How choose a name for the weight management pilot (#301)

Written by Roz Strachan

Author: ralph-hawkins

app/personalised-prevention-platform/2025/11/naming-the-service/index.md

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+---
+title: Naming the service (for the pilot)
+description: "How we used a structured process to choose a name for the weight management pilot."
+date: 2025-11-24
+author: Roz Strachan
+---
+Before we could run a pilot, the team needed to agree on a service name that we could use in the prototype – and for things like printed materials.
+
+Even though the team is called ‘Weight management’, we knew the service couldn’t be called ’Weight management’ because:
+- it sets expectations that the service is like the weight management programmes it will be directing people to
+- the NHS Digital Weight Management Programme already exists
+
+Naming things can be hard and people often have a lot of opinions about what a good name should be. So we decided to follow a structured process to make sure any name we use:
+- communicates what we need it to
+- doesn’t conflict with what we want to be communicating
+
+More importantly, the name needs to help users:
+- find the service
+- understand what the service does
+- know the outcome they can achieve by using the service
+
+## Process
+
+Here’s the process we followed:
+1. Agree what we want to communicate (messages).
+2. Create a list of names that communicate those messages.
+3. Score the names as a team.
+4. Use the shortlisted names in context.
+
+Next, we’ll test the top‑scoring name with users.
+
+## Messages
+
+We agreed the messages we thought the name could communicate as a team (and ran them past senior leadership people).
+
+These were the messages we thought were most important:
+1. Users can use it to find activities to help them make healthy lifestyle changes.
+2. Users can use it to find activities to help them manage their weight.
+3. Users can use it to help them make lifestyle changes that last.
+4. Users will be supported throughout as they try to make healthy lifestyle changes.
+5. Users can use it to stop themselves from getting ill later on because of unhealthy habits.
+6. Users can see information that’s personalised for them.
+7. It is provided by the NHS.
+8. It’s a service that connects you to activities - it’s not the activity itself.
+9. It’s a name that still makes sense if the use case for the service goes beyond weight management.
+
+## Names
+
+Here are the names we had to choose from.
+
+### Possible names
+- NHS Help to stay healthy
+- NHS Personalised prevention platform
+- NHS Local connect
+- NHS Healthy habits
+- NHS Healthier habits
+- NHS Healthier me
+- NHS Stay well
+- NHS Lifestyle choices
+- NHS Healthier living
+- NHS Action for health
+- NHS Change up
+- NHS Help yourself to healthy
+- NHS Healthy weight choices
+- NHS Healthy weight activities
+- NHS weight connect
+
+### Discounted names
+
+#### Over‑promising
+- Better life
+
+#### Already exist
+- NHS LiveWell
+- NHS Weight management service
+- Better health
+- NHS Healthy Choices
+
+#### Too silly
+- MatBot
+- Help yo’ health
+- NHS do a thing to get healthier
+
+## Scoring
+
+When it came to scoring, each team member had their own Excel sheet where they scored the names against the messages.
+
+Each person scored each name:
+- 2 if it strongly conveyed the message
+- 1 if it partially conveyed the message or did not contradict the message
+- 0 if it contradicted the message or did not convey it at all
+
+## Results
+
+Here are the average scores the team gave each name.
+
+| Name                                 | Total |
+|--------------------------------------|------:|
+| NHS Help to stay healthy             | 14.7  |
+| NHS Healthier me                     | 13.1  |
+| NHS Healthier living                 | 12.4  |
+| NHS Healthy habits                   | 12.3  |
+| NHS Healthier habits                 | 12.2  |
+| NHS Help yourself to healthy         | 12.1  |
+| NHS Stay well                        | 11.0  |
+| NHS Lifestyle choices                | 10.6  |
+| NHS Healthy weight choices           |  9.3  |
+| NHS Healthy weight activities        |  9.2  |
+| NHS Action for health                |  8.7  |
+| NHS Personalised prevention platform |  8.2  |
+| NHS Weight connect                   |  7.7  |
+| NHS Local connect                    |  5.2  |
+| NHS Change up                        |  4.7  |
+
+The 4 highest‑scoring names were:
+- NHS Help to stay healthy
+- NHS Healthier me
+- NHS Healthier living
+- NHS Healthy habits
+
+## Using the names in context
+
+After the workshop we tried the 4 highest‑scoring names in contexts we were likely to use them, and discounted the ones that didn’t work so well.
+
+We discounted ‘Healthier me’, for example, because it will be awkward when we’re talking directly to users and saying ‘you’.
+
+When we dropped it in to some existing content, one sentence looked like this:
+
+‘NHS Healthier **me** can match **you** to services **we** think will best work for **you**.’
+
+## The name we’ll test with users
+
+The name we plan to put in front of users in the pilot is the top‑scoring name, which was ’NHS Help to stay healthy’.