IBM / NHS
Client
NHS (via IBM)
Location
London, UK
Year
2026
Overview
I worked as a UX Designer at IBM on a 12-week project for the NHS App, alongside a business analyst, a clinical business analyst and a data analyst. Our developer dropped out just before we started, so I took on development too.
That changed how I designed. I used Figma only for notes and sketches. Everything else was built and iterated as live coded prototypes, using Copilot in Visual Studio.
The result is a digital patient ID card that lives in the NHS App and Apple Wallet. It leads with your NHS number and lets you choose what health information to share at reception.
The Problem
Checking in at most NHS receptions is verbal. You say your name, your date of birth and often why you're there, out loud, at a busy desk.
For a lot of people that doesn't work. Patients with English as a second language, deaf patients and anyone in a loud waiting room struggle to be understood. Others end up saying private health conditions in front of a room full of strangers.
It slows receptions down too. Longer check-ins mean slower patient turnaround and more frustration on both sides of the desk.
Key Insights
We spoke to 4 clinicians and the leader of a deaf charity, ran pop-up research and testing across 4 locations (around 70 responses), and reviewed public NHS research and data.
The NHS number is every patient's unique identifier, but few receptions ask for it because they know most people don't know theirs. So I made it the focal point of the card.
The deaf charity leader described how hard check-in is for deaf patients. That backed my idea of showing care needs as icons on the front of the card.
Carers, especially parents and people using the NHS App's proxy access for elderly relatives, wanted to hold cards for the people they look after.
In early testing, people couldn't find the card. I restructured the profile section to make it the most prominent element.
The Solution
Over 22 iterations, I designed the full card experience: card management, a card builder, dynamic card layouts and an Apple Wallet pass, which follows its own layout rules.
The front of the card shows the NHS number, name and date of birth. In the builder, patients choose what else to share, such as blood type, care needs, disabilities, conditions or medications. These appear as icons on the front and in words on the back, so a receptionist can read them without the patient saying anything.
I explored 12 card designs before settling on the final one. Accessibility shaped every decision. The NHS App serves everyone, and in healthcare a confusing design can cause real harm.
Our first idea was a QR code on the card. We dropped it. Receptions use too many different check-in systems, and putting scanners in every location wasn't affordable.
Impact & Results
The project ended as a high-fidelity coded prototype. It has been handed to another team to validate, build out the backend and integrate into the NHS App.
Most people we tested with said they'd value having the card on their phone and finally using their NHS number. The main reservation came from people who rarely use the NHS, who felt it wouldn't change much for them.
Three features I designed (a GP appointment pass, a prescription pass and proxy passes for carers) were held back from this release because they overlapped with other teams' work.
What I Learnt
I'd push harder for the experimental features. Proxy passes had strong support from carers in testing, but I didn't argue their case firmly enough with senior stakeholders, and they didn't make the release.
Losing our developer forced me to design in code. It meant pop-up testing used a working prototype instead of static screens, and I learnt to make design decisions inside real technical constraints.
With more time, I'd run dedicated testing on proxy passes, so the evidence is strong enough to get them into a future release.
