nbs proxy users post v3

app/posts/book-a-vaccination/2025/06/2025-06-30-proxy-users.md

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+--- 
+title: Enabling users to book for other people 
+date: 2025-06-30 
+--- 
+
+For the autumn/winter 2025 campaign, the team was asked to include flu vaccinations for 2 and 3 year olds.  
+
+The design of the National Booking Service (NBS) assumes that a citizen is booking an appointment for themselves.  It uses language that implies the user needs to enter their own details.  
+
+![screenshot showing a screen asking the user if they know their own NHS number](nhs-no-radio.png)   
+
+We know that in future we could be asked to add more user groups and journeys to NBS. So as part of considering how we might adapt the journey for infant flu vaccinations, we thought about how we could make it easier to expand the service over a longer period.  
+
+## What we did  
+
+We thought about adapting the journey to allow users to book for other people, such as:  
+
+- children
+- elderly relatives
+- people they have caring responsibilities for  
+
+We designed two potential options for enabling users to book for other people.  
+
+## Option 1 – agnostic content design  
+
+We re-designed the content throughout the NBS journey, to make it more agnostic of who was booking the appointment.  
+
+### Do you want to book with an NHS number screen
+
+![screenshot showing a screen asking the user if they want to book with an NHS number](agnostic-nhs-no-radio.png)  
+
+### NHS number entry screen
+
+![screenshot showing a screen asking the user to enter an NHS number](agnostic-nhs-no.png)  
+
+### Date of birth screen
+
+![screenshot showing a screen asking the user to enter a date of birth](agnostic-dob.png)  
+
+## Option 2 – filter page  
+
+Our second design option started with a page asking the user if they were booking for themselves or another person.  The journey would adapt based on their answer.  
+
+### Filter screen
+
+![screenshot showing a screen asking the user if they want to book for themselves or another person](proxy-filter.png)  
+
+If the user chose to book for another person, the following screens would ask for the information using language that indicated they should enter another person’s details.  
+
+### NHS number screen
+
+![screenshot showing a screen asking the user if they know someone else’s NHS number](filter-nhs-no-radio.png)  
+
+## Testing options 1 and 2 with users   
+
+Both options tested well, and users were able to book an appointment for another person without getting stuck.  It was clear to users that they were booking on behalf of someone else.  
+
+Most participants said when booking for another person, it could be difficult to remember who each appointment was for or whether they had entered the correct NHS number.  They suggested that showing the person’s name when booking would help them remember who they were booking for.  
+
+## Option 3 – collecting name at the start of the journey  
+
+Based on the feedback from the first round of testing, we created a design which collected the name of the person the appointment is for up front.  
+
+We did this by changing the order of the screens, so that the screen that asks who the appointment is for comes at the start of the journey.  
+
+### Name collection screen
+
+![screenshot showing a screen asking for the name of the person the appointment is for](name.png)  
+
+We then showed the name the user entered on the following screens, to make it clear who they were booking the appointment for.  
+
+### NHS number screen
+
+![screenshot showing a screen asking for the person’s NHS number](name-nhs-no.png)  
+
+### Appointment selection screen
+
+![screenshot showing a screen allowing appointment slot selection, displaying the name of the person the appointment is for](name-choose-slot.png)  
+
+We hypothesised that this design would help users remember who they were booking for.   
+
+We also thought this design would enhance clarity in joint bookings, as we’d be able to display names of people included in a joint booking, and which time slot was booked for which person.   
+
+This could help us meet our strategic goal of implementing group booking for up to 5 people, as it will allow us to make the group booking journey clear and simple for users.  
+
+## Findings  
+
+During user testing, all participants found these screens straightforward and entered the name and other details without hesitation.    
+
+All participants agreed that showing the name was reassuring and provided clarity when booking for another person.