This collaboration between the Experience Labs and the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) aimed to identify routes by which the SNBTS User Experience could be enhanced by introducing new ways of interaction for its staff and blood donors.

A People-Centred Design Innovation approach was used to facilitate processes of co-enquiry and produce a proposed idea. The project involved three Labs with SNBTS staff during 2016, as well as design team synthesis sessions. Labs were designed around the design innovation process: problem identification; the development of user journeys; and prototyping practices; in order to define and develop elements of the desired user experience.

The starting point was the desire to improve the staff resource, known as “The Browser”, which is primarily used to determine a donor’s eligibility to donate. Working closely with the SNBTS Blood Donation Teams helped the Experience Lab team to identify key issues in the blood donation system; to create an in-depth understanding of the pain points; and to understand the different ways staff use the existing digital system, its shortcomings, and how it ties into other parts of the blood donation process and SNBTS. This process created the required thinking space to generate and develop new ideas and solutions towards the creation of a “Well-Connected Blood Donation Experience” and an enhanced donation model for staff and donors.

Consideration of the resulting design opportunities led to a development strategy that proposed the SNBTS tackle the identified issues on two fronts. Firstly, immediate alterations that could be made to the existing digital system to address issues raised by staff in the short term. Secondly, that the SNBTS could extend the Donor Portal under development to an integrated solution for staff and donors centred around three core concepts: Digital Donor ID, Interactive Maps and a Responsive DSR (Donor Session Record) to create a seamless donor and staff experience.