Design and build digital services for the NHS
As the senior designer for the NHS digital service manual, I was responsible for creating consistency, documentation, guidance, and tools for building digital NHS services
SITUATION
As the senior designer for the NHS digital service manual, I was responsible for creating consistency, documentation, guidance, and tools for building digital NHS services. At the time, there was a low understanding of user-centred design (UCD) within the NHS, and multiple front-ends, components, and patterns were being used, resulting in high costs for national and local digital services.
TASK
My task was to consolidate these design components and patterns into a single system, and to grow knowledge and understanding of UCD within the NHS. This included defining principles, governance, and processes to ensure a solid foundation on which the system could grow. I also worked to identify and engage with relevant stakeholders, and to create a community to help support and grow the design system.
ACTION
To accomplish these goals, I engaged with people building digital services across the NHS through workshops, collating components, patterns, and user insights. I developed a framework to help define what good looks like and gained buy-in from stakeholders. Using this framework, I was able to consolidate the various components and patterns into a single, user-led design system.
RESULT
The result of these efforts was wide adoption of the design system throughout the NHS, both nationally and locally. A large community of UCD professionals grew around the system, feeding into a design system backlog. The NHS saw significant cost and time savings as a result of the design system, estimated to be in the millions. Additionally, the design system has been credited as instrumental in supporting COVID-19 services during the pandemic.
CONTACT
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