Project created in partnership with Perfect Storm
CHOOSE PROJECT
Brief
Skills for Health planned to launch a new, unified rostering solution bringing together the long-established Doctors Rostering System (DRS) and the broader Realtime Rostering platform. Internally, DRS carried strong brand equity, while Realtime Rostering had lingering negative associations from an earlier release.
The team needed a complete renaming project to reset perceptions, future-proof the offer, and create clearer association with the Skills for Health brand.
The new name had to support future expansion into wider workforce planning, resonate with NHS stakeholders, and signal a modern, trusted alternative to dominant competitors such as Allocate.
Top challenges we overcame
Realtime Rostering carried negative associations, so we needed to reframe the product under a fresh name supported by Skills for Health’s trusted brand heritage.
CHALLENGE ONE
Legacy brand baggage
CHALLENGE TWO
Confusion between two existing products
Customers struggled to understand the relationship between DRS and Realtime, so we had to create a single naming strategy that unified both systems under one product identity.
Competitors dominated the conversation around compliance and safety, so we anchored the naming and messaging to Skills for Health’s sector authority and workforce mission.
CHALLENGE THREE
Need for strong NHS-specific credibility
The name had to stretch to other areas of workforce planning, so we developed naming routes that were intentionally broad, not tied to rostering alone.
CHALLENGE FOUR
Requirement for future scalability
CHALLENGE FIVE
Marketplace scepticism toward new rostering tools
Trusts were wary of switching from established systems like Allocate, so we built a narrative around trust, lived NHS experience, and product transparency rather than features.
Internal teams, developers, and Trust users all had different priorities, so we ran structured research and consultation to surface shared needs and guide decision-making.
CHALLENGE SIX
Diverse stakeholder expectations
Immersed Ourselves in the Product
We reviewed the full functionality roadmap across RT3, RT4, and RT5, examining how new features solved real-world pain points for roster managers, clinicians, and executives.
This included customisable contracts, improved UX, integrated roster flows, and interoperability with ESR, job planning and temporary staffing systems.
This helped us understand the product’s true value and its differentiation from competitors.Identified the Core Brand Challenge
DRS was respected; Realtime Rostering wasn’t. Yet both needed to merge under a single, clearer identity.
We articulated the tension: keep the credibility of DRS, lose the baggage of Realtime Rostering, and still future-proof the platform.
This became the strategic foundation for the rename.Analysed Competitors and Naming Conventions
We reviewed Allocate, RotaMap, Kronos/UKG, Clarity and SoftWorks to understand their naming styles, sector language, and brand positioning.
The health sector’s preference for functional descriptors, acronyms, and clarity over creativity became a key insight.
This gave us the guardrails for viable naming routes.Conducted Audience Research
We scoped a customer survey to validate perceptions of DRS and Realtime Rostering, test naming hypotheses, and understand what customers wanted a rostering tool to represent.
This research was crucial in avoiding assumptions, especially around the depth of negative associations with Realtime Rostering.Shaped Naming Routes and Messaging Territories
Using product insight and survey themes, we developed naming territories reflecting:
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Workforce development and future-readiness
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Compliance and safety
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Clarity and simplicity
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NHS language norms
We created names that could scale beyond rostering and set the direction for future product messaging focused on trust, people-centred design, and sector experience, not features.
Supported Market Testing and Decision-Making
We prepared options for customer and keyword testing to ensure the chosen name performed well from both a brand and visibility perspective.
The process included reviewing feedback, refining the shortlist, and advising on the strategic implications of each direction.Results
Skills for Health moved forward with a clear, research-backed naming direction that united their rostering systems under one credible, future-ready identity. The rename reset market perceptions, strengthened association with the Skills for Health brand, and laid the groundwork for a broader workforce-management platform.
The project also produced sharper product messaging — shifting from feature-led to narrative-led — positioning Skills for Health as a trusted partner that listens, understands, and designs with the NHS workforce at heart.
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Client's perspective.
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