01Design Research
for Medicare
for Medicare
Foundational human-centered research & design on an integrated product team
In July 2021, I joined the MCE (Medicare Cost Estimator) team at Bellese Technologies, an integrated product team that supports the Medicare Office of Communication’s Web & Emerging Tech Group as a federal contractor.
As researcher, I led the team’s charge into service design strategy for Medicare’s behavioral health programs and bundled or unconventional benefits. As a member of a four-person design team, I also co-designed research artifacts and solutions. And as member of a larger product team, I weighed in on product development questions, and socialized findings & recs with the broader team.
Our title eventually changed to MCiEt (Medicare innovation & Emerging tech; pronounced “mice tea”) in recognition of our exploratory work in research and data science.
As researcher, I led the team’s charge into service design strategy for Medicare’s behavioral health programs and bundled or unconventional benefits. As a member of a four-person design team, I also co-designed research artifacts and solutions. And as member of a larger product team, I weighed in on product development questions, and socialized findings & recs with the broader team.
Our title eventually changed to MCiEt (Medicare innovation & Emerging tech; pronounced “mice tea”) in recognition of our exploratory work in research and data science.
As a team our work consistently earned “Exceptional” marks from our client CPARS--the highest rating possible for federal contractor teams.
Performance Reviews
“In a short time, Travis has been able to develop a great sense of what makes our CMS stakeholders tick, how to get things done within the agency and how to package/message things so they resonate with the decision makers. Without losing sight of our big dream long-term strategic thinking, Travis has a keen ability to collaborate with the team to shape and make practical recommendations that resonate.”
–Carol Sunderland, MCiEt Program Director
“Travis has been instrumental in strengthening and building relationships with CMS partners and solidifying bonds between MCiEt team members. He has recognized that our team can make the most impact by working collaboratively within a healthy and communicative environment, and his ability to identify partners who are working toward a shared goal has proven him to be a valued and intelligent collaborator.”
–PJ Rogalski, MCiEt HCD Design Lead
“I can always count on Travis to have the most up-to-date understanding of policy changes/enhancements as they apply to our work. He is instrumental in bringing that knowledge to our team so it can be incorporated into our strategic roadmap as well as having an immediate impact on near-term work. Our clients are always confident that we’re approaching our work with current policy understanding thanks to his work.”
–PJ Rogalski, MCiEt HCD Design Lead
Summer 2022
Winter 2022
Summer 2023
Winter 2023
–PJ Rogalski, MCiEt HCD Design Lead
Summer 2022
Winter 2022
Summer 2023
Winter 2023
1a.
Cross-Agency Findings & Recommendations
Developing a Behavioral Health Service Design Strategy for Medicare
Research Strategy • Research • Design Strategy
Challenge
How could we support Medicare beneficiaries and other public stakeholders in beginning and continuing equitable and effective care journeys across Medicare’s behavioral health offerings?
Discover the project >
________________________________________________________________________
1b.
A New Provider Search Pattern for Medicare.gov
Design Strategy
![]()
1b.
Near-Term Behavioral Health Solutioning
A New Provider Search Pattern for Medicare.gov
Design Strategy
Non-traditional diabetes prevention & opioid treatment programs had no natural home on Medicare.gov, and an isolated Medicare “Talk-to-Someone” tool presented raw provider location & contact info data. How could we integrate provider location search into a more user-friendly comprehensive health journey?
1c.
Medium-Term Behavioral Health Solutioning
A Medicare Behavioral Health Services “Wayfinding” Page
Research Strategy • Research • Design Strategy • Design
Challenge
How might we turn a long, agency-centered list of covered benefits pages with minimal information about conditions, treatments, and coverage into a person-centered hub for actionable information about Medicare’s behavioral health benefits--without duplicating existing .gov resources?
02.
Program-Specific Research
Discovery & Service Design Recs for Non-Traditional Medicare Benefits
Research Strategy • Research • Design Strategy
Challenge
How might we surface unconventional Medicare benefits like home infusion so that beneficiaries and other public stakeholders can understand benefits, search for providers and equipment, and take on related tasks with maximum ease?
Discover the projects >
________________________________________________________________________
03
New Product: Designing for Machine Learning
Product Team Collaboration, Research and Design for a Health Services Bundling Tool
Research Strategy • Research • Product Design
Challenge
Through machine learning, we can create bundles of health services that consumers commonly receive together. But how can we surface bundles in a way that addresses real healthcare pain points? And how can we ensure that the bundles are rigorously vetted by medical experts?
+ Generative Research
04
Workshop Facilitation
Capturing Expert Perspectives on Kind & Careful Care
Project: Patient Revolution is an initiative to develop a model for human-centered care outside of the current healthcare system. Spearheaded by healthcare experts and design researchers, the initiative was working during my tenure as Fellow to develop a demonstration clinic for kind and careful care.
My Role: Building personas, facilitating workshops with health care experts, and ideating human-centered care.
Discover the project ︎
+Evaluative Research
05
Usability testing with parents, teachers and kids
Challenge: Code Championship brings coding tournaments to Minnesota students grades 3-9. The Code Championship website serves students, parents and teachers but was impeding engagement. Our design team conducted usability testing to identify possible improvements.
Solution: I recommended bolstering the consistency and minimalism of the site design, as well as surfacing info that users wanted most--who runs the organization, what tournaments are like, and who can participate, among other things.
Discover the project ︎
Solution: I recommended bolstering the consistency and minimalism of the site design, as well as surfacing info that users wanted most--who runs the organization, what tournaments are like, and who can participate, among other things.
Discover the project ︎
_____________________________________________________________________