System C · Regulated products
Meet the standard. Protect the service.
Using customer discovery to shape a national standards release without destabilising established workflows.
01 / problem
The problem to solve
A national reporting standard had to be introduced into an established, multi-customer PAS (Patient Administration System) without destabilising the workflows NHS services already depended on. The specification defined what had to change, but not every operational consequence for users, existing data or customers moving at different speeds.
02 / decision
The decision
I treated the national standard as a non-negotiable constraint, but not as a complete product requirement. Before committing to implementation choices, I tested its meaning against real customer workflows and made the transition implications visible.
03 / approach
How I approached it
I worked with customers and delivery colleagues to understand where the specification met operational reality and where product judgement was still required. Customer evidence changed the implementation, including distinct handling of Gender at Birth and Stated Gender. We also retained a transition path from v6.2 so trusts could adopt the new standard without unnecessary disruption.
04 / outcome
What changed
CDS v6.3 was completed after roughly ten months and 6,000 person-hours of team effort. The shared product met the national reporting change while retaining a practical transition path for existing customers rather than forcing every trust through the change in the same way at the same time.
05 / What I take forward
What I take forward
Regulatory delivery still needs product judgement: understand the user impact, make transition choices explicit and protect the sustainability of the shared product.
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