Luise Hübbe
Managing Director & Chief Strategy Officer
Customer Experience Strategy, Consulting
27 million
members
11
companies
1
platform
11 separate websites with an outdated corporate design meant that AOK’s member portal was in urgent need of a coherent facelift. The challenge: Bring all 11 AOK companies together while giving their unique requirements equal weight. The goal: Create a central point of contact to make it intuitive, quick, clear, and easy for members to access
information and seek advice. Consistent usability with maximum transparency was therefore key. The relaunch unveiled a portal that brings people closer, embodies the new design, and is the perfect foundation for further platforms and services, e.g. AOK’s health magazine or employers’ portal.
This project was all about the needs and intentions of AOK’s members. So we asked ourselves: how can we present the different processes of the individual companies as simply as possible? Based on the results of our testing, tracking, and evaluation of lots of different elements, including search and forms, we developed a UX concept that would make it easy for members to access the advice and consultation services offered by AOK. The portal is now designed to respond to user intent as intuitively as possible and surface relevant information exactly where users expect. This not only ensures a genuinely customer-centric approach and first-class experience, but also helps AOK stand out from increasingly similar competition.
Experience One brings real professionalism, trust, and reliability to the table. We've been working together to optimize our websites by focusing on maximizing customer satisfaction.
How can I find the right person to talk to in an emergency? Integrating AOK’s “health navigators” was a hugely important project for AOK that nonetheless proved a major challenge. Members can use these interfaces to find contact details for doctors, hospitals, midwives, and therapists. It also saves them lots of time and effort when it comes to nursing and palliative care. We had to define search filters and content in compliance with legal regulations to make sure this service worked as planned—because usability was a key focus. We ultimately managed to provide an intuitive solution, despite the complexity of its content, that also supports members when they're relying on external advice.
AOK’s online presence was highly fragmented with services and information spread across 11 websites. Even worse: there was no coherent strategy. Consolidation was therefore a real challenge—made even harder by the need to take individual requirements into account. Nonetheless, we chose a design and drafted content that would make it easy for members to get to the region they need without any hassle. That’s why the homepage of the AOK portal now boasts universal content that applies to every AOK. “Regional windows” then make it easy for members to jump to the relevant content for their region. Users can enter their ZIP code to search for the right AOK—easy and intuitive. What's more, cookies save this info for added convenience when they next visit the site.
Keeping existing customers onboard whilst inspiring new members is no mean feat. But user navigation and content provision now blend together seamlessly on AOK’s website despite diverse stakeholders. On top of allowing members to make appointments online or chat with an advisor or chatbot, AOK can now also run centralized campaigns to communicate shared values and implement large-scale measures—measures that ultimately benefit all 11 companies. The integration of other portals, platforms, and external contact partners also reveals AOK’s path forward and sets the course for the company’s future success.
Translating AOK’s new corporate design into their digital world was a very special project because it gave us the opportunity to be involved right from the start, to grow, and to have a real impact. We were able to bring their new look to a target audience of 27 million people.
Projects with many stakeholders need a clear strategy and solid arguments. That’s why we started by identifying the various personas—complete with key moments—based on our framework. This ensured that we considered the user perspective in all project decisions.
We work in tandem on different subprojects as this helps keep sight of the big picture. Working closely like this allows us to leverage synergies and realize every individual project both effectively and efficiently—from AOK’s website to their health magazine.
Communicating with and integrating all partners and parties are key elements of our work. We take our customers and partners on the journey with us because this allows us to not only understand exactly what they need but also solidify their commitment to future decisions.