Health Insurance (Part 1)

Overview

A fictional health insurance provider, Medisafe, primarily targets the 18- to 30-year-old market. There is a legislative requirement to provide two factor authentication on their website within eight weeks.
This is the basic brief, and what Medisafe believes they should achieve as part of this project.
What else is possible?

Duration

4 weeks

Role

Product manager

Summary

Medisafe is an established health insurance provider in Australia primarily focusing on the 18- to 30-year-old market.
Medisafe's wanted to implement two-factor authentication due to a legislative requirement.
During the project I identified further opportunities for Medisafe to boost customer sentiment, develop a reliable mobile app, and improve its ratings through transparency and value for money.
The roadmap suggested introducing a health incentive program as a priority, indicating significant potential impact.
Overall, beyond implementing two-factor authentication, Medisafe had numerous opportunities to enhance its market position.

Intro

Medisafe is a health insurance provider operating in a crowded market of health insurance providers within Australia. They differentiate themselves by targeting the 18- to 30-year-old market, providing a product and services tailored to this demographic.
They are required to enhance their website’s security by offering their customers the ability to enrol into two factor authentication, which should help protect their account from unwanted access. This is a legislative requirement the Government is mandating all health insurance providers implement by the deadline date, eight weeks from now.
As part of successfully delivering on this project, various Medisafe stakeholders have indicated further requirements. For example, the security team would like this feature to be extended to include an actionable real-time dashboard of login attempts, including failed 2FA logins. The customer service team would like to understand the customer journey before release so that they can best support customers when the feature releases.

My Approach

Understanding the Users

The brief was to incorporate two-factor authentication. However, looking more broadly at Medisafe and their company’s product offering, it’s clear that whatever product development occurs must be through the lens of their key demographic.
When I performed research on this demographic within Australia, one key finding was that the participation rate (that is, the percentage amongst all participants) for 18- to 30-year-olds that hold private health insurance is falling, year on year.
Considering that the market is already occupied by a lot of competition (around thirty health insurance providers), to maintain their own competitiveness they need to do what they can to reverse this trend amongst their own customers.
What the research shows is that they must find value in the product, they need to trust the company, and the company and the product promote health consciousness. These are the areas I chose to focus on.
The companies I found to be the main competitors of Medisafe were ahm and Frank Insurance. Their strengths lie in simple branding, affordability, flexible extras, and multiple communication channels. Both also struggled with negative reviews when talking about value for money, reliability, and data security.

For a product within a busy market, it is essential to take the time to understand the customer. I looked at our core demographic, and based on the previous research performed a SWOT analysis.

StrengthsWeaknesses

Demographic: tailored to a specific demographic (18 - 30 year olds) 
Ethnography: extensive research conducted with existing customers 
Team: some members of the team have been with Medisafe for 10 years 
Security: security is already taken seriously within company policies around password resets
Legislation: not compliant with 2FA requirements 
Brand: not a major player in Australia’s private health insurance space

Strengths	Weaknesses
Demographic: tailored to a specific demographic (18 - 30 year olds) Ethnography: extensive research conducted with existing customers Team: some members of the team have been with Medisafe for 10 years Security: security is already taken seriously within company policies around password resets	Legislation: not compliant with 2FA requirements Brand: not a major player in Australia’s private health insurance space

OpportunitiesThreats

Trust: improving security could improve consumer sentiment 
Diversity: currently a health insurance provider, could break into other spaces (travel, life, pet, funeral, income protection)
Competitors: there are around 30 private health insurers operating within Australia 
Market downturn: fewer young people are purchasing health insurance than previously

Opportunities	Threats
Trust: improving security could improve consumer sentiment Diversity: currently a health insurance provider, could break into other spaces (travel, life, pet, funeral, income protection)	Competitors: there are around 30 private health insurers operating within Australia Market downturn: fewer young people are purchasing health insurance than previously

Strengths

Demographic: tailored to a specific demographic (18 - 30 year olds) Ethnography: extensive research conducted with existing customers
Team: some members of the team have been with Medisafe for 10 years
Security: security is already taken seriously within company policies around password resets

Weaknesses

Legislation: not compliant with 2FA requirements
Brand: not a major player in Australia’s private health insurance space

Opportunities

Trust: improving security could improve consumer sentiment
Diversity: currently a health insurance provider, could break into other spaces (travel, life, pet, funeral, income protection)

Threats

Competitors: there are around 30 private health insurers operating within Australia
Market downturn: fewer young people are purchasing health insurance than previously

Knowing the customer meant that we could better tailor their experience. We knew the themes as they relate to our core demographic. However, we had to understand the mindset of the customer in order to realise how these themes could be implemented.

