Gusto Benefits
I led the design of “Broker View” from 0-1, from researching the problems to designing for implementation. "Broker View" will help brokers save time and enable them to better serve their clients through Gusto.
Features such as initiating open enrollment setup have already shipped to 350+ external benefits brokers, impacting a total of 40,000+ internal and external users.
Role
Lead Designer
Duration
May - Aug 2022
Team
Kate Davies
Designer
Eric Jester
PM
Katie Krueger
ProdOps
Kristin Walko
Researcher
Anish Asrani
Engineer
Context
Gusto is a people platform built for small and medium business (SMBs). I worked on a new tool for benefits brokers called “Broker View”. Benefits brokers are benefits experts that onboard onto Gusto through broker integration (BYB) to help employers manage their benefits.
Problem
Currently, employers and brokers share a platform, but they have fundamentally different jobs to do. Since Gusto was made for employers, BYB as a product isn’t optimized for brokers, resulting in hacky workarounds and inefficient workflows.
A single tab for all of a broker's complicated workflows and tasks
Broker's todo and actionable tasks are hidden deep within another layer
Goal
Better integrate brokers into Gusto so they can work faster, better serve their clients, and make them happy and healthy.
Success Metrics
1
Reduce time spent on tasks
Streamline high-level workflows in Gusto so brokers can work faster and save time
2
Reduce broker touchpoints
Allow brokers to work independently and in whatever way works for them
3
Increase product-market fit
Make Gusto a valuable and essential tool that brokers enjoy and can work well on
4
Reduce setup handle times
Help the benefits ops team refocus their energy into more urgent matters
Final Solution
Introducing “Broker View”, a tool catered to brokers to help them do their job better and faster in Gusto. Through this tool, brokers are better integrated into Gusto, aggregating all of their clients' tasks and necessary workflows in one dedicated platform.
A new platform dedicated entirely to brokers
Holistic view of things to do for their clients
Easily see clients’ open enrollment progress
Awareness of upcoming tasks/preparation work
Research
BYB’s low product market-fit led us to conduct 20+ interviews with brokers and brokerages of all sizes to find out what’s wrong and how we can do better.
1
Brokers look outwards for tools
Brokers look outwards for missing features in BYB, making a majority of their Gusto work actually occur outside of Gusto.
2
Gusto is not made for brokers
BYB is a product made for brokers, but it exists in an employer-oriented tool that isn’t optimized for brokers to use.
3
Fragmented workflows
Gusto fragments brokers’ workflows by adding too many touchpoints, which creates friction in their work and slows them down.
4
Broker workflows can vary
Although brokers have standardized procedures and practices, each broker has a different way of approaching their tasks.
Significance
There are currently over 900+ companies using BYB and over 50% of those are managed by the top 10 brokers on Gusto. This means it’s possible for each of them to have 45 clients! This makes it incredibly tedious and difficult for brokers to manage all of their tasks and serve them efficiently through BYB.
Opportunity
A better broker experience means more customers for Gusto. If brokers are happy with Gusto, they will bring on clients from other benefits platforms and/or recommend Gusto to clients looking for payroll providers.
Design Principles
1
Accelerate broker work
Help brokers work more efficiently and in ways that fit their workflows
2
Empower to serve
Provide brokers with opportunities to serve their clients wherever possible
3
Intentionally guide
Let brokers do their thing, but guide where we differ from tradition processes
4
No dead ends
Give brokers all the information and access they need to do their jobs
Feature Prioritization
In order to prioritize what features would create the most value in the shortest amount of time, I worked with PM, research, eng, and product ops to strategize a plan for MVP release. We ultimately decided to tackle two workflows that dominate the majority of a broker’s work: employee tasks and open enrollment.
Design Decision 1: Dashboard
Design began with the dashboard. We wanted to ship fast, so I lowered the engineering lift by balancing existing patterns and net-new designs. I worked with my engineer to find and apply existing patterns in the new context, one of the results was the dashboard.
Design Decision 2: Stepper Component
Gusto had an existing stepper component to display steps in a process, but feedback from design systems mentioned that it’s usually used in relatively short flows, like signup. The open enrollment setup process typically spans 2-3 months, so I designed a new progressive disclosure design to better guide brokers throughout the process with an emphasis on focus for the current step.
Design Decision 3: Data Visualization
Currently, tracking progress is hidden and not holistic, so I’ve designed various trackers throughout the platform with different granularities to aid help brokers see their clients’ progress and plan their action. Shown below is the dashboard variation of the tracker.
Final Design: Broker View
Brokers can now view, manage, and complete benefits tasks for all of their clients in their own dedicated tool. The first MVP includes features that allow them to work on employee tasks and open enrollment across all of their clients.
