Qantas Wellbeing

Overview

A six-week strategic design engagement for Qantas Insurance and Wellbeing, identifying new ways the airline could support loyalty members with their wellbeing goals on the ground and create ongoing engagement in their loyalty program.

My Role

User research and strategic design lead.

The Challenge

Qantas wanted to explore how small rewards could help customers achieve big financial, mental, and physical wellbeing outcomes — extending the loyalty program’s value beyond travel into everyday life. The challenge was to understand where genuine customer wellbeing needs existed, and where the business had a credible, differentiated role to play.

Process

Stakeholder interviews and alignment

Before defining the research challenge, we interviewed key stakeholders across the business to surface potential areas for discovery. Findings were synthesised into three opportunity areas, discussed and voted on in an alignment workshop with a graphic facilitator capturing key discussion points live:

• Innovating on the core product offering
• Optimising existing acquisition funnels
• Expanding the existing wellbeing engagement platform

After dot voting and discussion, the wellbeing opportunity area was selected for further discovery — with particular interest in how small rewards might drive meaningful wellbeing outcomes.

Desktop research and ethnography

Participants were recruited using the Cantril Ladder — a subjective wellbeing measure used in the UN World Happiness Report since 2012 — to ensure a range of wellbeing states were represented across the cohort. We spoke to participants at various rungs of the ladder to understand different approaches to wellbeing and identify environmental drivers and behaviours that could influence it.

Appreciative enquiry and co-design

To establish a shared understanding of ‘wellbeing’, we combined models from a literature review with customer attitude analysis. An eight-factor model — a wellbeing wheel based on the nested model of wellbeing — was used as a research activity with customers.

The research protocol combined qualitative data capture via appreciative enquiry with quantitative activities designed to scale into a wider survey. Appreciative enquiry — structured around the phases of Discovery, Dream, Design and Destiny (Ludema et al., 2006) — was used to help participants explore their wellbeing without imposing solutions.

At participants’ homes or places of wellbeing practice, we explored:

• Life challenges faced
• Moments of personal growth
• Wellbeing goals and priorities
• Barriers to achieving goals
• What an ideal state of wellbeing could look like
• Reward moments

Analysis and synthesis

The research team collated findings from each interview onto boards for synthesis, reading highlights to each other and building affinity diagrams of common themes. Each participant’s life stage was considered alongside the demands on their wellbeing, their resources, and locus of control.

Four behavioural archetypes were drafted by grouping participants with common attributes — wellbeing scores and unmet needs areas. The archetypes were: The Passive Battlers, The Dynamic Doers, The Dreamers, and The Status Seekers.

Stories, needs and pain points from participants’ challenges and achievements were assembled into a journey map identifying many opportunities for support. Insights and opportunities were then consolidated into four key focus areas:

#1 My wellbeing is personal — Wellbeing engagement is triggered by major life events or life stages. How might we anticipate needs, track goals over time, and surface the next best action?

#2 Guide me towards my wellbeing goals — People seek trusted guidance through personal and professional channels. How might we provide trusted financial, physical, and community guidance?

#3 Help me balance my approach to life — Everyday demands dominate. How might we extend brand trust to advocate for self-care, help manage stress, and support habit formation?

#4 Breaking routine helps my wellbeing — Travel and breaks from routine enable self-discovery and reward achievement. How might we bring the next trip into the context of a wellbeing journey?

Prioritisation and concept ideation

Using these artefacts, we ran prioritisation workshops with the wider team to identify where value for customers and the business intersected. We then looked across markets to identify existing solutions for each problem space — mapping business models, performance metrics, design patterns, and technologies for each exemplar using the Desirability, Viability, and Feasibility (DVF) framework.

Leadership immersion

To create rapid empathy with the leadership team, we produced a video supporting each key need area with interview excerpts — condensing 12+ hours of footage into a three-minute package.

Outcome

With a renewed understanding of where key customer wellbeing needs stood relative to the existing offering, the business had a clear case to pursue further exploration and prioritise wellbeing initiatives.