QMUL is developing a digital social prescribing platform MVP to help NHS link workers connect patients to local community arts organisations with better matching, accessibility insights, and collaborative decision-making tools.
As the service design consultant on this research-led project, I owned the MVP design end-to-end—ideating alongside a multidisciplinary team, designing the prototype, testing with 20+ NHS frontline workers, leading research-informed iterations, and delivering the service blueprint.
Delivered a validated, medium-fidelity 3-frame prototype and service blueprint, tested and approved across two co-creation workshops with 20 NHS link workers.
KindLink App: Empowering link workers with tailored referrals
Project Overview
KindLink is a digital social prescribing platform designed to bridge the gap between NHS link workers and local community art organisations across London. Social prescribing enables primary care professionals to refer patients to non-clinical, community-based activities to support their mental health and wellbeing. However, link workers frequently encounter friction when attempting to evaluate non-clinical venues—balancing strict clinical, safeguarding, and accessibility needs against individual patient preferences.
Operating within a condensed 50-hour sprint, I led the end-to-end service design, UI/UX logic, and research synthesis alongside a multidisciplinary team of academics and researchers (including a trained psychiatrist, a health economist, and a creative health researcher). By testing an early-stage prototype across two co-creation workshops with 20+ frontline link workers, we demystified the selection process and built a high-trust digital workflow. The resulting prototype eliminates search friction and facilitates a reassuring, collaborative "prescribing moment" between clinicians and anxious patients.
The Problem
Social prescribers navigate complex, messy realities daily. They balance clinical requirements (safeguarding, mobility, mental health history) against personal patient preferences (arts, crafts, social atmosphere).
Existing directory tools often result in hesitation and low referral rates. Link workers lack confidence in the suitability of local groups, whilst anxious patients are often reluctant to attend unfamiliar environments without knowing what to expect. The core challenge was to design a tool that builds clinical trust, simplifies search filtering, and enables a collaborative consultation moment without relying on complex, immediate integrations with live NHS electronic health record (EHR) databases.
The Solution: A 3-Frame Core Flow
To validate whether the platform served link workers' operational needs, I designed an early-stage, medium-fidelity prototype focused on three critical user frames:
The 3-frame flow guides link workers through a seamless, high-trust referral journey: starting with a lightweight Search Filter Screen that captures non-negotiable safety constraints and patient preferences without requiring direct database integration, moving to a Search Listing Results Page that uses smart criteria matching and sensory environment ratings for rapid evaluation, and culminating in an Organisation Profile View designed to be shared screen-to-screen with patients to make selecting a creative group a collaborative, anxiety-reducing decision.
Service Blueprint
To ensure the digital app mapped seamlessly to real-world healthcare workflows, I developed a Service Blueprint connecting the frontstage interaction between clinician and patient with the backstage operational needs of community arts providers.
Research & Testing Approach
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Multidisciplinary Collaboration: Partnered with a psychiatrist, health economist, and creative health researcher to structure two co-creation workshops with 20+ frontline NHS link workers.
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Usefulness Testing: Facilitated hybrid utility testing to evaluate whether the 3-frame flow satisfied clinical and administrative requirements in real-world practice.
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Silent Critique Methodology: Implemented a structured digital critique (via Padlet and Post-its) during testing to capture unbiased feedback across both remote and in-person participants, isolating key information gaps in the interface.
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Iterative Refinement: Synthesised research findings to restructure the information architecture, ensuring safety parameters were strictly prioritised without cluttering the UI.
Key Impact & Outcomes
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Validated Product Architecture: Delivered an end-to-end, user-tested prototype logic that aligns clinical rigor with community arts realities.
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Streamlined Decision-Making: Resolved search friction by replacing unstructured directory tags with smart criteria matching and sensory environment ratings.
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Human-Centred Consultation Flow: Transformed a rigid administrative referral task into a collaborative, visual experience that helps reassure anxious patients.
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Agile Sprint Delivery: Completed all qualitative research synthesis, interface prototyping, and service logic mapping within a tight 50-hour freelance sprint framework.
Project Metadata
Project Name: KindLink
Domain: Healthcare
Role: Consultant Service Designer
Team: Psychiatrist, Health Economist, Creative Health Researcher from Queen Mary University of London
Methods: Co-Design Workshops, Rapid Prototyping, Silent Critique, Service Blueprinting, Usefulness Testing
This project is ongoing.