Final Design: Employee Tasks
From the dashboard, brokers can get a holistic understanding of their workload and click in to see the tasks in detail. Now, they have more flexibility in how they want to work on them.
Final Design: Open Enrollment Setup
Since brokers have awareness of upcoming events, they can also easily set up their clients’ open enrollments by going through a self-serve setup process directly in Gusto.
Final Design: Open Enrollment Tracking
When open enrollment begins, progress trackers will help brokers get a clear picture of how their clients are doing, with holistic and detailed information, and plan their action.
Final Design: Open Enrollment Submission
Once enrollment is done, brokers can just download their submission document in Gusto and submit it to carriers to complete the process. They can now relax while their clients’ benefits automatically go live on the scheduled date.
Design Handoff
I created handoff documents to my engineer providing details for every screen that requires context and organized them into flows to streamline their understanding. I also worked closely with them to make sure they understand the details throughout the process.
Outcomes
1
Shipped to brokers
Some features have already shipped to 350+ brokers to help them better serve their clients, impacting 40,000+ internal and external users
2
Accelerated roadmap
I took initiative to design high-level screens to guide and accelerate the conversations around plan-build for brokers
3
New broker persona
I worked closely with my researcher to develop a persona that will help inform future broker products and features
Takeaways
It’s really important to understand the context in which we apply existing patterns. Edge cases and arising product areas/problems require us to think creatively about 1) the applicability and 2) the malleability of existing patterns. We don’t have to create a component for every single user group, but we need to think about how to create components that can adapt to various use cases given very different contexts.
Check out my work with Mastercard
Gusto Benefits
I led the design of “Broker View” from 0-1, from researching the problems to designing for implementation. "Broker View" will help brokers save time and enable them to better serve their clients through Gusto.
Features such as initiating open enrollment setup have already shipped to 350+ external benefits brokers, impacting a total of 40,000+ internal and external users.
Role
Lead Designer
Duration
May - Aug 2022
Team
Kate Davies
Designer
Eric Jester
PM
Katie Krueger
ProdOps
Kristin Walko
Researcher
Anish Asrani
Engineer
Context
Gusto is a people platform built for small and medium business (SMBs). I worked on a new tool for benefits brokers called “Broker View”. Benefits brokers are benefits experts that onboard onto Gusto through broker integration (BYB) to help employers manage their benefits.
Problem
Currently, employers and brokers share a platform, but they have fundamentally different jobs to do. Since Gusto was made for employers, BYB as a product isn’t optimized for brokers, resulting in hacky workarounds and inefficient workflows.
A single tab for all of a broker's complicated workflows and tasks
Broker's todo and actionable tasks are hidden deep within another layer
Goal
Better integrate brokers into Gusto so they can work faster, better serve their clients, and make them happy and healthy.
Success Metrics
1
Reduce time spent on tasks
Streamline high-level workflows in Gusto so brokers can work faster and save time
2
Reduce broker touchpoints
Allow brokers to work independently and in whatever way works for them
3
Increase product-market fit
Make Gusto a valuable and essential tool that brokers enjoy and can work well on
4
Reduce setup handle times
Help the benefits ops team refocus their energy into more urgent matters
Final Solution
Introducing “Broker View”, a tool catered to brokers to help them do their job better and faster in Gusto. Through this tool, brokers are better integrated into Gusto, aggregating all of their clients' tasks and necessary workflows in one dedicated platform.
A new platform dedicated entirely to brokers
Holistic view of things to do for their clients
Easily see clients’ open enrollment progress
Awareness of upcoming tasks/preparation work
Research
BYB’s low product market-fit led us to conduct 20+ interviews with brokers and brokerages of all sizes to find out what’s wrong and how we can do better.
1
Brokers look outwards for tools
Brokers look outwards for missing features in BYB, making a majority of their Gusto work actually occur outside of Gusto.
2
Gusto is not made for brokers
BYB is a product made for brokers, but it exists in an employer-oriented tool that isn’t optimized for brokers to use.
3
Fragmented workflows
Gusto fragments brokers’ workflows by adding too many touchpoints, which creates friction in their work and slows them down.
4
Broker workflows can vary
Although brokers have standardized procedures and practices, each broker has a different way of approaching their tasks.
Significance
There are currently over 900+ companies using BYB and over 50% of those are managed by the top 10 brokers on Gusto. This means it’s possible for each of them to have 45 clients! This makes it incredibly tedious and difficult for brokers to manage all of their tasks and serve them efficiently through BYB.
Opportunity
A better broker experience means more customers for Gusto. If brokers are happy with Gusto, they will bring on clients from other benefits platforms and/or recommend Gusto to clients looking for payroll providers.
