Taking a relational approach to co-designing the services that impact people's lives
What we do
We specialise in service design and co-design
Joy is a design agency. Our founder, Emma Parnell, has over 15 years experience as a designer working specifically in the charity sector, healthcare and Government.
We help organisations take a relational approach to designing the services they deliver, often drawing on co-design methodologies and approaches. At the heart of our work is the relationships we build with people with lived experience, working in partnership with them to improve the services they use.
Our practice also builds trust with, and compliments, the skillset of frontline service delivery staff. We recognise the depth of experience frontline staff bring to service design and delivery and compliment this with a flexible approach, tools and methods and a healthy dose of outside perspective.
“Emma is a joy to work with. She brings a deep expertise in service design and an enthusiasm for helping to make services better for the people who use them. She is communicative and thoughtful, and kept our projects on track throughout.”
— Joy Client
Who we work with
Organisations in the charity sector, healthcare and Government
We have worked with established charities like The Health Foundation, Drink Aware and Rape Crisis England and Wales to design improvements to existing services. We have also helped smaller not-for-profits like The Cancer Awareness Trust and Paws for Pause shape new services.
We have worked with Local Authorities including Newham, Essex and Surrey Country Council to design services for local residents.
Emma’s background is working within the NHS. We have worked alongside frontline healthcare professionals in hospitals across the UK to implement new services and redesign existing pathways through meaningful patient engagement.
Our Services
-
Design consultancy
We partner with organisations to offer a range of service design and co-design approaches that bring the people who use and deliver services into the heart of the design process.
-
Design advisory
We offer an advisory service to organisations that are looking for lighter touch support and guidance with service design or co-design.
-
Mentoring
Emma offers a paid mentoring service to people working in service design who need career advice, project support or a sounding board for a tricky problem.
NHS Genetic testing
With the publication of NICE guidance that stipulated stroke patients should receive a genetic test to inform their prescribing, the impetus was there to pilot a genetic testing service in high volume, acute care for the first time.
Rape Crisis
There are currently around 14,000 victims and survivors of sexual abuse on waiting lists that are in need of 1:1 counselling. This project worked to shine a light on this pressing issue while gathering best practice from Rape Crisis centres for how to manage waiting lists and co-designing ways to support people while they wait.