NHS.UK / SEARCH FEATURE & COMMON COMPONENTS REDESIGN
NHS.UK is one of the most visited health websites in the world, serving millions of users with critical information daily. However, its search functionality and common components lacked scalability and usability, making it harder for users to find trusted health information. The challenge was to design a robust, scalable, and user-focused solution, giving the NHS full control of its technology and ensuring consistency across the site.
(Service design & Design lead)
Approach
Worked directly with the NHS.UK stakeholders to capture business and user needs.
Collaborated across multi-team environments to align requirements, technology, and design.
Conducted mapping activities, including user journeys, flows, and service blueprints, to uncover pain points.
Facilitated internal and user workshops to co-create and validate improvements.
Performed data and quantitative analysis (search queries, user behaviour metrics, site analytics) to uncover patterns and measure performance.
Designed and delivered a new internal search solution, removing reliance on third-party providers.
Defined a roadmap for implementation to ensure scalability and future evolution.
Impact
Successful migration to a fully internal solution (greater NHS control and independence).
Significant improvements in the findability of health information on NHS.UK.
Creation of a consistent, reusable set of components across the NHS site.
Increased efficiency for NHS teams managing daily website operations.
Key activities
Stakeholder Engagement: Ongoing collaboration with NHS.UK product and content teams. Prioritised requirements and technical specifications.
Mapping & Research: User journey mapping, flow analysis, and service blueprinting. Documentation of current vs. future search experience.
Workshops & Co-Creation: Facilitated sessions with internal teams and NHS users. Co-created design solutions for common components.
UX & Design Delivery: Designed a scalable search feature and improved UI patterns.
Roadmap & Implementation: Supported the migration from third-party to an internal NHS-owned system. Implementation roadmap ensuring full NHS control.
Reflection
This project reinforced the importance of ownership and scalability in digital health platforms. By combining user-centred design, robust service mapping, and co-creation, NHS.UK gained not only a better search experience for users but also long-term control and consistency across its digital ecosystem.