Sparck

Just imagine how you’d feel if a form told you your name was ‘invalid’ or ‘illegal’. 😡 In this 2-minute explainer June C. sets out how we can all take steps to make our services more inclusive by thinking about international naming conventions. #ContentDesign #design #inclusion

“There’s an app for that…” But should there be? In healthcare especially apps present risks as well as opportunities. 🩺 In the latest post on the Sparck blog Vania Pomares digs into the pros and cons of healthcare apps: “Digital technology has transformed industries across the board, with healthcare among the most profoundly affected. The intersection of medicine and technology, often called ‘MedTech’, has reshaped modern healthcare. Apps that run on our phone, tablets and computers are an example of MedTech that many of us are already using. They’ve been developed by both commercial tech companies and government institutions, and some of use a mix of private and public sector apps right now to manage our healthcare.” Read more here 🔗 https://lnkd.in/du-2k4YK [Image description: A smartphone running a healthcare app.] #ServiceDesign #healthcare #AppDesign

Our work in the private sector improves our work with the public sector – and vice versa. Every project is a learning experience and makes us stronger. 💪 For example, we have people working with the NHS who came directly from a project with a major airline. They brought with them to their new work in healthcare: • a delivery-focused mindset • insight into the nuts and bolts of booking processes • recent experience of persuasive copywriting Or, to put it another way, they injected a new kind of energy. Equally, we have people coming to their work with organisations in, say, banking, with experience of delivering services through UK government websites. They’re adept at advocating for service users, encouraging empathy, and supporting stakeholders to focus on the need of customers. Focus on their needs and you deliver a better experience. Deliver a better experience and you increase revenue, earn their loyalty, and turn them into advocates for your business. Again, new energy. This constant movement from sector to sector, industry to industry, subject to subject, is what gives our design and innovation consultants the edge. It keeps them sharp and gives you access to a diverse range of experience and expertise. To find out more about how Sparck and BJSS, working together, can help you get innovative products live, fast, talk to Max Earp or Terry Dixon. They can explain more about what we do, how we do it, and how it can help you get more stuff done and out there – helping people and/or making money! #innovation #design #technology

What will the NHS’s ambition to deliver the single patient record (SPR) mean for patients? 📂 That’s one of the questions Harriet de Wet and a group of healthcare experts from Sparck and BJSS tried to answer in a recent round table event. The discussion centred on: • how patients should use the SPR • how it might improve their care • the risks that come with giving patients access to their health data They concluded that, first, a unified record of diagnoses and treatments could stop patients from needing to repeat their story every time they access care. Secondly, for people with long-term conditions, it could mean: • moving through care settings without carrying physical notes  • confidence that their information is accurate, even in stressful situations  • feeling more in control of their health. Thirdly, it might start to create a single source of truth. Patients often assume their health records are already centralised so the lack of a unified record creates tension between patients and staff. Fourthly, the SPR could make care more efficient, especially for patients using multiple services.  From booking appointments to ordering prescriptions and viewing test results, a centralised system could save time and reduce administrative burden for patients. Finally, giving patients access to their data could empower them – but only if it’s provided in a clear, understandable, and actionable way. Unfiltered or poorly explained data can lead to confusion, or even harm, if patients misinterpret it without professional guidance. The challenge for the NHS is to ensure patient data is presented in a way that is clinically safe and usable, to improve the situation for patients while protecting their safety. Follow or connect with Harriet de Wet for more insight from the round table. [Image description: A file folder being opened.] #healthcare #NHS #ServiceDesign

Customer experience (CX) is about the emotional reaction people have to your product or service. That sometimes means we have to add a little personality, some brand voice, to the content. But how much is too much? And when is the right time? #CustomerExperience #CX #ContentDesign

Medical devices are heavily regulated – and the definition of what counts as a medical device might be broader than you realise. 🩺 In this 2-minute explainer Oliver Sutcliffe sets out some of the key facts *and* some of the particular challenges of designing medical devices. #design #ServiceDesign #UserResearch

Heads up: not everyone has a name that fits neatly into the fields on your form. In fact, naming conventions around the world are wonderfully varied and complex. 🌏 In the latest post on the Sparck blog content designer June C. explains: • some global naming conventions you might not know • how getting this wrong can exclude people from your service • how to make name fields inclusive Read it here 🔗 https://lnkd.in/e7_jzneG [Image description: A name tag.] #ContentDesign #design #ServiceDesign

Organisations struggle in times of change but futures thinking equips leaders with tools to navigate volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) contexts more effectively. 💡 It can be all too easy for leaders to: • hope things settle down and return to ‘normal’ • look away from the problem • stay in the relative comfort zone of short-term issues But smart organisations don’t do this. They accept that change is happening and look it dead in the eye. Leaders in these organisations give themselves the edge through futures thinking practices such as horizon scanning and scenario planning. It’s not about predicting the future but understanding a range of possible futures – and embracing that ambiguity to gain a strategic advantage. Once you understand all the futures there could be, you can choose those you’d like to see realised and work towards them. You can take control. To find out more about futures thinking talk to Lauren Fridlington or Matthew Mullan. They’ll be happy to chat, and to find low-cost, low-commitment ways for you to explore the possibilities of futures thinking. You can also get our free futures thinking eBook here Discover our eBook here 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eiF9dwyx [Image description: Branching arrows representing possible futures.] #FuturesThinking #strategy #planning

2025 might seem a while away, but we've been busy pulling together an awesome line-up of speakers and workshops for Service Designers Connect next year! Kicking things off in January is Amy Lynch from the Bank of England who'll share her ‘AI capability design pack’, a framework to help identify and assess opportunities where #AI can make a real difference. Whether you're new to AI or have been dabbling for a while, this talk will help you discover where AI can truly enhance customer journeys, as well as reveal unexpected areas for improvement. 🍕 Plus, it's in real life so they'll be plenty of time for drinks, pizza, and creative conversations! More coming soon about our speakers for March 20th and May 15th but stick the dates in your calendar! Nottingham Trent University BJSS Sparck https://lnkd.in/emKtfdyt

The NHS Single Patient Record is now firmly on the agenda – but what is it, and why does it have our user-centred design community buzzing? 🐝 The NHS Single Patient Record (SPR) is a project by NHS England to create a unified health record for each patient. This means gathering all patient data in one place to provide a complete picture of each person’s health journey from birth to end of life. This interoperability will help clinicians access real-time information, no matter where patients are treated. From a UCD perspective, this is both exciting, and challenging. On the one hand, we know that patients feel frustrated at having to repeat their stories multiple times in their healthcare journey, from setting to setting, from NHS trust to NHS trust. And they’re often surprised when clinicians don’t have access to key information from earlier conversations. So, there’s a strong set of user needs, and pain points, to put at the centre of this work. The challenge is around data. People are anxious about sharing data too widely. And the more widely data is shared across different systems, the greater care we have to take in safeguarding it. To learn more about this follow or connect with Harriet de Wet. She’s been exploring the implications of this policy with the community of healthcare experts at Sparck/BJSS in recent weeks, and is sharing bite-sized insights one post at a time. [Image description: A folder full of patient data.] #healthcare #NHS #design