That was the first question I asked myself when considering the design journey I had ahead of me. You have to know the rules of the game to play the game which is why I decided to begin my research by discovering the anatomy of healthcare and the way in which our NHS is structured in particular. I created a very brief overview mind map of my initial findings.
Mind map of initial findings
I wanted to further explore the different contact points of care and what each classification included. Instantly this was useful as I was beginning to get a picture of the context of service access and the relationships between each service.
Healthcare Ecosystem
Turning my attentions briefly more digital, I was able to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the current technological infrastructure in the health service. It was particularly useful to learn the categorisation of ‘point of care applications’ and ‘patient facing applications’. Already I have questions about the interconnectedness between these two categories and if a stronger relationship could enhance the experience of service users.
Healthcare Tech Ecosystem
Graphic explaining the relationship between users and the tech ecosystem.