Emma Parnell

Service designer
Design For Joy

Emma Parnell has over 15 years experience as a designer. Emma has worked across both agency and inhouse with experience in public, private and third sector. During her time at NHS Digital Emma worked on the team that designed and delivered the COVID-19 vaccination booking service, working to ensure it worked for gender non-conforming users.

Emma founded Design for Joy in 2021. She works in partnership with organisations to co-design services that work for the people who use and deliver them. She is passionate about inclusion and works to ensure all the services she designs work for everyone. Emma is also a regular public speaker, mentor and writer.

• designforjoy.co.uk

Design meets medicine

In 2024 Videha, a doctor and Emma, a designer joined forces to demonstrate the power of design by using it to pilot a new genetic testing service across the NHS, while influencing policy and commissioning decisions. The key to the success of this work was the combination of a designer working with a medical professional.

As the NHS continues to come under increasing pressure, innovation is seen as a key enabler to drive efficiency, reduce costs and improve care. However, innovating under pressure, with minimal resources and competing priorities is challenging.

In this talk, Videha and Emma will illustrate how combining design skills with medical knowledge allowed them to navigate a complex system, uncover cultural barriers to progress and effectively implement a new national multi-organisational service. Their learnings will highlight strategic opportunities and practical tips for design leaders and practitioners, with a focus on system level transformation using design-led innovation.

Emma and Videha are speaking on day two, June 11th.

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