{mosads}In Maryland’s marketplace, the site prompts users to immediately identify whether they are an individual or family, or the owners of a small business.
The clearly defined choice directs users to one of two marketplaces available in the state and ensures they are on the correct enrollment path.
Hawaii’s online exchange, meanwhile, points to a number to call instead of playing up access to the web-based enrollment portal.
The analysis by Huge senior interaction designer Molly Lafferty was published Wednesday on Fast Company.
It comes as state and federal health officials struggle to fix problems on their respective healthcare enrollment sites.
The federal portal, healthcare.gov, debuted on Oct. 1 with serious technical flaws that have thwarted users trying to purchase health insurance.
The Department of Health and Human Services said it’s working around the clock to address errors and is reminding users that the enrollment period lasts until March.
Lafferty was blunt in her read of the site’s debut.
“Reaction to the user experience has been consistent: It sucked,” she wrote. “Most users faced slow load times and confusing error messaging, and only a small number registered successfully.”
The post is titled “3 Rules for Making ObamaCare Exchange Sites Suck Less.”
Lafferty went on to argue that online exchanges should incorporate two other features — a progress tracker to show users the total number of steps they’ll complete, and a clear message about any errors plaguing the sites.
Nevada Health Link, for example, “alerts users to a specific issue on the site in an unobtrusive way” while still allowing them to browse, Lafferty wrote.