Reducing Friction in the Pharmacy Experience

Using research to align member needs, agent capabilities, and product priorities at CVS Health

Area
Pharmacy

Duration
2024 (3 months)

Role
UX Strategist & Researcher

Collaboration
Partnered with two designers. Led the overall research strategy across four workstreams and directly owned research for two.

This case study focuses on internal experience strategy work and uses representative, reconstructed examples.

Problem

Pharmacy members often face interconnected challenges when filling prescriptions. Call center agents play a critical role in resolving these issues, but gaps in transparency, guidance, and agent capabilities limit their ability to effectively support members, leading to increased friction and lower satisfaction.

Experience focus areas: Coverage, Approvals, Fulfillment, Communications

UX Strategy Contributions

  • Planned and led a focused research study to understand both member challenges and call center agent capabilities required to support them

  • Conducted call listening and interviews with call center agents to identify experience breakdowns and system limitations

  • Synthesized and prioritized insights across experience, operations, and business considerations

  • Translated research insights into actionable guidance to inform agent-facing improvements

Impact

  • Aligned teams around clear, shared product problem framing grounded in real-world member and agent needs

  • Informed near- and long-term prioritization of product capabilities

  • Outcome: Improved member satisfaction and agent efficiency and confidence


Approach

Planning

  • I led planning for the research study, defining research goals and strategy, participant profiles, and interview guides to support multiple workstreams.

Gathering Insights

  • I led interviews across two workstreams and conducted call listening to understand the current agent experience and application pain points. I also supported feature evaluation by having agents rank potential product capabilities and partnered with other designers as they conducted research within their individual workstreams.

Synthesizing Insights

  • I led synthesis and insight generation across the study, ensuring alignment in insights and research storytelling across workstreams. I served as the research lead for enterprise-wide readouts with business and technology leadership.

A deeper walkthrough is available via conversation, using anonymized and reconstructed examples.

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