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How the User Journey Became My Motivation
In 2010, I took my first role in healthcare, working for an NHS service that was aimed at improving access to health services. At the time, I didn’t realise that the frustrations of that role would become the catalyst for a career in product design. My impetus didn't come from a love of technical specifications; it came from seeing the holes in the system and wanting to champion the person on the other side of the screen.
From manual workarounds to digital solutions
Initially, I worked in a triage service where we reviewed GP referral letters to determine the most appropriate care pathway for each patient. They were almost always insufficient - usually just three lines of text from a doctor, with no accompanying blood tests or medical history. We would spend our days manually copying data from one system to another, trying to follow pathways that felt fundamentally broken.
Later, working for a similar service that focused on care planning, our nurses were tasked to signpost patients to appropriate support & services, much of which involved handing out stacks of paper leaflets and care plans. I watched as patients—some of whom were at risk of slipping through the cracks—inevitably lost that paperwork before they even got home. I kept thinking: "If only there were a place to record this electronically and share it."
When I joined Patients Know Best (PKB), I started in the Success Team, deploying the platform on the ground to services similar to those I had been managing, replacing the paper leaflets and plans with PKB. I quickly realised that the ‘look and feel’ of a system determines whether a clinician actually uses it or a patient actually understands it. I helped start PKB’s Product team because I wanted to solve the problems I had witnessed firsthand.
Scale through the National Front Door
Building at a national scale has been an incredible way to bridge those gaps for more people. In 2019, when I started leading our integration with NHS login and the NHS App, it wasn’t the ‘national front door’ it is today. Back then, it was a quiet project, and few realised it would eventually become the backbone of the government’s 10-year health strategy.
We were the first Personal Health Record (PHR) to integrate with NHS login in late 2019. At the time, it was a massive milestone because it effectively removed the ‘gatekeeper.’ Clinicians no longer had to manually verify a patient’s identity; for the first time, patients had the power to verify themselves.
When COVID-19 hit, that early work became vital. As usage of the NHS App surged, we were already in place to offer patients immediate, secure access to their records—from test results to care plans. Since then, I’ve led our involvement in NHS England’s Wayfinder Service as part of the first cohort of Personal Engagement Portals (PEPs) to implement the national programme.
It’s been exciting to see this initiative go live across the majority of our Trusts. Most recently, I've been leading the charge as PKB became the first to adapt these screens for Mental Health Trusts over the past year, ensuring the same seamless experience is available to all patients.
Putting the ‘real world’ into UX
My role as UX/UI Lead is to ensure the experience always makes sense from the user’s perspective. I have a strong creative drive — I care about the look, the feel, and the user’s journey — which I think stems from my first love, literature. While the back-end architecture is complex and vital, I’m focused on the narrative: how the story unfolds for the user, whether it flows coherently, and whether every element serves a clear purpose. If something feels out of place, confusing, or self-indulgent, I want to edit it out. For me, it’s about ensuring the final experience reads clearly, naturally, and truthfully.
When a developer or a clinician wants a specific feature, I’m the one who says: "In the real world, a patient will be confused by this," or "A clinician doesn't have time for that extra click." We focus heavily on the "sad paths"—the moments where the user doesn't follow the planned journey—to make sure the system is truly intuitive when people are stressed or in a rush.
Scaling through shared learning
Working with NHS England on this for the long haul has been a genuine exercise in sector-wide collaboration. While their teams and consultants naturally change over a multi-year project, the depth of their user research is invaluable. They have the capacity to perform deep community outreach—talking to patients in community centres where English isn't a first language—and they share those outcomes with us.
It’s a two-way street; we share our own user research, and they share theirs. This exchange has been highly productive, allowing us to swap practicalities and learnings not just with the centre, but with other suppliers and our respective customers. This level of collaboration supports and encourages innovation in a very practical space, making sure technology isn’t just ‘available,’ but truly accessible to everyone.
Speak up: Your experience is your power
For a long time, I felt like an imposter because I didn’t see myself as a “tech person.” But having worked inside a healthcare provider’s office and witnessed the pain points first-hand, I realised that I bring genuine expertise to the problem we’re solving.
Understanding the real-world challenges — how systems fail, where processes break down, and how it feels for staff and patients — is just as valuable as technical knowledge. That perspective matters.
Your frontline experience is your power. Use every opportunity to get exposure to different teams, learn the why behind the what, and never stop advocating for the person on the other side of the screen.
About the campaign
techUK’s TechTogether campaign continues with a focus on ‘equity by design'. Our insights this week focus on the importance of inclusive design in product development, creating technology that is accessible to people with disabilities, tackling affordability, connectivity, and digital skills gaps through cross-sector partnerships and community-led initiatives, and, ensuring public services are co-designed with disabled, ethnic, and older users.
TechTogether - Week 3
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