WSIB Mobile

A bureaucratic maze that drains time, peace of mind, and financial stability.

Imagine getting injured at work and needing help — only to be met with radio silence. That’s the reality for thousands of Ontarians trying to file a WSIB claim; no clear steps or digital portal. Just faxes, mailed letters, and long hours on hold. They’re sent in a circle just to make sure their case hasn’t fallen through the cracks.

“I tried pushing it [the claim], but it just became unfruitful, time-wasting phone tag.” — Anonymous Redditor

Proving that digital support doesn't need a $10M price tag.

When WSIB’s executive team first explored a mobile solution, a contractor pitched a $10 million build with a four-year timeline.

Our challenge was to show that a digital-first approach didn’t have to be expensive, slow, or overly complex.

Our high level goals were to:

• Streamline the claims process and reduce delays
• Lower the mental load for claimants navigating the system
• Build a mobile app that was actually attainable for WSIB — both in cost and development scope

I led the design of the dashboard and claims management in the span of 4 months and collaborated with 4 other designers on the remaining screens and features.

I worked alongside Developers, Communications, and 2 Project Leads.

This was an R&D project and wasn't launched.

Confessions and complaints were everywhere.

I started with guerrilla research at places where people were venting their frustrations, unfiltered; Reddit, forums, blogs.

From there, we conducted 10 user interviews with Ontarians across different ages, jobs, tech comfort levels, and injury severities.

I facilitated 3 of these sessions and walked away with a much deeper understanding of just how emotionally exhausting — and logistically confusing — the claims process was for so many.

Claimants aren't just users, they're messengers.

Before diving into design, we needed to understand what truly slowed down the progression of a claim.

Initially we saw claimants as end-users, but it became clear that they were acting as the communication bridge between multiple parties: doctors, employers, WSIB case managers, and sometimes even legal representatives.

They're constantly relaying updates, chasing down missing documents, and following up with everyone — while recovering from an injury.

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This revealed a deeper systemic issue:‍

The product shouldn’t just support form submission, it should ease the claimant’s burden. Without a centralized place for communication or tracking, the responsibility of progress fell entirely on them.

From disconnected conversations to delayed progress.

It became clear that communication between claimants and case managers was imbalanced.

The burden of coordination was placed on someone already physically and emotionally strained.

With no shared space to track progress or centralize communication, small missteps snowballed into major delays in already time-sensitive cases.

🤔 How might we support claimants by building a communication system that takes the burden off the user while keeping things up to date?

Reduce friction in the communication and information delivery.

3 primary questions that guided the design strategy:

1. How can we deliver information clearly and persuasively to these injured workers without overcomplicating it?

2. What features could act as catalysts for better communication and alleviate the workload for the claimant?

3. Where does the process break down the most in the timeline?

Many delays stemmed from missing or incomplete documentation. To address this, I first needed to understand what information was most critical to both claimants and case managers in order to better coordinate the sequence of events.

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With that understanding in place, I mapped both the claimant and case manager journeys to identify the stages where information tended to stall or disappear altogether.

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I could then organize the information into specific touchpoints based on when it’s needed in the process and who the recipient is. This clarity is crucial for sending timely reminders and communicating next steps effectively.

Better understand the claimant’s next steps.

How might we determine what the claimant’s next steps are based on their activity?

Claimants often waste time trying to figure out what to do next. Phone calls are hard to revisit, and people forget details within hours (find supporting data).

Rather than note-taking or relying on memory, we can provide post-call summary: after each phone call, the case manager selects which tasks were discussed, and the claimant receives a summary notification. The user simply confirms or adjusts the details.

This light-touch flow reassures users that their conversation was captured and reduces memory burden. Beta testers reported feeling more confident that progress was happening behind the scenes.

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Eliminate hurdles from form-filling.

How might we eliminate the need for claimants to reach out for clarification on confusing questions?

Form questions are often misinterpreted or answered incorrectly, resulting in delays, resubmissions, or tension between claimants and case managers.

Instead, we paired each form question with an info card containing plain-language explanations or sample answers.

Many claimants are immigrants or non-native English speakers, so providing translated concepts or simplified phrasing helps close the comprehension gap. We tested the info cards with our parents, who are majority immigrants, and 95% of form questions were correctly understood after reading the cards.

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Research shows people interpret questions more accurately when paired with examples. Without exemplar forms, claimants lack reference points and often feel unsure about how much detail to provide.

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• we were refrained from interviewing or contacting anyone from the WSIB side; meaning we couldn’t understand from the case manager’s side on how the claim process works (unfortunately no one of that sort applied for our interview either)
• Also due to the confidentiality, we were not given any quantitative information about claims (e.g. how long it took to close the case, how many cases were filed)

• this was an r&d project so it wasn’t shipped
• completed after 4 months
• pitched it to the stakeholders, positive outcome and they see great value with the product

• this was an r&d project so it wasn’t shipped
• completed after 4 months
• pitched it to the stakeholders, positive outcome and they see great value with the product