Technology should be created by those who use it. We’ve always been firm believers in the values of enabling the end-users to scratch their own itch and create software that they would love to use. To that end, we were asked by NHS Digital to craft an event where we can inspire allied health professionals to design and prototype an app that solves their daily work challenges.
Code4Health is an NHS initiative that enables the best use of digital tools and technology to deliver safe, high quality, efficient and compassionate care. At the App Brewery, our mission is to enable people from non-technical backgrounds to create and contribute to the technology sector. So we’ve worked with Code4Health on a number of projects to educate and inform health professionals to enable change in their daily work environments.
To start and set the scene, our founder, Dr. Angela Yu – an NHS doctor herself, illustrated some of the challenges she faced whilst working in the NHS. She described difficulties in inter-departmental communication and spoke about some possible technological solutions that could be implemented.
She then went on to update the audience on the frontiers of technology and how they can be applied to various fields including medicine. Showing the audience the current state of augmented/virtual reality, the blockchain, AI/machine learning and the internet of things.
The participants then went on to partake in a design sprint and worked together to innovate on some of the problems they faced on a daily basis whilst working in healthcare. Some incredible and practical ideas came out of the innovation session.
One of the groups thought of an intra-hospital communication app where the messaging data could be analysed and leveraged to improve service provisioning.
Another team wanted to create a tool that could bring specific disease sufferers together to form digital support groups that were matched by relevant health professionals.
The day culminated in the participants learning about digital product design. Including sessions on wireframing, creating user flow diagrams and prototyping. Every team created an animated digital prototype of their app idea and presented their creations to the group.
It’s incredible what can happen through the melding of minds. With the right knowledge and a few pointers, the attendees were able to innovate and design some astounding solutions that could out-compete the most well-established software companies.
About The App Brewery
The App Brewery is a leading tech education company. We enable people from non-technical backgrounds to quickly understand and get up to speed with the latest frontiers in technology. While we provide a whole range of bespoke corporate educational events, we also invest back into our community with our public courses on programming, design and digital marketing. Join one of our events today or contact us to find out more.