1. Service Design at Tyneside Mind
Using design to rethink mental health
HEI: Northumbria University
Course(s)/Research body: Doctoral Design Research
Programme
Main Partners: Tyneside Mind
Funders: Northumbria University PhD Studentship
Place: Gateshead and North Tyneside, North East England
Keywords: Third Sector, Public Services, Mental Health
Care, Design Intervention

2. Context:
Tyneside Mind is a local mental health and wellbeing charity that
offers services to support those affected by mental health living in
Tyneside. They are part of the national mental health charity,
Mind. The significant reductions in public sector spending, as well
as reductions in the funding available from trusts and foundations,
has affected the way that Tyneside Mind (TM) operates and the
services they are able to provide. Despite this considerable
reduction in capacity, they are trying to cope with a sizeable
increase in service demand that is directly linked to the financial
crisis. As well as addressing the challenges posed by the difficult
financial climate, TM also need to respond to new policy drivers
and offer innovative, person-centred services.
Challenge:
What mental health and wellbeing services should be provided in
North Tyneside? How should they be offered and delivered?

3. Project response:
The designer/researcher worked with actors in TM to support them
to use a service design approach to develop a suite of services for
a new geographical area. The designer guided staff in user-
centered research to uncover the needs and demands of clients in
this new area, as well as gaining an understanding of the value
and challenges in TM’s current wellbeing service provision.
Using creative tools, the designer was able to engage directly with
service users to enable them to contribute thoughts and opinions
without them feeling threatened by the idea of change. These
insights contributed directly to the development of the new
wellbeing service, as well as informing improvements to current
service offers across the region, and feeding into the strategic
direction for the organisation.

4. Actor profile: Tyneside Mind
Motivations for involvement: TM had received a short-term
contract from North Tyneside Council to deliver mental health
services. TM had no experience working in this region, and
wanted to develop a new service appropriate to this context, and
secure a longer contract. TM looked to Northumbria University to
provide both capacity and process to help them achieve this.
Contribution to the project: TM committed the time of all
stakeholders from front-line staff to board members to engage in
the process. They also contributed the resources necessary to
undertake the service development work.
Project outcomes: “The designer was a ‘friendly critic’
challenging attitudes that had become entrenched in the
organisation as well as consolidating the more positive aspects of
our approach to developing services. The legacy, in terms of its
subtle shift in organisational culture, has made us a stronger
charity and better equipped to face new challenges.” Stuart
Dexter, Chief Executive, Tyneside Mind

5. Actor profile: Northumbria University
Motivations for involvement: This project acted as a case study
in an ongoing doctoral study into the value of a design for service
approach to help voluntary organisations develop public services.
Contribution to the project: The doctoral candidate (also the
designer/researcher) was situated within the organisation full time
for an 8 week period to introduce, support the use of, and embed
(as much as possible) a service design approach.
Project outcomes: “The permission afforded to me by all at TM
meant that I was able to effectively support their team to develop a
new service, based on robust user research and service
prototyping. Their ongoing reflection on the value of the approach
has provided me with vital detail for my PhD study.” Laura
Warwick, Doctoral Candidate

6. Process:
The designer used an iterative and inclusive process, co-designing
as much of the service as possible with as many stakeholders as
possible.
The designer worked with
staff to design a
questionnaire, set of
personas and research
event to engage with
existing and potential
service users.
The designer helped staff
to collate all findings and
see patterns in the data.
The team then highlighted
the opportunities to focus
on going forward.
The designer helped the
team to generate ideas,
and develop their ideas
through visuals and
prototypes to result in one
strong proposal.
The designer supported
staff to test prototypes and
adjust the new service so it
was appropriate for a small
pilot with their current
clients.

7. Tools and Methods:
Individually designed tools were used in the research and
development stages including; customer journey mapping; design
workshops; personas. Particular care was taken to ensure research
tools were suitable for those with varying mental health needs, and
that tasks would not alarm or confuse any service users. A simple
visualisation style was used throughout the project to help
communicate complex ideas and systems. Paper prototyping and
desktop walkthroughs were used to understand how services would
work. The service was then piloted before rolling out across the
region. A service design toolkit was created for the organisation to
provide them with a resource to draw on and inspire them in the
future.

8. Design(ers) role:
The service design approach provided a rigorous process for TM to
understand client experiences, translate research into insights,
generate ideas to address these issues, and test elements of these
ideas. The designer/researcher acted as a facilitator throughout the
project, providing the guidance, support and encouragement for staff,
service users and volunteers to use service design tools to co-design
aspects of the new service and to improve internal processes. The
designer helped to challenge established perceptions about mental
health services and encourage stakeholders to think differently about
how their services could look and feel. Most importantly, the
designer/researcher challenged the belief that mental health services
could not be time-limited, and demonstrated how this could in fact
create dependency, thus helping the actors to see their services from
a new perspective which aided innovative thinking.

9. Project output and impact:
-Two coherent, successful funding applications, worth £451,760; the
most ever granted to the organisation.
- A new wellbeing service rolled out across the Tyneside region
- A new client-focused service development process
- A shift in organisational culture
- A commitment from Mind England and Wales to create an internal
Service Design resource within their national office and to pilot the
approach in three other local Mind organisations.

10. Learning outcomes:
Northumbria University: The case study has provided vital data
towards the on-going PhD study, and has been used in the
publication of two academic papers. The project has generated a
valuable partner in the department’s on-going research into the role
of design in different communities.
Tyneside Mind: The organisation now has the ability to recognise
where they have become entrenched in traditional patterns of
working and have adopted a user-centred process to challenge
established perceptions and develop desirable, effective services.
The work has also helped them to be recognised as an innovative
organisation by the Mind federation, and led to the federation
investing significantly in the use of service design across the network,
with Tyneside Mind being labelled a site of best practice.

11. The successes of the project: The developed service is more user-
centred, or client-focused on the progression of service users, which
is both better for their mental health and relieves capacity problems
for TM. The resulting development has been highly praised by the
Mind federation, who have subsequently committed significant funds
to promote service design across the Mind network.
The key shortcomings of the project: Although TM are committed
to using service design, they lack the capacity and skills within the
existing team to use this effectively all of the time.
The key barriers to the project: The short timescale meant that the
designer could only work with TM, and was unable to get key
partners to participate in the design approach. TM therefore had to
gain buy-in to the developed service from these partners without the
understanding that their participation would have brought.
The key enablers of the project: The attitude of all TM’s
stakeholders was integral to the success of this work; their
willingness to engage in a service design process, their desire and
commitment to change, and the permission granted to think and act
differently.