LGBTQ+ Care

Objective

Provide grounded insights about the LGBTQ+ experience when seeking health care to inform vendor selection

Scope

Consumer Research
Insight Development
Criteria Recommendations

Role

Primary Service Designer
Research Lead

Opportunity

The enterprise sought to engage vendors focused on finding and delivering care for LGBTQ+ individuals. On the surface, the task was to advise in the selection between two vendors already in the pipeline, but our initial discovery revealed deeper systemic issues that hinted at defining evaluation criteria for vendor selection

Discovery and Research

Over the course of 8 weeks, I led the team through data collection, leveraging a mix of qualitative methods.

1 ON 1 INTERVIEWS

60 and 30 minute interviews with individuals that identify as LGBTQ+

SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT INTERVIEWS

Group sessions with professionals within the LGBTQ+ healthcare space.

CONSUMER SURVEY

Digital survey to understand experiences and preferences

EXPERIENCE ANALYSIS

Reviewed existing experience standards and processes

DATA ANALYSIS

Analyzed consumer and census data to help inform discovery questions.

Recommendations

Once the research was concluded, the team synthesized all data sources and develop high level insights. Armed with these findings, weI developed a strategy and experience recommendations to shift the vendor-selection process into a systems-aware, inclusive model.

Impact

The client is now better positioned to select partners who deliver truly inclusive healthcare experiences; this leads to higher trust among LGBTQ+ members, fewer care-experience complaints, and a more resilient vendor ecosystem sensitive to identity, health equity, and lived experience.

Lessons Learned

Having Hard Conversations

Sexual health is health. Corporate settings are not used to engaging in those conversations. By properly preparing stakeholders, I was able speak frankly, communicating raw and important experiences.

Checking Personal Bias

I set clear milestones to check my bias and create space for objective insight. I focused on supporting interviewees without inserting myself into their experiences, continually grounding my perspective in the data and business needs.