Safety
Urgent warning signs interrupt the routine flow and preserve access to human-led care.
ScotCare · University UX project
From “I don't know what to do” to “I understand what happens next.”
An evidence-informed care-navigation concept for people in Scotland, designed to reduce uncertainty before, during and after contact with human-led healthcare.
- Role
- Independent UX & Product Designer
- Course
- MA Digital Design & Innovation
- University
- Heriot-Watt University
- Year
- 2026
- Methods
- Evidence synthesis to prototype
- Status
- Academic concept
Care navigation, not diagnosis.
ScotCare helps a patient describe a concern, recognise when urgent help may be required, understand a suggested care route and stay supported while waiting, preparing and following up.
Clarity
The interface explains what it understood, why a route is suggested and what happens next.
Continuity
Waiting, preparation, follow-up and recovery remain part of the same journey.
Important: ScotCare is an independent academic concept. It is not an official NHS Scotland service, does not diagnose or prescribe, and has not been clinically validated.
The problem
Information exists. Confidence can still break.
When someone feels unwell, they may need to choose between a GP, community pharmacy, NHS 24, A&E, 999 or self-care. The challenge is not simply finding services; it is translating information into a confident, timely action while anxious or in pain.
Research questionHow might an AI-supported care-navigation service reduce uncertainty while maintaining safety and continuity before and after appointments?
Research approach
Evidence changed the proposition.
The project moved away from an unsafe “all-in-one NHS app” idea towards a constrained navigation and communication layer that preserves human clinical judgement.
Review
Published evidence on digital triage, safety-netting, patient communication and appointment preparation.
Synthesize
Recurring breakdowns became experience principles and explicit design requirements.
Model
Three provisional scenarios explored urgent, uncertain and lower-risk care situations.
Design
Journey maps, information architecture and low-to-high fidelity prototypes connected the service.
Evaluate
Scenario walkthroughs, heuristic checks, accessibility review and formative industry feedback.
Final experience
A connected journey from concern to follow-up.
Describe → Check → Clarify → Navigate → Wait → Prepare → Receive care → Continue.
Responsive behaviour
The priority stays stable as the layout expands.
Mobile remained the primary format. Tablet and desktop adapt the same content hierarchy through flexible containers and reusable components, while urgent and primary actions remain prominent.
Iteration
Safety changed the visual hierarchy.
An earlier home screen hid urgent options inside an expandable card. The revised design keeps 999, NHS 24 and A&E guidance directly visible, because reducing density was not worth adding friction before safety-critical information.
Critical reflection
A polished interface cannot prove a healthcare service is safe.
The project was evaluated through secondary research, scenario walkthroughs, heuristic and accessibility checks, plus limited formative industry feedback. It did not include patient or healthcare-professional recruitment, participant usability testing or clinical validation.
The responsible next step
- Ethically approved patient research
- Clinical-professional review
- Formal accessibility and safety assessment
- Incremental testing of navigation and appointment preparation
The academic work behind ScotCare.
The complete design project and critical report document the evidence, decisions, limitations and final prototype in depth.