In 2020, I worked alongside the NHS through the Coronavirus Pandemic, to build out a software platform to minimise the spread of the virus. Test kits had been developed and would enable people to self test, however these kits needed to be accessed quickly and without having to leave the house. I worked alongside the in-house NHS development team to build a platform where these kits could be delivered to the public.

The NHS has very specific style guidelines, meaning my role was purely to develop out the platform and not design the look of the site. User journeys had been created by the NHS development team, consisting of the flow of questions users would need to answer, to determine how best to be treated. Standard web protocols were used to build the foundations of the site, alongside using an in-house NHS frontend framework to build out the pages and user interactions. Due to the nature of the pandemic, the guidelines, best practices and solutions were ever-changing, resulting in a constant need for making sure the site matched the new research. This meant the user journeys were being changed and tested daily, to optimise the process and ensure users were being asked the right questions. This was fantastic experience, as it taught me to build out platforms quickly on tight deadlines and grew my confidence in my own abilities.

Over the course of my time on this project I continued to develop and restructure the site. Starting off purely as a way to order test kits to later becoming a central hub for COVID precautions, allowing you to get treatment and book vaccine appointments. I feel great privilege to have worked on and developed a site that was needed by so many, and that was such an integral part of controlling the pandemic.