Overview
Self-Book lets NHS clinicians send patients appointment invites so they can book a suitable time directly. The MVP saw strong uptake, but limited configuration made it difficult to scale. Patients could see all slots, even when clinically irrelevant, causing booking errors and extra admin for staff.
To support national rollout, I worked closely with engineers and stakeholders to design flexible configuration features like time windows, clinician selection, and session filters. These gave services control to reflect real workflows while guiding patients to suitable options. Delivered during a platform rebuild and aligned with a global redesign, this work enabled over 13 million bookings across 6,000+ NHS organisations by December 2024, with 82% patient satisfaction.
Limitations of the original setup
Self-Book’s MVP was widely adopted and clinically useful. But its limited configurability made it difficult to trust at scale. All appointment slots were shown to all patients, regardless of clinical relevance or session setup, which led to bookings that did not align with clinical needs, missed expectations, and unnecessary admin for clinicians.
— Clinician, GP practice
I was responsible for designing a more flexible and reliable configuration model as part of a wider product redesign. This meant aligning Self-Book with legacy platform constraints, collaborating across teams to propose scalable improvements, and delivering solutions that reduced errors without compromising usability.
My approach and methods
I implemented a process that gave design more influence, improved cross-functional alignment, and made our work more structured and scalable.
Uncovering the gaps
Uncovered structural gaps across clinician and patient flows
I partnered with our user researcher to uncover why clinicians found the product limiting and why organisations hesitated to adopt it. Through practice visits, journey mapping, and interviews, we surfaced key misalignments between how bookings were set up and what patients could see.
User research · Journey mapping · Problem framing
Shaping the direction
Defined goals early to reduce risk during platform rebuild
I ran early framing sessions and created a Design Document to align teams on key goals. To prioritise work, I used research insights and collaborated with engineers to understand platform constraints. These early decisions helped simplify the configuration model and guided us through a wider product redesign.
Design planning · Scope alignment · Technical collaboration
Crafting a scalable solution
Simplified complexity while aligning with product vision
I designed a configuration experience that was accessible, scalable, and suitable for real-world care settings. To manage complexity, I phased the work based on platform limitations and rollout risks. I collaborated with the clinical team to ensure designs aligned with frontline workflows, and ran workshops with the Executive team to align with Self-Book’s long-term roadmap.
UX & UI design · Accessibility · Design systems
From design to delivery
Turned complex configs into a buildable, scalable solution
I translated key decisions into detailed specs and edge case logic, collaborating with engineers to ensure feasibility. I also created a QA plan to catch issues early and worked closely with teams across the platform to maintain consistency. These efforts helped us safely scale Self-Book’s rollout without increasing friction for clinicians.
Design systems · Engineering handover · QA
Key improvements
To address MVP limitations and support wider adoption, I designed configurations that gave clinicians more control. This reduced booking errors and aligned availability with clinical workflows.
Control over who patients book with
I designed session and clinician filters that gave staff more control over which appointment types and clinicians were shown to patients. This removed unnecessary complexity, reduced manual sorting, and ensured patients only saw options relevant to their care.
Specific clinician configuration
Precision over when patients book
Each session type could now be configured with its own timeframes and slot rules. This allowed practices to manage demand more accurately, avoid overbooking, and ensure sensitive slots weren’t shown too early.
Impacting the wider product ecosystem
I collaborated on the global redesign by shaping layout patterns, interface flows, and reusable configuration components. I worked with the design system team to expand edge case coverage and improve interaction consistency. An example I proposed was showing when another clinician is viewing the same request, which proved to be a high-value feature that helped teams coordinate better, save time, and avoid errors.
New Self-book layout as part of global redesign
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