TL;DR

We aimed to improve the booking experience for healthcare professionals and patients while also driving business value. I led the end-to-end design process, creating a streamlined and accessible experience. As a result, we received high praise for the product and it generated 23% of the ARR.

The context

The appointment booking process is cumbersome, involving many phone calls. The heavy manual process causes frustrations for both the practice and patients.

The company was also looking for a new solution to replace our COVID vaccination booking product. We had a contract with the NHS and it was up for renewal. However, the product could only be used for very limited use cases. So, we wanted to take this opportunity to create a better solution and bring more business value.

The goals

Our high-level goals were to:

Make appointment booking faster and easier for both practices and patients
The solution needs to be scalable for any type of appointment
Create an accessible patient booking experience

The impact

In September 2022, we nationally rolled out the final phase of the project in England. It has had a positive impact on both the practice's and patients' experiences.

Over 5 weeks, we have:

The stats of Batch face-to-face booking: 1,620 active practices, 5 million booking links sent, 750,000 patients booked.

Additionally, we observed a 57% success booking rate, which was still growing.

"It's a lot easier..it has streamlined how we book in. It has saved time… certainly helped us minimise how much we have to do in reception when patients can do it themselves"
— a Receptionist

“…it was quick and straightforward. I always look at technology and compare it to how my dad and mum would use it as they’re in their middle 70s…if they had to book appointments using this technology, I don’t think they would struggle"
— a patient

“It was all really good, I really liked it. It was really simple and easy to use because not everyone is computer literate so I think it was really easy to us”
— a Practice Manager

This product has also helped drive £6 million in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) over the past 2 years by establishing a prominent partnership with NHS England, contributing significantly to our overall success.

Under £4 million in the first year and up to £6 million in the next year.

My role

Led the design of the practice and patient experience.
The team consisted of a Product Manager, a Researcher and 5 Product Engineers

The project was divided into 3 phases and we launched the final phase launch of the product in September 2022.

The discover

User insights

Katie, the researcher, and I interviewed some participants who usually send out appointment invites. The goal was to gain a better understanding of the current flow, challenges and needs.

Depending on the practice capacity and setup, the process details can vary. However, in general, the process shared a simialr pattern.

2 practice staffs were participating in a research session.

Katie, the researcher, was leading a round of research. The participants were looking at a mockup on the screen. — Katie, the researcher, was leading a round of research.

Desire to initiate booking

Some practices attempted to allow patients to book appointments online. However, they caused more problems as patients could book an appointment anytime without going through triage. This meant that many appointments were wasted for minor issues.

Time-consuming decline process

If the invited patient chooses not to book the appointment, they must call the practice to decline the invite. However, the inconvenience often leads patients to ignore the invite. So the practice ended up wasting time on sending multiple invites or making phone calls to get patient responses.

Current product insights

We also looked into the old booking product and found that the users needed to repeat their work as the product wasn’t integrated with their medical system.

However, using a booking link to initiate the process allowed practices to have more control over who can book in. So we decided to reuse this approach and design a product that was not only flexible for more appointments but also integrated with the medical systems to reduce duplicate work.

The solution

Just invite and we do the rest

Our proposal was to allow practices to send out a booking link to eligible patients. Invited patients can choose a suitable time or decline the invite via the link. Once the booking/decline is confirmed, it will get registered in the medical system automatically.

The process

2 primary questions informed my design strategy:

How might we create a smooth experience under technical constraints?
How might we create an accessible patient experience?

Create a smooth experience under technical constraints

Since the product needed to work with the medical systems, there were a lot of technical requirements and limitations. So to address this, I collaborated with the engineers to understand all the requirements and dependencies. I also mapped out the technical and user flows so that I had a clear view of how things would function and identified any potential user cases.

I also ran a couple of design critiques with the team and wider stakeholders to get feedback and answer any questions to ensure everyone was on the same page.

A FigJam board that contains many post-it notes on the design of Batch face-to-face booking MVP. — All the post-it notes after the design crit session with stakeholders.

A screengrab of me posted a recap and the next steps on Slack after the session. — I like to post a Slack message after the session to share the recap and the next step with the team. Not only this does make sure that everyone is on the same page but also allow people who can't make the session to understand the outcome.

Accessible patient experience

While working on the patient booking flow, I made sure the design followed the One thing per page principle. This included clear headings so patients knew what each page was about and what to do.

5 screens of the patient flow. From left to right: Enter date of birth, Select a time of the day, Review the details, Loading screen and Confirmation. — Patient flow. From the left to right: Enter date of birth, Select a time of the day, Review the details, Loading screen and Confirmation.

I also mapped out all the different edge cases patients might encounter to make sure they get the right help when they need it.

A Figma file that I organised and mapped out all the designs for telephone booking flow. — I like to map out all the screens and put notes in the Figma file to explain the flows and behaviours.

When we put everything into action, I teamed up with the Frontend Engineer to ensure semantic markups and logical HTML structure. So that everyone, including those who need assistive devices, can use the product easily.

Animated loading screen

While the booking process is usually quick, sometimes it can still take up to more than 30 seconds. In order to make the waiting process less frustrating. I created a loading animation that:

reduces the perception of waiting time
explains why they need to wait
provides a pleasant user experience

The calendar animation on the loading screen.

Decline in 1 click

Practices can choose to allow patients to decline the invitation when it is sent out. Once this option is enabled, patients can complete the decline process through the invitation, and the decline will be registered in the medical system automatically.

The decline can be initiated through the text message invite.

Takeaways

The entire design process was highly collaborative and autonomous. The team, including myself, felt confident and clear about our goals and proud of the mission. Not only did we have a strong and supportive relationship among teammates, but we also became the top-performing team in the company.

I’m really proud of this work! It was definitely a great project to be a part of.

Next steps

The team is currently working on optimising the user experience based on feedback. Providing additional controls to practices and patients, including appointment management and clinician selection.

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