Blood Cancer UK's innovation framework - which can be viewed here
About the project
In 2018 I was given the responsibility and opportunity to establish an innovation function at Blood Cancer UK. Historically the organisation had made decisions about products based on internal discussions and mandates from senior figures at the organisation.
My objective was to embed and establish a culture of innovation at the organisation, based on the principals of user-centred design.
Building the framework
It was clear from speaking to stakeholders across the organisation that for innovation to become embedded, knowledge of how to innovate and how to develop user-centred products and services needed to exist outside my team.
I made the decision to build a framework and a series of tools, carefully curated to bring the best of design thinking into the context within which the charity sat. Expensive research techniques had to be possible on charity budgets and prototyping needed to be feasible without agency support.
What I developed was a step by step guide to innovation which was simple enough to be understood by anyone across the organisation.
The outcome
I am currently in the process of training all teams across the organisation to use the framework, having used it to successfully develop products and services to meet the needs of blood cancer patients. By the end of 2021, all products and services developed by the charity will follow the framework, ensuring the organisation is user-centred in it's approach to all new product opportunities.
