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Bruce Vance
Manager of Agent Portal
Humana |
Bringing Usability to the Masses—HFI's CUA of the Month Bruce Vance introduced usability at Humana
by Jesse Berkowitz
The Wausau Daily Herald never knew they had a blossoming usability analyst in staff writer Bruce Vance.
The funny thing was, neither did Bruce Vance. Yet that experience as a journalist helped Bruce develop an appreciation for usability, though he didn't realize it at the time.
"As a reporter, I had to look at the world from the perspective of the person I was interviewing," says Bruce. "Looking back, that has definitely helped me appreciate the importance of viewing a Web site or application from the user's perspective."
| "In reality, we shouldn't design anything that hasn't been put in front of actual users. Our team recognizes the value of getting input from real agents in the field—not just relying on anecdotal evidence... Usability is part of every project we do." |
Bruce became a Certified Usability Analyst (CUA) in 2003, passing the qualifying exam after completing HFI's four-course curriculum. Bruce now champions usability at Humana, one of the largest U.S. health benefits companies with annual revenues of $13 billion. In fact, his recent promotion to "Manager of the Agent Portal" was due in part to the CUA credential, since Bruce integrates user-centered design into all of his work.
Humana's Agent Portal supports the company's 60,000 contracted agents and brokers with online resources such as agent/employer delegation, commission and bonus reports, customer utilization data, product descriptions, marketing materials, quoting, newsletters, and continuing education opportunities.
"We could sit in meetings all day trying to predict what our users want, thinking we know what's best," says Bruce. "But in reality, we shouldn't design anything that hasn't been put in front of actual users. Our team recognizes the value of getting input from real agents in the field—not just relying on anecdotal evidence."
Every user group presents its own challenges, and Humana's agents are no exception. The first obstacle was simply getting them to the Web.
Many agents were reluctant to spend time learning to use the online Agent Portal, since they were accustomed to the old ways of doing business. For example, when agents needed an insurance quote for a client, they were still calling their sales representative instead of using Humana's streamlined quoting tool on the Web.
The data gathering and usability testing that Bruce and his colleagues performed helped overcome this resistance. Working closely with Humana agents throughout the design process actually increased acceptance of the Agent Portal. Plus, it gave Bruce an opportunity to explain the benefits of using the Web: saving time on routine tasks gives agents more time with their customers, which translates to higher sales.
"The key to applying usability successfully is patience," says Bruce. "With IT resources always at a premium, you have to be prepared for usability work to hit a standstill at times. The CUA training accelerated my learning process, and when I finished HFI's courses I was ready to jump right in and change the world. But I ran into the realities of corporate life, so I watched for opportunities and took advantage when they came. Now usability is part of every project we do."
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