What about the Competition?

I looked at the direct competitors mentioned previously (Frank, ahm) as well as what I would consider indirect competitors, and looked at the identified themes and how they rated.

ProductDirect/indirectOfferingAdd-onsTarget marketTrust & securitySimplicityBrand imageAverage reviewsValue for money
FrankDirectHealth insuranceHealth support programs
TelehealthEveryone, but they do have youth discountsNo identified issues, but also not sure of their security offeringsEverything can be managed online Simple offerings Mobile appTransparency 4/5
Value for money 4/5
Claim approval rate 90%
More negative ratings amongst under 30s than positive
Mobile app rating: -4.24.0
ahmDirectHealth insuranceMember discounts
Bundling discountsEveryone, but they do have youth discountsMFA
Subject to same data breach as Medibank wasEverything can be managed online Simple offerings Mobile appTransparency 3/5
Value for money 3/5
Claim approval rate 60%
Way more negative ratings amongst under 30s than positive
Mobile app rating 2.2/52.52.8
My health for lifeIndirectPreventative health program-People who want to maintain a healthy weight, sleep better or manage stress---5.0Free program
Anytime FitnessIndirectGym-18 - 29 year olds--Transparency 1/5
Value for money 1/51.61.7

Product	Direct/indirect	Offering	Add-ons	Target market	Trust & security	Simplicity	Brand image	Average reviews	Value for money
Frank	Direct	Health insurance	Health support programs Telehealth	Everyone, but they do have youth discounts	No identified issues, but also not sure of their security offerings	Everything can be managed online Simple offerings Mobile app	Transparency 4/5 Value for money 4/5 Claim approval rate 90% More negative ratings amongst under 30s than positive Mobile app rating: -	4.2	4.0
ahm	Direct	Health insurance	Member discounts Bundling discounts	Everyone, but they do have youth discounts	MFA Subject to same data breach as Medibank was	Everything can be managed online Simple offerings Mobile app	Transparency 3/5 Value for money 3/5 Claim approval rate 60% Way more negative ratings amongst under 30s than positive Mobile app rating 2.2/5	2.5	2.8
My health for life	Indirect	Preventative health program	-	People who want to maintain a healthy weight, sleep better or manage stress	-	-	-	5.0	Free program
Anytime Fitness	Indirect	Gym	-	18 - 29 year olds	-	-	Transparency 1/5 Value for money 1/5	1.6	1.7

Product

Frank

Direct/indirect

Direct

Offering

Health insurance

Add-ons

Health support programs Telehealth

Target market

Everyone, but they do have youth discounts

Trust & security

No identified issues, but also not sure of their security offerings

Simplicity

Everything can be managed online

Simple offerings Mobile app

Brand image

Transparency 4/5

Value for money 4/5

Claim approval rate 90%

More negative ratings amongst under 30s than positive

Mobile app rating: -

Average reviews

4.2

Value for money

4.0

Product

ahm

Direct/indirect

Direct

Offering

Health insurance

Add-ons

Member discounts

Bundling discounts

Target market

Everyone, but they do have youth discounts

Trust & security

MFA

Subject to same data breach as Medibank was

Simplicity

Everything can be managed online

Simple offerings

Mobile app

Brand image

Transparency 3/5

Value for money 3/5

Claim approval rate 60%

Way more negative ratings amongst under 30s than positive

Mobile app rating 2.2/5

Average reviews

4.2

Value for money 4.0

Product

My health for life

Direct/indirect

Indirect

Offering

Preventative health program

Add-ons - Target market

People who want to maintain a healthy weight, sleep better, or manage stress

Trust & security

Simplicity

Brand image

Average reviews

5.0

Value for money

Free program

Product

Anytime Fitness

Direct/indirect

Indirect

Offering

Gym

Add-ons

Target market

18 - 29 year olds

Trust & security

Simplicity

Brand image

Transparency 1/5

Value for money 1/5

Average reviews

1.6

Value for money

1.7

Reflecting on the above data, I performed a SWOT analysis of Medisafe within its market. This more concisely summarises the above information as it relates to Medisafe.

