Microinteractions: bridging the gap between NHS teams

In the early stages of the pandemic, we set ourselves a goal: to give exhausted healthcare professionals flexibility, an improved work life balance and enhanced autonomy through our leading mobile app. The Locum’s Nest Match platform was in full swing. But we wanted to go one step further, providing user-friendly technology that builds a sense of community and better connects NHS teams.

This is the topic of discussion in the third episode of our video series ‘Designing for HealthTech’. Our Co-Founder, Dr Nicholas Andreou, and Head of Design, Jason Peart, met to share how, through a series of microinteractions, the Locum’s Nest app has not only heightened engagement between frontline users and management, but has improved the overall wellbeing of our NHS people.

Small actions, big impact

Microinteractions are a series of small, reactive features that embellish a product’s offering and further engage the user by appealing to their emotional response. They are often so commonplace you likely don’t even realise they’re happening.

For example, when you like a tweet on Twitter, a miniature animation sees the heart pulse both visually and as a tactile vibration through your smartphone (rather than immediately turning red). This very simple embellishment doesn’t offer anything practical for the user. But, what it does do is draw their attention to how the platform wants them to behave whilst making the experience extra special.

“You’re almost rewarded for finding the hidden actions: the idea of swiping to reveal more options, a share function, a like function; these things reward the user.” — Jason Peart, Head of Design

Microinteractions are commonly used in social media but the concept is still relatively new, particularly in environments such as healthcare technology. 

At the start of the pandemic, we saw an opportunity to generate these same emotional responses through various digital touchpoints that would simultaneously enhance the interaction between hospital management and frontline teams. In doing so, a series of new features were developed, each prompting a new exciting microinteraction that is now found on the Locum’s Nest app.

Follow the heart

Healthcare professionals are constantly on the go. Like all apps, ours requires taking a stationary moment to view and book shifts, however we wanted to give doctors the ability to dip in and out; to save a shift and come back to it later. 

A basic wishlist was created. But we didn’t stop there! Our overall mission is to fill as many shifts as possible within the NHS. And therefore we needed to make sure doctors returned to the app to take action. 

Now, when users ‘heart’ a shift they like the look of, they are immediately rewarded with information telling them if others are interested in it too. This increases the incentive to go back and apply for the shift, providing an endorphin rush if they’re successful. This microinteraction has consequently seen a rise in shift fill rates throughout NHS Trusts.

Swipe n’ share

Sharing shifts was always a fundamental feature of the Locum’s Nest app. But we wanted to go even further. With our newest feature, users can swipe, press to share and be taken to an in-app chat group with other colleagues prior to the shift’s start time. 

This microinteraction promotes two functions. Rota coordinators, managers and teammates can share suitable shifts with one or more colleagues looking for work. Whilst the virtual chat room enables pre-shift interaction and better teamwork by allowing users to get to know each other first.

“Our goal was to improve the wellbeing of healthcare professionals - so how do you do that? You bring the management team closer to the frontline workers so that they can understand each other, they can empathise with each other better and show each other that they care.” — Dr Nicholas Andreou, Co-Founder

Pre-match

Too many times we’ve seen people be assigned shifts that they don’t want, or without even being told. This has a direct impact on a doctor’s work life balance and can lead to resentment and low retention rates. Our ‘Pre-match’ feature solves this issue, allowing hospital rota managers to fast-track trusted doctors to a shift - but only if they want it.

Rota coordinators often have personal relationships with doctors, knowing when they’re free, when they’re away and what shifts they prefer. By using our ‘swipe n’ share’ feature, these users can send shifts to doctors who then receive a notification in a chat group. By asking if they want to accept it, it places the power back in the doctor’s hands and grants freedom of choice - essential to supporting their autonomy and wellbeing. 

Community

In addition to our core functionality, we have blended the experience of browsing and booking a shift with organisational-wide communications. Hospital CEOs can now directly share updates with users in the form of bulletins, surveys and newsreels. 

“If you’re a CEO, an HR Director or Medical Director and you truly really want to speak to your frontline professionals and gather their feedback, their thoughts or understand anything that concerns them, then you need to think about how you’re going to do this and reach them properly.” — Dr Nicholas Andreou

Each story shows up as a collapsed banner in-between shifts, before opening up to reveal a blurb and image, and then the full article or survey when clicked. These simple interactions reach the wider workforce, giving them the tools they need to be included in decision making whilst not overloading their inboxes with endless forms that often get ignored.

“We start with a seed of information. Then if you want to know more you get the sapling. And then for more, you get the tree. But each step is only if you want to.” — Jason Peart

This microinteraction allows us to provide even more services to healthcare professionals; the latest of which is our partnership with Nourish, a mental health app for parents. 

“Imagine if you’re a parent and a doctor; you work night shifts and weekends, and have toddlers in the house - it can’t be more stressful than that! Being able to give users free help from the best in class services is crucial to supporting their wellbeing.” — Dr Nicholas Andreou

Watch the full episode, "Microinteractions - bridging the gap between NHS teams" to learn more about how these small digital touchpoints have a big impact on our end user.

And if you’d like to find out how Locum’s Nest can help support your healthcare professionals’ wellbeing even further, please get in touch with our co-founder, Dr Ahmed Shahrabani, at ahmed@locumsnest.co.uk or contact the team here.