We wanted to work with as many stakeholders as possible, to think through (together) the type of services needed to improve access to local information. People with long-term conditions, people with poor literacy skills, people working in the voluntary sector, NHS Scotland, Local Authorities, the Scottish Government, the information sector, representatives from NESTA, Patient Opinion, mental health programme and designers (from the Glasgow School of Art) all came together, worked hard, and created a wealth of material.
In February 2010 we held 3 workshops, one each in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Perth, involving 20-30/35 people each time. We designed these workshops as a series, each one building upon the previous events, rather than 3 the same. Yet we involved different people in each workshop rather than one group for all three. Somewhat to our surprise, people were prepared to work on ideas that others had made a start on, and to hand the product on the the next group.
We asked participants to think about the future and imagine what would help them live well with long-term conditions. How would they go about finding about about these things? Some amazing ideas were developed using innovative service-design techniques, from the light-bulb moment itself through personas to storyboards to service-blueprints. The process culminated in a 2-day Innovation Workshop back in Glasgow, when we asked a larger group of participants to take the blueprints to the level of a ‘business plan’, and also to test the working model of the ALISS Engine.
