What projects have you worked on that have had the biggest impact/been the most impactful?
I was part of a fantastic project with the NHS Innovation Lab where we investigated whether voice assistants like Alexa and Siri should be used to provide NHS services. I remember speaking with a woman who had a brain tumour that affected her mobility. She couldn’t use a laptop or mobile phone, but all she wanted to do was research her condition to understand it better herself, and her only choice was her Alexa.
We also spoke to a man who was partially sighted and hard of hearing. Whenever he received a letter from the NHS, he relied on his granddaughter to come to his house and read it to him, and call up whichever service he needed to contact. However, he could turn up the volume on his Alexa and communicate with it perfectly well, and if he could use that, it would give him the freedom and independence to manage his own healthcare needs. It was so impactful to see how a simple tool like Alexa could have a massive impact on people’s entire worlds, especially when they were in difficult health situations.
After our discovery, we made a prototype that allowed people to order their prescriptions by voice, and then observed people try to use it. This was so revealing. Many were attempting to order life-saving medication, and if the voice assistant didn’t understand what they were saying, their frustration and anxiety were multiplied. This was particularly true if it couldn’t understand their accent or if they had a speech impediment. Witnessing this firsthand emphasised how important it is to listen to people from diverse backgrounds and needs, and including them throughout the design process. It’s a principle that I advocate and strive for in every single project I’m involved in. I’ve seen the immense value it brings and how, if you don’t, services you design can so easily exclude people both from using your products and from society. (If you want to read more I’d really recommend ‘Mismatch’ by Kat Holmes.)
