Background
During my time with AARP Services, Inc., I led mixed-methods research and product innovation initiatives focused on helping AARP evaluate new offerings across health, insurance, financial services, travel, lifestyle, and aging-in-place experiences.
During my time with AARP Services, Inc., I led mixed-methods research and product innovation initiatives focused on helping AARP evaluate new offerings across health, insurance, financial services, travel, lifestyle, and aging-in-place experiences.
This work supported AARP’s broader mission to ensure that products and services for the 50+ population are accessible, trustworthy, affordable, and relevant to real member needs.
I also helped co-direct a $4 million Innovation Value Fund in partnership with UnitedHealthcare to explore, prototype, and evaluate new service opportunities that could potentially support AARP Medicare Plan members.
Challenge
AARP needed to understand which emerging product and service ideas were meaningful enough to pursue, viable enough to test, and valuable enough to pilot or scale.
AARP needed to understand which emerging product and service ideas were meaningful enough to pursue, viable enough to test, and valuable enough to pilot or scale.
Many of these opportunities sat at the intersection of healthcare, insurance, financial confidence, aging-in-place, and member trust. The challenge was not only identifying member interest, but also understanding:
•What problems members were trying to solve
•Which concepts felt credible and valuable
•What barriers might prevent adoption
•What risks, costs, or operational considerations needed to be addressed
•Whether a concept was ready to launch, pilot, refine, or stop
•What problems members were trying to solve
•Which concepts felt credible and valuable
•What barriers might prevent adoption
•What risks, costs, or operational considerations needed to be addressed
•Whether a concept was ready to launch, pilot, refine, or stop
Framing the Work
Across these initiatives, the central question became:
How might we use research, concept testing, and early prototyping to determine which products and services could create meaningful value for AARP members and business partners?
Across these initiatives, the central question became:
How might we use research, concept testing, and early prototyping to determine which products and services could create meaningful value for AARP members and business partners?
My Role & Approach
I partnered with internal teams, external partners, research vendors, subject matter experts, and business leaders to move ideas from early exploration into clearer product and service recommendations.
I partnered with internal teams, external partners, research vendors, subject matter experts, and business leaders to move ideas from early exploration into clearer product and service recommendations.
My work included:
•Planning and coordinating mixed-methods research across AARP members, subject matter experts, partners, and broader market audiences.
•Conducting and synthesizing qualitative interviews to understand member needs, motivations, behaviors, trust factors, and adoption barriers.
•Supporting quantitative validation through member surveys, concept testing, and conjoint-style analysis to evaluate interest, value perception, and readiness.
•Translating research findings into value propositions, opportunity areas, personas, use cases, product concepts, and pilot recommendations.
•Creating early mockups, wireframes, website flows, and product one-pagers to make concepts tangible and gather more specific feedback from members and testers.
•Helping stakeholders evaluate whether concepts should move forward, be refined, tested further, or deprioritized based on member value, business viability, ROI, cost, and risk.
•Planning and coordinating mixed-methods research across AARP members, subject matter experts, partners, and broader market audiences.
•Conducting and synthesizing qualitative interviews to understand member needs, motivations, behaviors, trust factors, and adoption barriers.
•Supporting quantitative validation through member surveys, concept testing, and conjoint-style analysis to evaluate interest, value perception, and readiness.
•Translating research findings into value propositions, opportunity areas, personas, use cases, product concepts, and pilot recommendations.
•Creating early mockups, wireframes, website flows, and product one-pagers to make concepts tangible and gather more specific feedback from members and testers.
•Helping stakeholders evaluate whether concepts should move forward, be refined, tested further, or deprioritized based on member value, business viability, ROI, cost, and risk.
Outputs & Results
•Coordinated 3 major research initiatives involving 70+ qualitative interviews (via generative research, prototype evaluations, situational scenarios), quantitative member surveys of over 250 participants, and concept validation activities.
•Helped evaluate product and service opportunities across hearing health, Medicare education, preventive services, aging-in-place, and home maintenance.
•Created concept artifacts — including mockups, wireframes, website flows, and product one-pagers — to support member feedback, stakeholder alignment, and pilot decision-making.
•Translated research insights into clearer recommendations around launch readiness, pilot strategy, product refinement, and potential risks.
•Helped teams better understand what members valued, what they trusted, and what would make new services easier to understand and adopt.
•Coordinated 3 major research initiatives involving 70+ qualitative interviews (via generative research, prototype evaluations, situational scenarios), quantitative member surveys of over 250 participants, and concept validation activities.
•Helped evaluate product and service opportunities across hearing health, Medicare education, preventive services, aging-in-place, and home maintenance.
•Created concept artifacts — including mockups, wireframes, website flows, and product one-pagers — to support member feedback, stakeholder alignment, and pilot decision-making.
•Translated research insights into clearer recommendations around launch readiness, pilot strategy, product refinement, and potential risks.
•Helped teams better understand what members valued, what they trusted, and what would make new services easier to understand and adopt.
Examples of Work Informed by These Initiatives
•AARP Free Hearing Test — Supported research and exploration connected to hearing health and member access to preventive services, https://www.aarp.org/membership/benefits/health/national-hearing-test/
•AARP Medicare Coverage & Plan Quiz — Supported exploration around Medicare knowledge, free Medicare services, and Medicare coverage education.
•AARP Home Maintenance & Medicare Pilot Program — Helped evaluate an aging-in-place service concept through mixed-methods research, concept validation, and pilot-readiness recommendations.
•AARP Free Hearing Test — Supported research and exploration connected to hearing health and member access to preventive services, https://www.aarp.org/membership/benefits/health/national-hearing-test/
•AARP Medicare Coverage & Plan Quiz — Supported exploration around Medicare knowledge, free Medicare services, and Medicare coverage education.
•AARP Home Maintenance & Medicare Pilot Program — Helped evaluate an aging-in-place service concept through mixed-methods research, concept validation, and pilot-readiness recommendations.
Outcome
This work helped AARP and its partners make more informed decisions about which product and service concepts were ready to launch, pilot, refine, or reconsider.
This work helped AARP and its partners make more informed decisions about which product and service concepts were ready to launch, pilot, refine, or reconsider.
By combining qualitative research, quantitative validation, early prototyping, and business evaluation, I helped teams move beyond assumptions and better understand how new offerings could create value for members, partners, and the organization.
Case Study Note
This page provides a high-level overview of my AARP research and innovation work. In interviews, I can walk through specific examples in more detail, including research planning, concept testing, synthesis, prototypes, pilot evaluation, and how recommendations shaped product and service decisions.
This page provides a high-level overview of my AARP research and innovation work. In interviews, I can walk through specific examples in more detail, including research planning, concept testing, synthesis, prototypes, pilot evaluation, and how recommendations shaped product and service decisions.
