Introducing our brand new 'Designing for HealthTech' video series

Healthcare technology is a rapidly growing industry worth $2 trillion worldwide. Using advanced analytics, artificial intelligence and cloud-based communication, digital tools and software are continuously being designed to better the efficiency and quality of our healthcare system. And in the last 12 months, this has reached a record peak.

Digitising the NHS was already a huge strategic focus before the pandemic; yet in the midst of 2020, we saw a surge of digital innovations being integrated in response to the outbreak. Solutions came forward to offer virtual primary care, enable remote collaborative working and reduce the risk of transmission within hospitals. However, whilst these platforms and services are primarily driven to improve patient care, less are purely dedicated to supporting our healthcare professionals.

Our aim has always been to better the lives of NHS workers; a user-centric philosophy which continues to remain front of mind whilst designing our platform of workforce solutions. Each of our products looks to transform shift work from a once dreadful experience to one that is kinder, inclusive and more fulfilling. By enabling more flexibility and control when it comes to finding temporary work, we empower users to pick up shifts when and where they want to, increasing engagement and retention within our healthcare system.

Designing for HealthTech — the Locum’s Nest way

We are therefore delighted to announce the launch of our brand new video series, ‘Designing for HealthTech’, which shares how Locum’s Nest is revolutionising design in healthcare technology today.

Design is a crucial element of healthtech that goes far beyond the look and feel of an app or platform. Hand in hand with functionality, it has a dramatic impact on an app’s overall usability and, done well, can result in an enjoyable, meaningful experience for the end user. This is clearly seen in the vast adoption of beautifully-designed consumer applications which influence brand loyalty, engagement and purchasing behaviours. Such leading apps have inspired many of our own user-facing features - after all, healthcare professionals are just as tech-savvy as the rest of us!

Our passion for design can be seen within the Locum’s Nest mobile app which is continuously developed to make our healthcare professionals’ lives easier. By recently introducing a series of microinteraction techniques we extended our users’ fingertips to create an interactive and tactile experience between hospital managers and healthcare workers. This helped the two groups work towards better protecting each other’s wellbeing through improved inclusivity in decision making and an enhanced sense of team working.

This functionality also facilitated effective communication during lockdown restrictions with the responsive development of Locum’s Nest Community, allowing at-home workers to rapidly and safely share crucial updates with the clinical workforce via news bulletins, surveys and videos. 

The decisions we’ve made at Locum’s Nest to keep design at the heart of what we do will be shared in each episode of the ‘Designing for HealthTech’ series. Starring our Co-Founder Dr Nicholas Andreou and Head of Design Jason Peart, we’ll explore the significant role of design in healthcare technology alongside how these two very different people came together to propel our multi-product platform.

With Jason’s background in creative design and Nicholas’ disciplined career in medicine, we couldn’t have brought together two lesser alike individuals. However, their opposing experiences have combined to create a platform that is unlike any other in the healthtech arena. Initially shocked at the clinical, cold feel of systems used in healthcare, Jason challenged the design of our mobile app to be empathic and enjoyable. His ‘sky’s the limit’ thinking has brought a unique sense of playfulness to our technology without compromising its key function: shift-booking.

Expect thoughtful topics throughout the series such as ‘Bringing Emotion to Healthcare Software’ and insights into the development of our multi-product suite with theory, practice and ideas on how to continue innovating in healthtech design. We’ll also discuss how Locum’s Nest got to where it is today and what the future holds for our leading platform, including an exclusive reveal of our latest feature.

We’re kicking off the series with our first episode, ‘The journey of a shift - small screens, big browsing experience’, which reveals the secrets behind our future-proofed solution to matching, booking and tracking shifts. Listeners will get to know our two hosts as they talk through the magic of Locum’s Nest’s iconic shift card and how we transformed the staggering volume of available shift data into a user-friendly, enjoyable process.