Creating a New Vision for an HSA Mobile App
Visionary Project
Introduction
HealthEquity is the leading provider of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), FSAs, and HRAs, serving over 15 million members. However, its mobile ecosystem was fragmented across two separate native applications — creating disconnected experiences and limiting its ability to evolve beyond basic account administration.
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As UX Architect, I led the information architecture and core user flow design for a next-generation mobile app vision. The goal was to unify the experience and reposition the HSA from a passive utility tool into a proactive financial companion — one that empowers members to better save, spend, and invest for health.
This was a vision initiative designed to guide HealthEquity’s internal product teams.
Problem: HealthEquity operated two separate mobile applications:
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HealthEquity Mobile App (“Classic”) — account management and transactions
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EZ Receipts — claims and reimbursement workflows
Members were forced to switch between apps to complete essential tasks like submitting claims, managing contributions, or reviewing transactions. This fragmentation:
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Created cognitive and operational friction
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Obscured the relationship between saving, spending, and investing
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Positioned the app as a reactive tool rather than a financial growth platform
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The existing apps lacked the cohesion, clarity, and sophistication required to compete in a digitally mature landscape.
Goal: Design a unified mobile app vision that:
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Consolidated two fragmented applications into a single platform
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Established a scalable information architecture to support future growth
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Reframed the HSA as a financial and investment companion — not just a reimbursement tool
This vision would serve as a strategic foundation for product evolution — not a short-term redesign.
Process: This initiative was grounded in research-driven discovery and collaborative working sessions.
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During a two-day onsite workshop (December 2025), I presented the unified information architecture, primary navigation model, and dynamic dashboard framework to the client. The session was structured as a working alignment exercise — validating terminology, pressure-testing structure, and ensuring the new IA could unify both legacy apps while supporting future growth.
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In January 2026, we held a second working session focused on five priority user flows: onboarding, claims, contributions, investments, and shop. I walked through each flow to ensure seamless transitions between saving, spending, and investing behaviors. Following alignment, I translated the approved structure and flows into visionary mobile wireframes, providing HealthEquity with a strategic blueprint for implementation.
Team: Executive Director of UX, UX Designer (Me), Project Manager
THE SOLUTION
The foundation of the vision began with restructuring the entire ecosystem. Rather than layering new features onto two legacy applications, I designed a unified information architecture that consolidated functionality into a single, scalable platform.
Information Architecture
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This was not a navigation refresh — it was a structural reframe of how members interact with their healthcare finances. The goal was to:
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Eliminate cross-app friction
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Clarify the relationship between saving, spending, and investing
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Support multiple account types (HSA, FSA, HRA) within one mental model
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Create extensibility for future marketplace growth
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The IA redesign focused primarily on research, user goals, and actions. HealthEquity’s research revealed that members struggle most with:
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Navigating claims and reimbursements
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Managing payments and contributions
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Simply finding what they need
Instead of organizing the app around internal product structures, I restructured the IA around how members actually think and behave. The result was:
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A simplified, action-oriented IA
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A personalized dashboard that surfaces what matters most to each member
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Reduced cognitive load across complex financial tasks
This approach ensured the architecture reflected member mental models — not legacy systems. I consolidated the experience into clear, behavior-driven domains:
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Dashboard
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Accounts
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Pay & Reimburse
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Invest
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Shop
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Education
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Profile
This structure unified previously siloed workflows and created logical transitions between financial actions.
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Navigation
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Research indicated that members naturally grouped activities around:
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Managing accounts
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Paying & getting reimbursed
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Contributing funds
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Investing
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Shopping for eligible products
Instead of hiding these areas behind ambiguous labels, I surfaced them directly within the primary navigation. To reduce cognitive load:
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“Accounts” and “Contributions” were logically connected
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Claims, payments, and reimbursements were consolidated under "Pay & Reimburse" so there would be a centralized location for these actions
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Investments were elevated to a primary destination so users would have quick access
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Utility functions were moved to Profile/secondary navigation
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Dashboard
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The dashboard became the anchor of the unified experience. Rather than a static account summary, it was designed as a centralized financial overview — giving members immediate visibility into balances, activity, and next steps across all account types. It surfaced:
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Account balances (HSA, FSA, HRA)
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Pending claims and reimbursements
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Contribution status
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Investment performance
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The structure reduced navigation depth and created clear pathways into Pay & Reimburse and Invest — reinforcing the shift from administrative tool to integrated financial companion.
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Core User Flows
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With the IA and navigation aligned, I designed five priority user flows to operationalize the unified ecosystem:
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Onboarding: Designed to introduce members to a unified platform from day one — consolidating account setup and establishing clear pathways into dashboard, contributions, and investing.
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Claims & Reimbursements: Previously split across apps, this flow unified receipt upload, claim submission, and status tracking under one domain — reducing navigation depth and confusion.
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Contributions: Streamlined contribution actions and connected them directly to account growth and investment opportunity — reinforcing long-term financial value.
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Investments: Elevated investing to a primary experience, simplifying entry points and clarifying performance visibility to position the HSA as a wealth-building vehicle.
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Shop / Marketplace: Created the space for future marketplace expansion within the core ecosystem
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Each flow was structured to eliminate cross-app friction and create seamless transitions between saving, spending, and investing behaviors. These flows translated the architectural vision into implementation-ready journeys, providing HealthEquity with a clear and scalable blueprint.
TITLE OF THE CALLOUT BLOCK
Conclusion
Although this was a vision initiative and not a shipped product, the impact was strategic and organizational.
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We obtained stakeholder alignment with this vision project:
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Cross-functional approval of a unified mobile app vision
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Directional sign-off on IA, navigation, and five core user flows
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Shared alignment on consolidating two legacy apps into one ecosystem
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The final deliverables provided HealthEquity with:
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A scalable information architecture
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Implementation-ready user flows
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Visionary wireframes to guide them on creating a great experience
Most importantly, the work reframed the app from a transactional account tool to a cohesive financial platform designed to support saving, spending, and investing within one unified experience.
