A Web-Based Health Messenger Tool to Connect Mothers to Benefits Due to Covid-19

Intro

Background The Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program is a government health and human services initiative catering to pregnant women, new mothers, and young children. Despite WIC handling 300-500 calls daily, merely 50% of these calls were being completed due to extended wait times. During a comprehensive six-week exploration phase, we engaged in user research, comparative analysis, technical evaluation, and usability testing to ensure that our recommendation could be sustainable and scale for mothers and clinic representatives. Our objective revolved around finding the optimal approach for WIC staff to virtually interact with mothers while upholding the program's essential goal of providing nutritious food. I personally led and conducted research involving both English and Spanish-speaking mothers, constructed an experience map, and piloted a web-based health messenger in collaboration with the staff.

Impact I provided guidance and training to 11 clinics on the adept utilization of a web-based health messenger. I meticulously documented text scripts to facilitate a consistent and universally understandable communication approach. In the initial week, a total of 646 messages were dispatched, affording mothers the flexibility to respond at their convenience.

Role Led the entire process, spanning from research to pilot; strategized, designed, and orchestrated workshops and training sessions; and undertook responsibilities encompassing copywriting and editing.

Methods Contextual inquiry, research plan, interview guide, recruiting screener, participatory design, focus groups, co-creating experience map, design workshops, service prototype, service roadmap.

Phases

  • For a comprehensive grasp of the behaviors and actions exhibited within the WIC system, we engaged with both WIC staff and clients. The Original Customer Journey Map highlights junctures where texting could be harnessed to enhance the service for WIC clients. The existing "texting moments" outlined in this journey map were initially identified and were subsequently refined through staff contributions. Among the processes most frequently navigated by WIC clients, the renewal workflow emerges as an optimal candidate for experimenting with a texting solution. User research indicated a lack of clarity in this process, and supplementary communication methods could significantly alleviate this issue. As a result, this artifact elucidates the enrollment and renewal process, shedding light on clients' emotions throughout their journey.

    Deliverables

    Screen survey and field interview guide

    Synthesis wall

    Customer experience map

    User stories

  • We utilized the user stories to gather product requirements and analyzed each vendor solution against these requirements. Given our timeline, we recommended that WIC start using the SMS tool by implementing it at a single clinic in pilot form. By starting with a small pilot, WIC could significantly lower its cost by focusing on core needs and delaying upscaling to features that are not immediately needed. We began collaborating with 1 clinic conducting workshops, developing text scripts, training, and feedback sessions throughout the pilot. Workshops also focused on building a plan outlining how texting will support the WIC processes.

    Core Requirements

    Two-way texting

    Group/mass texting

    Scheduled texts

    Recognized caller ID

    Viewing history

    Shared inbox

    MMS (media messages)

    Deliverables

    Comparative analysis

    Procurement awarding

    Design workshops

    Text scripts

    Usability Testing

  • Because incorporating SMS was new to WIC staff, the recommended path forward was to designate a single clinic where SMS would first deploy as a pilot. Once the needs, workflows, features, and detailed configuration were well-defined, the process could be scaled to additional clinics. After piloting with 1 clinic, we identified power users from the 11 clinics. We conducted training, identified software bugs, produced how-to videos, and created a community hub to align clinics on universal language and processes.

    Deliverables

    Created a resource hub (via Teams)

    How-to videos

    Training steps document

  • The surge in incoming calls led to prolonged waiting periods, consequently limiting access to vital federal assistance that callers were eligible for. Frequently, only half of the calls were actually completed due to these extended wait times. With our training, tools, documentation, and adept dissemination of research discoveries, the staff adeptly adopted the SMS tool. They efficiently communicated pending benefit statuses to diverse mothers using predefined text scripts, significantly accelerating their productivity. In the initial week of the comprehensive agency rollout, a remarkable 75 percent of mothers successfully obtained their benefits through text communication.

    Deliverables

    Full agency share-out

    Future-state journey map

    Pilot learnings summary

    2 Open Houses & 1:1 Meetings with clinics

Finding 3 is an example of how we illustrated findings through scenarios. Moreover, we delved into future mapping by zooming in on the opportunity areas identified in the experience map by outlining texting opportunities.

Quotes From Mothers

“I would talk to [a WIC staff rep via phone] who would say we already mailed your card.”

— Mother participant

“...it's been more complicated, there is no option if I have a question.”

— Mother participant

Quotes From Staff Members

“Communicating this way, we bring down incoming phone calls, they’d be on hold with the scheduling center.”

— Staff member

“I've been successfully making appointments.”

— Staff member

“[My favorite feature] is that a mom can respond on their own time.”

— Staff member