Turning a 2.3-Star App into a 4.2-Star Success in 6 Months

Summary

A targeted UX research initiative transformed the Excellus member mobile app from a low-rated, stagnant product into a top-rated tool — increasing ratings, driving new downloads, and restoring user trust.

1. The Challenge

Initial State (January 2024):

• App Store rating: 2.3/5
• Downloads stagnant
• Negative reviews dominated perception — even after technical issues were fixed

Business Goals:

1. Raise the rating to 4.0+
2. Increase downloads by 10%

2. User Frustration

❝Terrible App. Both the Excellus app and website are pretty bad. The app provides so little functionality.❞

The app had overcome early technical issues, but the public ratings and reviews didn’t reflect improvements — deterring potential users.

3. Research Approach

Methods:

• App Store review analysis — identified lingering perception issues from old bugs
• App analytics — showed current user success rates were high
• In-app survey — revealed a 4.1 average rating among active users
• User interviews — uncovered that satisfied users weren’t posting reviews

Insight:
A perception gap existed between current product quality and public reputation.

4. Strategy

We introduced contextual review prompts triggered immediately after successful tasks, such as:

• Paying a bill
• Checking a claim status

Why it worked:

• Leveraged moments of satisfaction
• Low friction, opt-in design
• Did not interrupt workflows

5. Results

Ratings Trend:

• Ratings: 2.3 → 4.2 in 6 months
• Downloads: +12%
• Boosted brand trust and increased conversions from app store visitors

❝I’ve been using this app to pay my premium, check my claims, and see how much my insurance covered my medical bills, and had no issues navigating this platform. Great service.❞

6. Lessons Learned

• Early negative reviews can outlast the problems that caused them
• Timely, positive user prompts can reshape public perception quickly
• Small, strategic UX changes can have high ROI with minimal development effort

Next Step: Collaborate with marketing to highlight app–website feature parity and maintain strong ratings.

Key Impact

This project delivered measurable user satisfaction improvements, aligned directly with business objectives, and provided a repeatable model for reputation recovery through UX strategy.