Student Blue
Blue Cross of North Carolina
Background
Student Blue is a health insurance plan for college and university students, offering affordable and comprehensive coverage tailored to their unique needs.
My Role
Lead UX Designer
My Team
1 Designer
8+ Public Website Team Members
Tools
Figma

Adobe Experience Manager (AEM)
Timeline & Status
7 Months, Shipped
Overview
This project focused on redesigning and migrating a website into Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) to create a modern, responsive, and user-friendly experience.
The Goal
  • Improved navigation
  • Enhanced accessibility
  • Optimized performance
  • User-focused design
My Process
Discovery, Ideation, Design, Outcome
Impact
3-Month Comparison: Pre-Migration vs. Post-Migration
impact stats of student blue
The Problem
Meet Maya: A Busy College Student

Maya is a 20-year-old junior juggling classes, part-time work, and an active social life. She recently received a letter from her university about enrolling in student health insurance. But when she tried to navigate the Student Blue website, frustration quickly set in.
  • Confusing navigation left her unsure of what plans were available.
  • The site wasn’t mobile-friendly, making it hard to check details on the go.
  • She couldn’t easily find costs, coverage, or enrollment deadlines without digging through walls of text.
  • Clicking on links took her to different pages, leaving her lost in a maze of information.
Frustrated, Maya wondered, “Why is something as important as health insurance so hard to figure out?”
frustrated college student looking at computer
The Solution
As part of the UX team, I knew Maya wasn’t alone. Analytics showed high bounce rates and user feedback echoed her pain points. We needed to redesign the experience to make it:

Mobile-friendly for students like Maya who primarily browse on their phones.


Easy to navigate, so she could quickly find information without frustration.


Clear and digestible, breaking down insurance jargon into something understandable.


Seamlessly integrated into AEM, ensuring a scalable and manageable backend.
student blue landing page
student blue find your school page
Student Blue School Page
Outcome
After launching the redesign, we saw significant improvements:

📈 226,575 page views in the first three months – showing more students engaging with the site.


📉 Bounce rate dropped from 33.8% to 19.7%, meaning fewer students were leaving out of frustration.


📲 More mobile engagement, proving that a responsive, intuitive experience mattered.

💰 Saved ~$400k, by redesigning and implementing in-house.

Maya’s experience? She logged in, found her plan, and enrolled in minutes, without the frustration she once felt.
happy college student looking at computer
Key takeaways
The importance of collaboration
Partnering closely with the PubWeb team and stakeholders taught me the value of clear communication and aligning goals early in the process. Effective collaboration was crucial in navigating challenges like CMS limitations and meeting stakeholder expectations.
Adaptability in problem- solving
The CMS constraint around school search functionality required creative thinking to develop a workaround that still met user needs. This experience reinforced the importance of flexibility and exploring alternative solutions when technical limitations arise.
User-centric problem solving
Ensuring the "Waive Coverage" feature was prominent required thoughtful design decisions to address user pain points directly. This reaffirmed that focusing on user needs leads to better outcomes for both users and the business.
Shipped May 1, 2024
Live Site