Design Principles
1
Accelerate broker work
Help brokers work more efficiently and in ways that fit their workflows
2
Empower to serve
Provide brokers with opportunities to serve their clients wherever possible
3
Intentionally guide
Let brokers do their thing, but guide where we differ from tradition processes
4
No dead ends
Give brokers all the information and access they need to do their jobs
Feature Prioritization
In order to prioritize what features would create the most value in the shortest amount of time, I worked with PM, research, eng, and product ops to strategize a plan for MVP release. We ultimately decided to tackle two workflows that dominate the majority of a broker’s work: employee tasks and open enrollment.
Design Decision 1: Dashboard
Design began with the dashboard. We wanted to ship fast, so I lowered the engineering lift by balancing existing patterns and net-new designs. I worked with my engineer to find and apply existing patterns in the new context, one of the results was the dashboard.
Design Decision 2: Stepper Component
Gusto had an existing stepper component to display steps in a process, but feedback from design systems mentioned that it’s usually used in relatively short flows, like signup. The open enrollment setup process typically spans 2-3 months, so I designed a new progressive disclosure design to better guide brokers throughout the process with an emphasis on focus for the current step.
Design Decision 3: Data Visualization
Currently, tracking progress is hidden and not holistic, so I’ve designed various trackers throughout the platform with different granularities to aid help brokers see their clients’ progress and plan their action. Shown below is the dashboard variation of the tracker.
Final Design: Broker View
Brokers can now view, manage, and complete benefits tasks for all of their clients in their own dedicated tool. The first MVP includes features that allow them to work on employee tasks and open enrollment across all of their clients.
Final Design: Employee Tasks
From the dashboard, brokers can get a holistic understanding of their workload and click in to see the tasks in detail. Now, they have more flexibility in how they want to work on them.
Final Design: Open Enrollment Setup
Since brokers have awareness of upcoming events, they can also easily set up their clients’ open enrollments by going through a self-serve setup process directly in Gusto.
Final Design: Open Enrollment Tracking
When open enrollment begins, progress trackers will help brokers get a clear picture of how their clients are doing, with holistic and detailed information, and plan their action.
Final Design: Open Enrollment Submission
Once enrollment is done, brokers can just download their submission document in Gusto and submit it to carriers to complete the process. They can now relax while their clients’ benefits automatically go live on the scheduled date.
Design Handoff
I created handoff documents to my engineer providing details for every screen that requires context and organized them into flows to streamline their understanding. I also worked closely with them to make sure they understand the details throughout the process.
Outcomes
1
Shipped to brokers
Some features have already shipped to 350+ brokers to help them better serve their clients, impacting 40,000+ internal and external users
2
Accelerated roadmap
I took initiative to design high-level screens to guide and accelerate the conversations around plan-build for brokers
3
New broker persona
I worked closely with my researcher to develop a persona that will help inform future broker products and features
Takeaways
It’s really important to understand the context in which we apply existing patterns. Edge cases and arising product areas/problems require us to think creatively about 1) the applicability and 2) the malleability of existing patterns. We don’t have to create a component for every single user group, but we need to think about how to create components that can adapt to various use cases given very different contexts.
Check out my work with Mastercard
Gusto Benefits
I led the design of “Broker View” from 0-1, from researching the problems to designing for implementation. "Broker View" will help brokers save time and enable them to better serve their clients through Gusto.
Features such as initiating open enrollment setup have already shipped to 350+ external benefits brokers, impacting a total of 40,000+ internal and external users.
Role
Lead Designer
Duration
May - Aug 2022
Team
Kate Davies
Designer
Eric Jester
PM
Katie Krueger
ProdOps
Kristin Walko
Researcher
Anish Asrani
Engineer
Context
Gusto is a people platform built for small and medium business (SMBs). I worked on a new tool for benefits brokers called “Broker View”. Benefits brokers are benefits experts that onboard onto Gusto through broker integration (BYB) to help employers manage their benefits.
Problem
Currently, employers and brokers share a platform, but they have fundamentally different jobs to do. Since Gusto was made for employers, BYB as a product isn’t optimized for brokers, resulting in hacky workarounds and inefficient workflows.
A single tab for all of a broker's complicated workflows and tasks
Broker's todo and actionable tasks are hidden deep within another layer
Goal
Better integrate brokers into Gusto so they can work faster, better serve their clients, and make them happy and healthy.
Success Metrics
1
Reduce time spent on tasks
Streamline high-level workflows in Gusto so brokers can work faster and save time
2
Reduce broker touchpoints
Allow brokers to work independently and in whatever way works for them
3
Increase product-market fit
Make Gusto a valuable and essential tool that brokers enjoy and can work well on
4
Reduce setup handle times
Help the benefits ops team refocus their energy into more urgent matters
Final Solution
Introducing “Broker View”, a tool catered to brokers to help them do their job better and faster in Gusto. Through this tool, brokers are better integrated into Gusto, aggregating all of their clients' tasks and necessary workflows in one dedicated platform.
