The challenge
The Harvard Pilgrim Health Care portal was a patchwork of aging microsites that members described as a hall of mirrors. The legacy site was locked to a fixed 900px desktop layout and split across disparate subdomains.
For anyone relying on assistive technology, basic navigation was impossible. Without central editorial control, conflicting policy explanations had accumulated across the site. The client needed a complete redesign of the public site and authenticated member portal to unify the content and achieve strict accessibility compliance.
My role
As the UX design lead and accessibility specialist, I guided the research activities and ran client workshops to establish the information architecture. I liaised with independent accessibility auditors and partnered directly with UI and front-end engineers to resolve complex interaction patterns throughout the development sprints.
Technical and architectural execution
Consolidating the architecture We audited thousands of legacy pages, cutting redundant articles by 85%. I rewrote essential clinical and policy guides into concise, everyday English. We consolidated the experience into a single responsive structure, prioritising daily tasks such as finding an in-network doctor and checking benefit balances. I built interactive Axure prototypes to stress-test the complex filtering logic for these tools before engineering began.
Accessibility-first design tokens Reaching a high accessibility standard required a lasting design model. Partnering with the UI lead, we established design system tokens that enforced explicit focus states and legible typography across all interactive components. We departed from generic corporate blues, incorporating the brand’s distinctive warm red and yellow tones while carefully calibrating shades to meet strict WCAG contrast standards.
Performance budgeting To protect mobile page speed and reduce the environmental impact of the site, we applied a strict 300kb budget per page. We prioritised SVG graphics and system type over heavy imagery to keep the payload light.
Validation with disabled users We conducted three rounds of usability testing across design and development. Crucially, we tested prototypes directly with visually impaired participants to validate everyday navigation rather than relying on superficial checklist adherence.
The outcomes
The new site achieved full WCAG 2.1 AA compliance across core journeys, including several AAA criteria. The Carroll Center for the Blind audited and endorsed the platform, praising the intuitive structure and effortless screen-reader navigation.
By keeping the final production templates well under the 300kb ceiling, we cut page load times from roughly 10 seconds to less than two seconds. Enabling members to manage key tasks independently online successfully deflected routine calls and reduced operational support overhead.