” in order to categorize filtering options.
The first prototype's hours filter lacked numerals, confusing users about the time frame when selecting morning, noon, afternoon, or evening. We resolved this by adding time slots to the hour filter.
We changed default transportation route from walking to automobile, as research showed users assumed maps showed the driving distance between locations.
First user testing identified a user frustration: scrolling endlessly to find the previous position in the dentist list. To address this, we added an overlay that opens when the user clicks on a dentist's name. Dentist cards were updated to include Services and Specialties, as well as Accessibility Information, for inclusivity.
LOOKING AT THE FUTURE
There is still a lot to explore with this project. If we would have more time to work on this project we would keep improving the Find A Dentist tool by conducting another round of user testing and we would also design the tool for mobile devices.
QUESTIONS TO EXPAND ON
What kind of direction the next iteration would take after user testing?
How can we lead the user to log in?
How could we display the “accepted networks” in the dentists profiles?
How might we show the price comparison between the dentists’ depending on the specialty and network?
Here you can watch the video of the Delta Dental Provider Search Tool’s final prototype.