Client Story
Creation of MVP Description and Prototype
Creation of MVP Description and Prototype for Children with Permanent Condition Diagnoses
Overview
In collaboration with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications (MKM) and the Social Insurance Board (SKA), we launched a project to analyse the digitisation of data exchange. This project was focused on efficiently determining the needs of children diagnosed with permanent conditions and on the proactive offering of support services. Our analysis specifically targeted the user requirements and business processes involved in this digitisation initiative.
This project involved creating a description and prototype for a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) focused on assessing the needs of children diagnosed with permanent conditions. We conducted an analysis of the prerequisites for creating the MVP and proposed a development plan. Based on this analysis and prototype, it's now feasible to prepare for the MVP development tender.
Challenges Faced by Children with Permanent Condition Diagnoses
In the interviews conducted to map the situation, it emerged that parents often feel isolated. Concurrently, the support systems they must navigate are complex and fragmented across various institutions.
Furthermore, a significant issue highlighted in the user interviews is the ineffective communication between different stakeholders (public sector agencies, healthcare system, parents). In many cases, the exchange of information is either non-existent or inconsistent. As a result, parents currently bear the primary burden of communication. They frequently find themselves having to repeatedly explain their child's needs and challenges at every step of the journey or, in some cases, literally carrying paperwork between different institutions to share information.
Additionally, the problems in the flow of information not only burden parents but also other parties involved. There have been instances where doctors and officials lacked the essential information needed for critical decision-making, leading to an excessive expenditure of time and other resources in obtaining the necessary information.
Enhancing Proactive and Efficient Information Flow
To address these problems, we planned several changes to simplify and enhance information flow between parties, reduce administrative burdens for both parents and officials, increase satisfaction with state services, and decrease inefficiencies in systems:
Initiating Proactive Service Provision
Following a predetermined medical diagnosis indicating a need for assistance, services for the child will now be proactively offered.
In the context of our analysis project, proactive service encompasses the SKA's assessment of the child's activity limitations and the local government's (KOV) proactive assessment of the child's needs, offered to the parent or guardian.
Coordinator Role in Local Government Units
The local government child protection specialist acts as a coordinator in supporting the child's journey. They serve as an intermediary between the parent and the bureaucracy, and from them, a parent can receive necessary information and support.
Creation of a Parent's Dashboard
A parent's dashboard will be developed on the national portal eesti.ee, where parents can access comprehensive information about their child diagnosed with a permanent condition. This includes contact information for the local government coordinator, important deadlines, stages in assessing the child's needs and activity limitations, and other useful information.
Facilitating Quicker Information Exchange
Opportunities for sharing information between different systems will be expanded, including with SKAIS, STAR, and TIS systems, as well as the national portal, to enable and enhance essential information exchange.
Improving information exchange will, among other things, allow systems to automatically initiate multiple activities.
The project work was divided into two phases:
Mapping Data Exchange Preconditions and Analysing User Requirements and Business Processes:
- Mapping existing business processes
- Identifying and analysing user needs
- Charting future business processes
- Mapping needs for data movement as part of various processes and between different information systems
- Conducting a risk analysis
Analysing and Creating a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) Prototype and Developing a Plan:
- Agreeing upon and describing the scope of the MVP
- Creating a development plan for the MVP
- Prototyping various system and user perspectives
- Testing the prototype with users
- Describing development needs
- Analysing economic impacts
- Undertaking a legal analysis
Project Outcome:
At the conclusion of the project, we delivered a comprehensive analysis and prototype to the client. These will enable the preparation of the MVP development tender in the future.
The Prototype as a Crucial Tool for Validating Ideas:
As part of the project, we conducted user testing using the prototype views developed during the project. The prototype provided users with a clear visual understanding of what the future process would look like and the benefits they could derive from it.
User feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with particular praise for the idea of creating a parent's dashboard on the national portal. According to interviewees, this would significantly ease parents' lives by providing essential information and an overview of the entire process.
Impact and Future of the Project
By digitising the process of determining needs and offering support services, we have made a significant stride towards making the system more proactive, efficient, and user-friendly.
The successful completion of the project marks a crucial milestone in our efforts to enhance the quality of life for children diagnosed with permanent conditions and their families.
This project demonstrates how collaboration and the application of technological innovation can lead to tangible changes positively affecting the daily lives of children and their families. We are grateful to all partners and team members for their contributions and look forward to implementing the next stages of the project and witnessing their positive impact on our society.
"As the project manager for the Social Insurance Board, I can say we had a really good collaboration with Trinidad Wiseman on this project. The topic we analysed was wide-ranging and complex, but the Trinidad Wiseman team quickly got up to speed with the necessary background knowledge and worked out the important details. The material we gathered and analysed is thorough, and the analysis report has become a key resource for planning and starting new projects."
- Aika Kaukver, Team Leader, Needs Assessment Division, Social Insurance Board
