Medical Examiners
To address the evolving needs of the UK's death certification process, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) sought to modernise the Medical Examiner programme. I was tasked with designing and implementing a digital service that would streamline and enhance the existing manual processes.
39 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0EU
1988
Public Administration and Health Services
£140 billion (2019)
1700+ (2019)
Challenge
The key challenge involved transforming a complex, manual system into a digital platform that was not only user-friendly but also met stringent regulatory standards. The project required accommodating a broad range of user needs while ensuring data accuracy and security.
Results
The project delivered substantial improvements for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). We engaged over 1,000 users and conducted 250 user tests, resulting in 150+ design iterations. This led to a 40% reduction in processing times and a 35% increase in user satisfaction. Compliance and security were assured through assessments involving 50-100 experts, achieving 100% adherence to data protection standards. Scalability tests, simulating 5,000 users, confirmed the system's robustness, and an 85-90% adoption rate was achieved within six months, supported by extensive user training.
40%
Efficiency Gains
100%
Compliance and Security
90%
Adoption Rate
Design Process
In orchestrating our design strategy, we traversed the Discovery, Alpha, and Beta phases of the service lifecycle. Embracing a 'fail fast' philosophy, during the Alpha stage we cultivated a multitude of potential solutions to the central issue. Subsequently, using the GDS design framework as our guidepost, we honed in on a promising concept, rapidly prototyping, testing, and validating its efficacy through continuous user research. This methodology not only ensured our adherence to rigorous standards but also endowed us with the agility to adapt to evolving project dynamics. Our steadfast commitment was to successfully navigate both the Alpha and Beta assessments throughout the project's duration.
Alpha delivery plan
We delivered the Alpha MVS in 4 two-week sprints. Upon completion of Alpha and the GDS assessment, a plan was then created to move on to Beta.
User Interviews
In our team, we had a User Researcher (UR) who was dedicated to our project. During the inception phase, everyone in our design group worked together to talk with various healthcare professionals and stakeholders. As the project progressed, the UR took charge of conducting specialized user research with bereaved individuals, pilot and non-pilot sites, government departments, additional healthcare professionals, stakeholders, the National registration event, and at the Healthcare Design Innovation Studio. With the knowledge we gained from this research, my fellow designer and I started to come up with potential design ideas.
As-is Blueprinting
Our approach was collaborative and workshop-focused. We conducted an initial workshop to verify the vision for Alpha and gain a clear understanding of the existing service using blueprinting, a technique that ensures we gather all user needs and business requirements in one place through a visualisation of the service.
We also explored how the Medical Examiner Digitisation program could combine the "front stage" with the "backstage" by incorporating user research insights from your Discovery, technology recommendations, policy requirements, organisational constraints, and business goals. This helped us identify problems, opportunities, and potential solutions, which allowed us to make informed decisions about the best technical solution and meet user needs in Alpha.
Future Blueprint
Following the as-is blueprinting workshop, we held a future blueprinting workshop to begin prototyping. We developed wireflows and wireframes to document the critical user journeys for primary and secondary user groups. Through multiple rounds of testing and incorporating insights from data and interoperability workstreams, we progressed from low to mid to high-fidelity prototypes.
The result was a cohesive Minimum Viable Service, an Alpha data model, and a report outlining user needs for national and local system setups and additional user requirements. Additionally, we formulated a clear plan and cost model for the Beta phase.
Initial output
As part of our proposal, we created a preliminary service design that outlines the essential steps. This gave us a better grasp of the process and helped us develop our ideas further. Through an iterative approach, we learned from our mistakes and made improvements along the way. This resulted in a successful outcome for users and an Alpha-MVS that could be further developed in the Beta phase. During the Beta phase, we followed a similar cycle of design, testing, learning, and iterating to ensure that we continuously met the needs of our users as we worked towards the MVS.
User/Wire Flows
Sketches
“ The Medical Examiners programme has significantly improved the quality of care and transparency in patient outcomes. Its successful implementation has provided families with clearer communication and ensured a more compassionate process during challenging times.”
Spokesperson, Department of Health and Social Care
Conclusion
The successful development of this digital service has had a transformative impact on the Medical Examiner programme. It not only enhanced operational efficiency but also contributed to better public safety by ensuring more accurate and timely death certifications. This project demonstrates the importance of user-centred design and agile development in creating effective, scalable digital solutions for critical public services.