Scaling Booking Tools for Clinicians and Patients

Scaling Booking Tools for Clinicians and Patients

Scaling Booking Tools for Clinicians and Patients

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.

Date

Date

Date

2023 - 2024

2023 - 2024

2023 - 2024

Company

Company

Company

Accurx

Accurx

Accurx

Platform

Platform

Platform

Responsive web, Desktop app

Responsive web, Desktop app

Responsive web, Desktop app

Team

Team

Team

Cross-functional team (Design, Research, Product, Engineering)

Cross-functional team (Design, Research, Product, Engineering)

Cross-functional team (Design, Research, Product, Engineering)

End-to-end experience with new configurations

Clinician-driven booking flows, end to end

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.

“Patients pick the wrong slots, and we waste time sorting it — It delays care.”

“Patients pick the wrong slots, and we waste time sorting it — It delays care.”

— 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.

  1. Uncovering the gaps

Uncovered structural gaps across clinician and patient flows by partnering with a user researcher to identify adoption barriers. Through visits, interviews, and journey mapping, we revealed key misalignments between booking setup and patient visibility.

User research · Journey mapping · Problem framing

Self-book before redesign

Configuration logic shared with engineering

  1. Shaping the direction

Defined goals early to reduce risk during platform rebuild by leading framing sessions and creating a Design Document. Aligned teams on priorities using research insights and technical constraints, which simplified the configuration model and supported the wider redesign.

Planning · Scoping · Tech collab

  1. Crafting a scalable solution

Explored possible solutions that balanced accessibility, scale, and clinical needs. To manage complexity, I phased delivery around platform constraints and rollout risks. I collaborated with clinicians to reflect frontline workflows and aligned with leadership on Self-Book’s roadmap.

UX & UI design · Accessibility · Design systems

Example of design explorations

Example of documentation for an edge case

  1. From design to delivery

Translated key decisions into detailed specs and edge case logic, working with engineers to ensure feasibility. I created a QA plan to catch issues early and collaborated across teams to maintain consistency. These efforts helped scale Self-Book without adding friction for clinicians.

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.

Giving clinicians control over booking visibility

I designed filters and configuration rules that gave staff precise control over which clinicians and timeframes were shown to patients. I also defined the logic for how these settings interact, ensuring the right combinations surfaced without creating conflicts. This reduced manual sorting, avoided overbooking, and ensured patients only saw options relevant to their care and timing needs.

Customisable timeframes configuration

Allowing clinicians to configure timeframes

Specific clinician configuration

Example of Filtered dropdown logic

Allowing clinicians to configure timeframes

Impacting the wider product ecosystem

I collaborated on layout patterns, flows, and components in the global redesign, working with the design system team and engineers to improve consistency and update Storybook. I also proposed showing when another clinician is viewing the same request to support coordination and reduce errors.

New Self-book layout as part of global redesign

The impact

🚀 Wider adoption and impact

By December 2024, Self-Book supported 6,000+ NHS organisations, enabling 13 million booking invitations and 300K weekly invites.

💬 Clinician feedback

highlighted reduced manual work, better control, and smoother experiences for staff and patients.

🧩 With new controls

like custom timeframes and session filters, clinicians gained flexibility and accuracy.

🙋‍♀️ Patients could book

appointments more easily, improving access, reducing confusion, and boosting 82% satisfaction.

The impact

💬 Clinician feedback
🚀 Scale and adoption

highlighted reduced manual work, better control, and smoother experiences for staff and patients.

Self-Book’s new configurations supported over 6,000 NHS organisations, powering 13 million bookings and 300,000 weekly invitations.

💬 Clinician feedback

highlighted reduced manual work, better control, and smoother experiences for staff and patients.

🧩 With new controls

like custom timeframes and session filters, clinicians gained flexibility and accuracy.

🙋‍♀️ Patients could book

appointments more easily, improving access, reducing confusion, and boosting 82% satisfaction.

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Let’s build something impactful!

I’m always excited to collaborate on innovative and exciting projects! 😊

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Let’s build something impactful!

I’m always excited to collaborate on innovative and exciting projects! 😊

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Copied

Let’s build something impactful!

I’m always excited to collaborate on innovative and exciting projects! 😊

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Copied

uxd.lena・©2025

uxd.lena・©2025

uxd.lena・©2025