Canada Life - Mobile app
Role
Sr. User Experience Designer
Dates
2022 - 2023
My Canada Life at Work
Canada Life set out to modernize how plan members interact with their workplace benefits and retirement savings. While web-based access existed, users increasingly needed simple, fast, and secure access from their mobile devices. This project involved designing and launching a new mobile app that complements the My Canada Life at Work web experience and enables users to access their plans anytime, anywhere.
Goal
Create a new mobile app for an insurance and financial services provider that allows users to easily access their workplace benefits and savings plans on the go.
This required designing an end‑to‑end mobile experience that reflects the company’s digital ecosystem while introducing mobile‑specific enhancements.
Key user tasks:
Submitting a benefits claim
Viewing coverage details
Checking savings and retirement plans
Quick and secure access to frequently used account information
User benefits
Fast, convenient plan management
Users can access their benefit and savings information from anywhere, without needing to log in through a desktop browser.
Consistency across the Canada Life ecosystem
The mobile app aligns visually and functionally with other Canada Life digital products, reinforcing brand trust and reducing cognitive load for existing users.
Support for modern mobile habits
The app offers a streamlined mobile interface for high‑frequency tasks like checking balances, submitting claims, and uploading photos of receipts.
Organizational impact
Establishment of a new mobile design system
A full library of reusable mobile components was created to ensure consistency and scalability across future releases.
Stronger client engagement and increased digital adoption
Offering a mobile entry point expands the overall digital footprint and helps transition paper-based claim processes to digital.
Approach
Discovery & research
A deep exploration phase focused on understanding:
Platform-specific capabilities and constraints for iOS and Android.
Best practices for secure authentication, file uploads, and notifications.
Understanding of user pain points in the current web experience.
Cross‑functional collaboration
Daily stand‑ups ensured alignment with devs throughout the build.
Design decisions grounded in established design principles.
Development leveraged native technologies to ensure optimal performance and platform‑authentic interactions.
Requirements gathering
Collaboration with stakeholders, developers, and compliance to define:
Functional MVP requirements.
Regulatory and privacy considerations.
Opportunity areas for mobile‑first enhancements.
Building the Mobile Design System
A new library of mobile UI components to support future scalability.
Interaction patterns aligned with Android Material Design and iOS Human Interface Guidelines.
Documentation that enabled consistency for future releases.
Post‑launch feedback
Insights were collected from:
Usage analytics, highlighting top tasks and drop‑off points.
User requests submitted through customer support and in‑app channels.
Iteration cycles driven by user testing and stakeholder feedback.
Enhancements
Based on early findings, a Day 2 strategy was formed, including:
Replacing webviews with fully native experiences for better performance, accessibility, and consistency.
Expanding the design system and component library.
Adding additional features based on user demand.
Conclusion
The new mobile app transformed how users interact with their workplace benefits and savings, delivering a unified, mobile‑first experience that reflects the company’s commitment to accessibility, convenience, and digital innovation. By combining rigorous research, cross-functional collaboration, and a scalable design system, the project set the foundation for continuous enhancement and long-term growth.