Improving the B2B Referral Partner Experience
CASE STUDY
ROLE
UX Researcher
TIMELINE
2 Months
TEAM
1 Designer (me)
1 Senior Designer
SKILLS
Interviews
Mapping
Surveys
Synthesis
User Flows
BACKGROUND
My 1Health is a healthcare facilitation platform that connects patients to trusted hospitals and wellness clinics globally. It operates in both B2C and B2B spaces, serving individual patients as well as medical travel agents and facilitators. The platform supports treatments ranging from wellness check-ups to complex surgeries such as organ transplants.
As the platform looks to scale its network of agents, improving their experience became a critical priority. This case study documents a UX research project focused on mapping and improving the B2B agent experience.
Founded : 2018
Patients served : 50,000
Working with leading facilities : 357
Locations : UAE, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Egypt, South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and more
Operating in tourism space : 116B$
Overview
THE NEED
My 1 Health started receiving increased interest from medical travel agents who lacked the broad hospital network it offered.
Who are these agents?
Small agencies
Independent agents
Agents expanding into healthcare due to industry disruptions
THE CHALLENGE
Medical tourism requires constant communication, coordination, and trust. Agents help patients choose hospitals, share records, schedule appointments, and provide updates but inefficiencies in My1Health’s current CRM made this workflow difficult.
Research
PURPOSE AND GOALS
As part of My 1Health's strategic focus to grow its referral partner network, the project aims to better understand the agent experience, identify friction points, and plan for an improved CRM portal.
Research Goals
Understand the end-to-end agent workflow
Explore how agents interact with patients and the My 1Health team
Determine what tools and information agents need to better serve patients
Understanding the Business
Understanding Brief
I started by reviewing the initial brief and exploring the My 1Health CRM tool to understand the platform.
Affinity Mapping
Then I created affinity maps to identify themes and surface questions for stakeholder clarification.
Stakeholder interview themes
BUSINESS MOTIVATION
PROJECT OUTCOMES
PAINPOINTS
USERS
AGENT FOCUSED
INCENTIVES
COMPETITION
TECHNOLOGY
Stakeholder interview questions
Geo: Global
Types: Medical tourism providers and travel agents offering healthcare services.
Novice and experienced referral partners. Since most agents are beginners, the solution needs to be simple, easy to use, and suitable for global use.
Type 01
Healthcare and wellness facilities
Type 02
Travel Agent / referral partners
Type 03
Patients
Additional Resources and Templates:
1. Besides the template and additional resources (?) , are there premade (ready to use) content.
2. Is there a need for region-specific content, such as marketing materials in different languages or local cultural references?
3. How often should the marketing materials and templates be updated to remain relevant and accurate?
Financial Transparency and Automation:
1. is commission % based or does it differ by country?
2. How does currency exchange affect commission payouts when the dollar rate fluctuates? Would partners expect commissions to be calculated based on the exchange rate at the time of booking?
3.Do partners need to view potential earnings before referring a client?
CRM Specific
1. What is the depth of CRM? For any reason if stay is extended, do agents take care of re-booking tickets etc?
2. What is the typical level of involvement for agents once a patient starts treatment?
3. Do agents store medical records or treatment in CRM? how much access do they have?
4. Do partners collaborate with multiple clinics at once for one client? If so, how do they currently manage that?
Self-Paced Learning and Education
1. Is learning material available in different languages?
2. Do partners want certification or proof of completion after going through training?
General Questions
1. What new agents struggle with the most during the process? what are the current challenges you would like us to focus on? Do agents have any concerns?
2.How do patients communicate directly with hospitals versus agents? Do they speak with the hospital directly, or is the agent the point of contact for everything?
3.What motivates agents to refer more clients?
4.Are there any specific metrics or outcomes you're hoping to see?
Stakeholder interview insights
Be a reliable, scalable partner in a fragmented medical tourism industry.
Make the platform easy to use, mobile-friendly, and preferred over WhatsApp.
Quite a few of agents are like, ‘Oh, why do I need to use a system? Can I not just send you the bookings and inquiries on WhatsApp?
Support agents with onboarding, training, and certification.
Automate routine tasks like form-filling and follow-ups.
No one enjoys paperwork. No one enjoys doing logging cases. We want to make that as seamless as possible.
USER SURVEYS
To better understand how individuals and organizations engage with medical tourism outside My1Health, a short survey was distributed through LinkedIn and Facebook groups. Six respondents provided a mix of patient and provider perspectives.
Survey insights
Patients expressed the need for clearer guidance around pricing and treatment options.
Referrals and personal networks were emphasized as key trust factors.
Providers pointed to challenges with communication and financial transparency.
Managing medical tourism cases is still manual and fragmented, pointing to opportunities for My1Health
USER INTERVIEWS
I interviewed U.S.-based users (recruited externally through Askable) and My1Health referral partners to understand workflows, tools, and challenges in managing medical tourism clients. The insights pointed to opportunities for better automation, clearer communication, and scalable support.
4 User Interviews
Agents based in Kenya, Bangladesh
Independent agents
Agent working for agencies
4 User Interviews
Agents based in USA
Independent agents
Agent working for agencies
User interview themes
BACKGROUND & ROLE
CLIENT MANAGEMENT
COMMUNICATION
WORKFLOW & PROCESS
TOOLS & PLATFORMS
Training & Knowledge
MOTIVATION & INCENTIVES
TRAVEL LOGISTICS
MARKETING & VISIBILITY
User interview questions
Background & Role
1.What kind of work do you do / what type of trips do you manage?
