Telstra Health / NHS
Healthcare / B2B / SaaS
How Iterative Design is helping the NHS fight COVID-19 faster with Telstra's VaxApp
7x
Planned User Adoption
250,000+
Vaccinations recorded to date
30%
Reduction in task time through iterative design
Background
When I joined Telstra Health I made a promise to the NHS that we would only build truly user-centred products. Confidence in suppliers at the time was low as vendors 'deployed [technology] without consultation' and offered 'little interaction'. I planned to do the opposite. My promise was to build products with them - not just for them.
I had the opportunity to make good on that promise immediately with VaxApp
The Challenge
To develop an end-to-end vaccination management system that seamlessly connected GPs to the NHS SPINE while streamlining the encounter workflow. As part of the MedicalDirector Helix family, the system would need to balance clinical precision with human-centered design.
My Role
Design & DesignOps Strategy, Design Direction, UX Research, UX Design, Design System Management, Prototyping, Testing, Accessibility, Metrics
Design Strategy and the Ecosystem
Successful development of the VaxApp first demanded a strategy that addressed the ecosystem in which it would exist. An ecosystem comprised of business goals, values, regulatory requirements, data structure and the daily realities of the end users.
Understanding the intersection between Telstra, the NHS and the users revealed key strategic directions which I used to create a system of Macro and Micro bets. Serving as North Star objectives for the VaxApp design strategy, they ensured design would be linked to business goals as well as fulfilling the promise we made to the NHS.
Macro Bets
Big picture items that link to Telstra's business goals and the product value propositions
• Time Saving
• Interoperability
• User-Centred Evolution
Micro Bets
Key pillars for making design decisions to achieve the Macro Bets
• Reduce Interaction Cost
• Align to User Task
• 'One System, One Tab' appearance
These Bets informed a series of Design Principles, adding a holistic layer of intentional and purposeful design drivers. Aligned to the NHS own Design Principles, I mapped each one to Telstra Health values and measurable metrics - enabling us to move beyond subjective-aesthetic discussions and focus on data-driven decisions.
This system of Bets and Principles formed the basis of the 'Experience Ideal' strategy I developed for Telstra Health, inspired by the MedicalDirector sub-brand's mission 'Enable Ideal'.
Campaigns, Cycles and Cross-Functional Collaboration
Leveraging seasonal NHS vaccination campaigns as iterative opportunities to refine the VaxApp system, each campaign was used as a roadmap for the iterative cycles.
User Feedback Loops during Live Campaigns
During each vaccination campaign, multiple communication channels available to users to capture and act on feedback:
• Direct access to Customer Support agents
• Open communication lines with practices and stakeholders created a steady flow of insights
• On-site observation sessions at test sites enabled us to gain first-hand understanding of user challenges
• A rapid response capability allowed us to swiftly design, develop, and deploy fixes for critical issues
Between campaigns, feedback would be fed into a value-effort matrix, prioritised and translated into detailed user stories with a view to being developed and released for the next campaign.
Deliberate with Design
The core structure of VaxApp is based around the Vaccination Encounter - a multi-step process for capturing data and clinical decision making around eligibility and suitability.
Whilst the data capture was largely governed by NHS requirements (specific questions, sequence of questions, mandatory clinical data points, API specifications), our design bets and principles guided the design layout, navigation flows, form design, information presentation and interactions.
We made the intentional decision to design the encounter using 7 steps, based on Miller's Law - a psychological principle that suggests the average person can hold around seven (plus or minus two) items in their working memory at a time.
Benefits of Using Miller's Law in Design
VaxApp's deliberate use of Miller's Law and a seven-step encounter process is aimed at reducing cognitive load, improving focus, and streamlining workflows - core tenets in the strategic bets and principles.
• Manages Cognitive Load: By limiting the number of steps, primary care workers are not overwhelmed with too much information at once. This is particularly important during busy vaccination campaigns when healthcare staff are dealing with many patients in a short period
• Improves Focus: By presenting information in manageable chunks, primary care workers can maintain their focus on the task
• Reduces Interaction Cost: Fewer steps mean fewer clicks and less time spent navigating the system, which ultimately translates to more time for patient care
• Simplifies User Journey: A simplified journey is more predictable and easier to understand - creating a more efficient and less error-prone process.
Reviews
“Thank you for building such an empowering tool, especially for designers! The site went from Figma to Framer in less than a week.”
Jack Gibson
Head of Product, Telstra Health
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