FedEx Claims Portal
Filing a claim shouldn't feel like losing twice. A full redesign across multiple segments: from broken triage to transparent, trust-building resolution.
The system was built for one filer. Everyone else had to fight it.
How might we transform FedEx from a claims processor into a claims partner — one that helps businesses reduce the root causes of claims, not just resolve them one at a time?
FedEx's existing claims experience was built around process compliance, not people. Filing required navigating disconnected systems. Status updates were invisible. Batch filers hit a hard cap of 200 claims per view. And anyone who wasn't the shipper of record often couldn't see their own claims at all.
FedEx was overwhelmed with customer service calls from people who just wanted to know where their money was. When a claim was denied, users didn't understand why. When it was under review, silence. When it closed, they got a letter in the mail.
The current portal served one user type reasonably well: the logged-in shipper of record filing a single claim. Everyone else had to work around the system.
We started with who was actually filing. Then redesigned for all of them.
The project ran in two phases across 9 weeks of research, synthesis, and design. In Phase I, we observed users across small, medium, and large businesses in the act of filing. Not just asking what they'd want, but watching how they actually worked around the system's gaps. They built spreadsheets. They screenshotted confirmation pages. They called FedEx because the portal gave them nothing to go on.
We mapped seven distinct user types, from the single-shipment recipient to the logistics manager with a custom waiver arrangement, and built a research framework around four design principles: Empower Informed Filers, Anticipate Communication Needs, Align to Customer Priorities, and Enable Systems Thinking.
In Phase II, we brought low-fidelity prototypes back to users for validation, then ran a hybrid prioritization workshop with stakeholders to map every feature against desirability and feasibility. The result wasn't a wishlist — it was a three-part Minimal Valuable Product that development could actually build.
The hardest part wasn't the design. It was separating what users called a "claim" from what FedEx legally defines as one. The language itself was broken. We had to fix the front door before we could fix anything behind it.
A claims experience that tells you where you stand, at every step.
The new Claims Center gives every user type visibility into their claims — not just the shipper of record. A filterable dashboard, a triage layer that intercepted wrong-path filers before they started, and a detail page that finally explained what happened and why.
Claim detail pages were fully overhauled: visible status timelines, document upload after submission, notes to the claims agent, and plain-language explanations when claims were denied or partially paid. For the first time, users could see their declared value against the claim outcome without a phone call.
The filing flow was redesigned around the document checklist insight: users wanted to know what they needed before they started, not discover missing items mid-form. EFT setup moved into the filing flow, so users didn't have to abandon mid-process to configure payments in account settings.
Batch filers got a path that didn't cap at 200 or force them into another platform. The result was a claims experience that could finally scale to the full range of who was actually filing.
Claims Center dashboard: prioritized issue queue with status filters, claim trends, and proactive action prompts for open disputes.
Claims Center dashboard: prioritized issue queue with status filters, claim trends, and proactive action prompts for open disputes.