2.How many clients do you usually handle (per month/day)?
3.Where are your clients based (international / domestic)?
4. When did you start working with My1Health?
Client Management & Workflow
1.What do you usually take care of for clients? (tasks, projects, planning, logistics)
2.Can you walk me through how you manage a client from beginning to end?
3.How do you manage paperwork, documents, or case tracking?
4.Do you work with outside teams or partners? How does that work?
Communication
1.How do you usually communicate with clients? (phone, WhatsApp, email, etc.)
2.How do you communicate with outside partners / healthcare providers?
3.Do you work with people from different cultures or languages? How do you handle that?
4.What’s the most challenging part of collaborating with clients or partners?
Tools & Platforms
1.What tools or platforms do you use to manage clients/work?
2.How do you keep track of client details and projects?
3.Do you use tools on mobile or computer?
4.What do you like/dislike most about the platform?
5.What would make the tools/platforms better?
Motivation & Incentives
1.How clear is it for you to track what you’ve earned (earnings/commission)?
2.How do incentives or bonuses work?
Besides money, what do you value most in your work?
Travel Logistics
1.Have you managed travel/tours for clients before?
2.What did you take care of (bookings, visas, planning, pre-travel prep)?
3.What challenges did you face and what did you enjoy?
User interview insights
Patient trust is often shaped by community stories and personal referrals, not just what the agent says.
Using a laptop for simple tasks like uploading documents adds friction for agents who mostly work from their phones.
Agents rely on patient outcomes to build trust and pride, but they don’t always receive updates to share with future clients.
Manually entering data from documents is time-consuming and feels outdated compared to consumer apps.
Without a clear feedback loop, agents are left unsure whether their efforts led to a good outcome or satisfied client.
The platform feels harder to use than WhatsApp, which makes some agents avoid it altogether.
Research Findings and Recommendations
Insight 01
Global users restricted to English and USD
مرحبا
नमस्ते
User interviews revealed that although the platform serves a global audience, it is only available in English and provide currency in dollar only.
Offering languages and currency option support could provide a more personalized experience and make it easier for agents from different regions to navigate the platform effectively.
My 1 H can offer language and currency selection during Onboarding
Insight 02
A. Limited language and format support
مرحبا
नमस्ते
Agents are currently using marketing materials from the My 1 Health portal to promote services on their own platforms. These materials are provided in JPEG format and only in English.
B. Enable multi-language, editable, and shareable resources
Current Steps (using 3 different tools)
Log-in
Resources
Download Poster / flyer (JPEG)
Go to external tool to translate
Go to external tool to re-design Poster
Share on social media
Recommended Steps (using 1 tool)
Log-in
Resources
Select Language
Edit within My 1Health
Share on social media directly from My 1 Health
INSIGHT 03
A. Patients trust agents / friends for treatment recommendations
B. Patient feedback system can capture real experiences.
C. This feedback can be integrated into the portal as ratings and info to support agents.
INSIGHT 04
Limited agent involvement beyond referral
Agents may not stay involved after referring patients on the platform, their role in the patient’s journey often ends there.
INSIGHT 05
Success stories don’t reach agents
Agents take pride in helping patients begin their recovery and often share success stories or positive reviews to demonstrate their impact, inspire confidence, and build trust with future patients.
“I was nervous at first, but the care I received was amazing. Thank you, Adam, for guiding me — I’m feeling so much better now!”
INSIGHT 06
Rigid and confusing appointment booking flow
“There is a lot of manual work, it is not advanced and user friendly system.” - agent
The appointment booking flow has ~13 steps, with confusing back navigation, no progress indicators, and no visibility into what’s being booked during the process. After submission, there’s no way to see package details or client information, and no changes can be made. Because of this rigid flow, agents often prefer sending documents over WhatsApp instead.
Current Booking Flow Analysis (Video)
Steps taken by an agent to book a wellness package
Current Booking Flow Analysis (Visual)
Step-by-step mapping with identified challenges and recommendations
Recommended Booking Flow (Video)
The booking flow was streamlined into two pages with logical grouping and clear steps, making it transparent what agents are booking at every stage. Filters were added to help agents quickly find packages, and automation now parses client details directly from uploaded passports. Agents can easily edit information at any step—even after submission—reducing errors, saving time, and building greater trust in the system.
*This prototype is not a reflection of the final design. It was created quickly to study the user flow and test a reduced number of steps.
WHAT iS NEXT?
While the current research focused on the desktop platform, user interviews highlighted a need for a mobile experience. The existing mobile version doesn’t sync with desktop, creating friction. Next steps include exploring a mobile solution that complements desktop, ensuring seamless access and supporting key workflows like appointment tracking, provider communication, and notifications.
IMPACT
Reduce appointment steps by 75%, condensing 10–11 screens into 2–3
Cut manual data entry by ~60% through document parsing and autofill
Improve agent efficiency, target a 40% reduction in time spent per booking
Boost completion rate for appointment setup by an estimated 30–35% due to a clearer, more flexible experience
Increase agent satisfaction and trust, with expected 25% growth in active agents over the next 12–18 months
Enhance patient confidence, with built-in tools for quality indicators, expected to increase conversion by 15–20%
