Mapping the Workers' Compensation Journey

When a person is injured on the job, what's the workers' compensation process?

Overview

Context

Jarvis, a Gain Life product, is a web app that aims to streamline the workers' compensation process.

Goal

To document the known (and unknown) steps when workers' compensation is handled by an outside vendor. The journey map will inform the app user flow, future research, feature prioritization, and ultimately where in the process the product can provide the most value.

Domain

Workers' compensation insurance provides benefits to employees if they suffer a work-related injury or illness. The process is daunting. Every state, employer and insurance company has different requirements, forms, deadlines, terminology, and injured worker support available. This map documents the high-level steps from the perspectives of a medical provider, injured worker, insurance company, and employer to understand the interrelated steps required to get an injured worker back to work.

My Role

UX designer

Methods

Research synthesis, desk research, internal stakeholder interviews

Client

Gain Life, work completed as part of my internship

Process

I synthesized information collected from domain experts, internal team members, and desk research into a master online whiteboard for easy collaboration.

This document is a work in progress. Outstanding questions are noted in red and the map is updated periodically as the team learns more.

Initial Takeaways

Individual steps, nomenclature, and structure vary by state, employer, and insurance company
Communication breakdowns are frequent; employers are often not aware of an injured worker's return to work timeline
There are a lot of dependencies; if a step is missed, this often leads to unnecessary time off work
Key moments are still undefined; for example: when is a claim technically opened? On first report? Once a worker seeks medical care? Once a worker needs ongoing medical care?

Next Steps

Vet and verify the journey map with domain experts
Continue updating the document as the team learns more
Build out additional scenarios: when an injured worker hires a lawyer; when employers self administer workers' compensation; variations based on case complexity and injury type, etc.

Results

The journey map is informing the product from top to bottom, including the user flow, feature roadmap, and where Jarvis can provide the most value. Additionally, the document is given to new team members to introduce them to the complexities of the domain and orient them to the process.

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