StrengthsWeaknesses
Not a new player in the marketPassionate, and experienced teamThis demographic is already tailored to by quite a lot of the marketThey are behind some of the other providers who already offer 2FANo mobile app

Strengths	Weaknesses
Not a new player in the market Passionate, and experienced team	This demographic is already tailored to by quite a lot of the market They are behind some of the other providers who already offer 2FA No mobile app

OpportunitiesThreats
While some other providers have suffered data breaches (e.g. Medibank) Medisafe is in a good position to market themselves as safe with your dataBuilding out a good mobile app that is simple but more reliable than the competitionGet more positive ratings than others by being transparent, offering good value for money, and a high claim approval rate Others are not touting their health consciousness credentials with value adds like health advice, etcThis is a shrinking market

Opportunities	Threats
While some other providers have suffered data breaches (e.g. Medibank) Medisafe is in a good position to market themselves as safe with your data Building out a good mobile app that is simple but more reliable than the competition Get more positive ratings than others by being transparent, offering good value for money, and a high claim approval rate Others are not touting their health consciousness credentials with value adds like health advice, etc	This is a shrinking market

Strengths

Not a new player in the market
Passionate, and experienced team

Weaknesses

This demographic is already tailored to by quite a lot of the market
They are behind some of the other providers who already offer 2FA
No mobile app

Opportunities

While some other providers have suffered data breaches (e.g. Medibank) Medisafe is in a good position to market themselves as safe with your data
Building out a good mobile app that is simple but more reliable than the competition
Get more positive ratings than others by being transparent, offering good value for money, and a high claim approval rate
Others are not touting their health consciousness credentials with value adds like health advice, etc

Threats

This is a shrinking market

We may be part of a much larger group of companies vying for the same customers, however, what the research and analysis showed us is that there is certainly still room for improvement, particularly for the 18- to 30-year-old market.

Identifying Opportunities

Armed with research, I began to synthesise the findings into different product canvases.
With the initiative canvas, we attempted to evaluate the value and feasibility of a proposed project or idea. We established potential problems and opportunities we might solve with our idea, whether the business was ready for this idea, what value it presented, and what the ramifications were in terms of cost and effort.
Next up the value proposition canvas helped us to evaluate our product to determine how well it met our customer needs. We looked at the various facets of the customer experience: what are they wanting to do with the product and what pains or gains do they face? On the other side of this, we looked at the company’s products and services and how these might have helped reduce the customer’s pain or increased the customer’s gains.
Note that several iterations were undertaken as our understanding of the problem broadened and we reconsidered whether we were really addressing the elephant in the room, that is, a potentially shrinking market.
On my initial draft, I took the requirements dictated by the business as verbatim. Performing more research led to meaningful insights that showed that there were further opportunities.

Next up the value proposition canvas helped us to evaluate our product to determine how well it met our customer needs. We looked at the various facets of the customer experience: what are they wanting to do with the product and what pains or gains did they face? We also looked at the company’s products and services and how these could have helped reduce the customer’s pain or increased the customer’s gains.

Note that several iterations were undertaken as our understanding of the problem broadened and we reconsidered whether we were really addressing the elephant in the room, that is, a potentially shrinking market.
On my initial draft, I took the requirements dictated by the business as verbatim. Performing more research led to meaningful insights that showed that there were further opportunities.

Presenting a Different Opportunity

In order to convince the wider team that focusing our efforts purely on the minimal two factor authentication requirements would be a missed opportunity, we built a low fidelity MVP using WordPress. Embracing the themes, we updated our landing page to demonstrate our product’s value for money, and our commitment to health.

This received positive feedback from our customers in A/B testing. This demonstrated that there was an appetite for broader change in Medisafe's product offering.