A new platform dedicated entirely to brokers
Holistic view of things to do for their clients
Easily see clients’ open enrollment progress
Awareness of upcoming tasks/preparation work
Research
BYB’s low product market-fit led us to conduct 20+ interviews with brokers and brokerages of all sizes to find out what’s wrong and how we can do better.
1
Brokers look outwards for tools
Brokers look outwards for missing features in BYB, making a majority of their Gusto work actually occur outside of Gusto.
2
Gusto is not made for brokers
BYB is a product made for brokers, but it exists in an employer-oriented tool that isn’t optimized for brokers to use.
3
Fragmented workflows
Gusto fragments brokers’ workflows by adding too many touchpoints, which creates friction in their work and slows them down.
4
Broker workflows can vary
Although brokers have standardized procedures and practices, each broker has a different way of approaching their tasks.
Significance
There are currently over 900+ companies using BYB and over 50% of those are managed by the top 10 brokers on Gusto. This means it’s possible for each of them to have 45 clients! This makes it incredibly tedious and difficult for brokers to manage all of their tasks and serve them efficiently through BYB.
Opportunity
A better broker experience means more customers for Gusto. If brokers are happy with Gusto, they will bring on clients from other benefits platforms and/or recommend Gusto to clients looking for payroll providers.
Design Principles
1
Accelerate broker work
Help brokers work more efficiently and in ways that fit their workflows
2
Empower to serve
Provide brokers with opportunities to serve their clients wherever possible
3
Intentionally guide
Let brokers do their thing, but guide where we differ from tradition processes
4
No dead ends
Give brokers all the information and access they need to do their jobs
Feature Prioritization
In order to prioritize what features would create the most value in the shortest amount of time, I worked with PM, research, eng, and product ops to strategize a plan for MVP release. We ultimately decided to tackle two workflows that dominate the majority of a broker’s work: employee tasks and open enrollment.
Design Decision 1: Dashboard
Design began with the dashboard. We wanted to ship fast, so I lowered the engineering lift by balancing existing patterns and net-new designs. I worked with my engineer to find and apply existing patterns in the new context, one of the results was the dashboard.
Design Decision 2: Stepper Component
Gusto had an existing stepper component to display steps in a process, but feedback from design systems mentioned that it’s usually used in relatively short flows, like signup. The open enrollment setup process typically spans 2-3 months, so I designed a new progressive disclosure design to better guide brokers throughout the process with an emphasis on focus for the current step.
Design Decision 3: Data Visualization
Currently, tracking progress is hidden and not holistic, so I’ve designed various trackers throughout the platform with different granularities to aid help brokers see their clients’ progress and plan their action. Shown below is the dashboard variation of the tracker.
Final Design: Broker View
Brokers can now view, manage, and complete benefits tasks for all of their clients in their own dedicated tool. The first MVP includes features that allow them to work on employee tasks and open enrollment across all of their clients.
Final Design: Employee Tasks
From the dashboard, brokers can get a holistic understanding of their workload and click in to see the tasks in detail. Now, they have more flexibility in how they want to work on them.
Final Design: Open Enrollment Setup
Since brokers have awareness of upcoming events, they can also easily set up their clients’ open enrollments by going through a self-serve setup process directly in Gusto.
Final Design: Open Enrollment Tracking
When open enrollment begins, progress trackers will help brokers get a clear picture of how their clients are doing, with holistic and detailed information, and plan their action.
Final Design: Open Enrollment Submission
Once enrollment is done, brokers can just download their submission document in Gusto and submit it to carriers to complete the process. They can now relax while their clients’ benefits automatically go live on the scheduled date.
Design Handoff
I created handoff documents to my engineer providing details for every screen that requires context and organized them into flows to streamline their understanding. I also worked closely with them to make sure they understand the details throughout the process.
Outcomes
1
Shipped to brokers
Some features have already shipped to 350+ brokers to help them better serve their clients, impacting 40,000+ internal and external users
2
Accelerated roadmap
I took initiative to design high-level screens to guide and accelerate the conversations around plan-build for brokers
3
New broker persona
I worked closely with my researcher to develop a persona that will help inform future broker products and features
Takeaways
It’s really important to understand the context in which we apply existing patterns. Edge cases and arising product areas/problems require us to think creatively about 1) the applicability and 2) the malleability of existing patterns. We don’t have to create a component for every single user group, but we need to think about how to create components that can adapt to various use cases given very different contexts.
Check out my work with Mastercard