Bringing it Together

As discussed earlier, a series of high-level product features were identified.

Two factor authentication
Simplifying hospital cover offerings
Extras tailored to demographic
Aesthetic update to branding to appeal to demographic
Content update to branding to appeal to demographic
Email newsletter highlighting fitness trends and benefits
Improving UX by reducing friction, particularly during sign up
Mobile app
Health incentive program

These were then mapped to a MoSCoW chart, mostly to highlight the highest priority tasks.

Must HaveShould HaveCould HaveWon't Have
Two factor authentication.Aesthetic update to branding to appeal to demographic.Health incentive program.
Simplifying hospital cover offerings.Content update to branding to appeal to demographic.
Extras tailored to demographic.Improving UX by reducing friction, particularly during sign up.
Email newsletter highlighting fitness trends and benefits.Mobile app.

Must Have	Should Have	Could Have
Two factor authentication.	Aesthetic update to branding to appeal to demographic.	Health incentive program.
Simplifying hospital cover offerings.	Content update to branding to appeal to demographic.
Extras tailored to demographic.	Improving UX by reducing friction, particularly during sign up.
Email newsletter highlighting fitness trends and benefits.	Mobile app.

Must Have

Two factor authentication.
Simplifying hospital cover offerings.
Extras tailored to demographic.
Email newsletter highlighting fitness trends and benefits.

Should Have

Aesthetic update to branding to appeal to demographic.
Content update to branding to appeal to demographic.
Improving UX by reducing friction, particularly during sign up.
Mobile app.

Could Have

Health incentive program.

Won't Have

From this, the must-have items were given automatic priority. The remaining items went through another round of prioritisation this time using the RICE framework (Reach, Impact, Confidence, and Effort). By individually scoring these metrics and then calculating an overall score, this provided a more objective way of assessing the remaining tasks.

PriorityIdeaReachImpactConfidenceEffortRICE Score
1Health incentive program.8885102
2Aesthetic update to branding to appeal to demographic.7.5107.5870
3Content update to branding to appeal to demographic.7.586660
4Mobile app.8891058
5Improving UX by reducing friction, particularly during sign up.587835

Priority	Idea	Reach	Impact	Confidence	Effort	RICE Score
1	Health incentive program.	8	8	8	5	102
2	Aesthetic update to branding to appeal to demographic.	7.5	10	7.5	8	70
3	Content update to branding to appeal to demographic.	7.5	8	6	6	60
4	Mobile app.	8	8	9	10	58
5	Improving UX by reducing friction, particularly during sign up.	5	8	7	8	35

Priority 1

Idea Health incentive program.

Reach 8

Impact 8

Confidence 8

Effort 5

RICE Score 102

Priority 2

Idea Aesthetic update to branding to appeal to demographic.

Reach 7.5

Impact 10

Confidence 7.5

Effort 8

RICE Score 70

Priority 3

Idea Content update to branding to appeal to demographic.

Reach 7.5

Impact 8

Confidence 6

Effort 6

RICE Score 60

Priority 4

Idea Mobile app.

Reach 8

Impact 8

Confidence 9

Effort 10

RICE Score 58

Priority 5

Idea Improving UX by reducing friction, particularly during sign up.

Reach 5

Impact 8

Confidence 7

Effort 8

RICE Effort 35

Interestingly, one of our could-have items jumped to the top of the remaining priorities simply given the lower level of effort required.

I took the following items, and mapped them out into a Gantt chart, taking into account resource availability and the amount of time required to build things out. It's very important to communicate effectively with stakeholders, and mapping out timelines in this way allowed me to do so.

Reflection

Product management is an unfamiliar space to me. I have worked extensively with Project Managers and have had responsibility for short term projects myself in a developer capacity. Product management is much broader in scope, encompassing everything from product research, to measuring application performance. As a product manager you are responsible for the entire roadmap of a product and all the risk that comes with making significant decisions related to the future direction of a product. However, you will need to navigate relationships between stakeholders within and outside of the organisation.
This project comes with the safety of a university project. In reality, being a product manager is a very challenging role which many would not be suited to. Those that can handle it have the opportunity to be well rewarded for their efforts.

The design of Medisafe's product is discussed further in part 2.