All photos are from: vigor.no
Vigør
Category
⇾ Health & Wellness
Work
⇾ UX & Experiential Design
Agency
⇾ Magy Media
Vigør is a national rehabilitation centre specializing in musculoskeletal, neurological, and work-oriented care. The previous identity no longer reflected the centre’s expanded services or provided clear, accessible guidance for patients, visitors, and staff.
Read more:
Problem & Opportunity
Problem:
- Disconnected touchpoints across physical, print, and digital environments.
- Users experienced confusion and stress navigating the centre.
Opportunity:
Establish a unified identity and environmental system to guide users and create a professional, approachable, and accessible experience.
Role & Goal
Role:
- Led UX strategy, user journeys, and touchpoint design.
- Developed visual and UI systems for a cohesive, intuitive experience.
- Designed signage, print, and digital interfaces.
Goal:
Deliver a user-focused identity and digital experience that improves navigation, supports staff and visitors, and strengthens trust.
Process
Research & Definition
- Feedback Analysis: Collected patient and staff insights to identify key pain points across the care experience.
- Personas & Journeys: Created personas representing core user groups and mapped their journeys to reveal stress points and decision moments.
- Environmental Audit: Evaluated hierarchy, legibility, naming clarity, and spatial flow to uncover usability issues and inconsistencies.
Ideation & Iteration
- Prototyping: Developed signage, print, and digital mockups informed by research findings to support clearer wayfinding.
- Stakeholder Collaboration: Tested early solutions with patients, staff, and operational teams to refine hierarchy, naming conventions, and layout logic.
- Refinement: Adjusted contrast, wording, and spatial organization to enhance comprehension and reduce cognitive load.
Testing & Validation
- Usability Testing: Conducted on-site and remote testing sessions to confirm that signage, naming, and layout were intuitive and easy to follow.
- Accessibility Review: Ensured solutions supported diverse needs, including visual accessibility, language clarity, and cognitive load reduction.
- Real-World Validation: Observed users navigating environments with prototypes to verify clarity, identify breakdowns, and validate wayfinding effectiveness.
Challenges & Learnings
- Designing for Emotional and Functional Needs: Balanced functional clarity with an environment that feels supportive and reduces stress.
- Simplifying Navigation: Reduced cognitive load in complex, unfamiliar spaces through clearer naming, hierarchy, and spatial cues.
- Early Validation: Tested assumptions early to prevent misalignment and ensure cross-team alignment.
- System Consistency: Built a modular system that could be applied consistently across teams and communication touchpoints.
Research & Insights
Primary Users
- Patients (50–75): Navigate the centre for rehabilitation; need clear instructions and a reassuring experience.
- Visitors/Relatives (25–60): Support patients and require intuitive wayfinding and approachable communication.
- Staff & Therapists (30–55): Manage multiple patients and administrative tasks; rely on consistent tools and signage.
Pain Points
- Difficulty navigating long corridors and multiple treatment zones.
- Inconsistent signage, print, and digital materials causing confusion.
- Sterile brand identity and messaging reducing engagement.
- Previous name was long and hard to remember for non-Norwegian users.
Insights
- Consistent hierarchy and touchpoints help users orient themselves.
- Thoughtful design (colour, typography, motifs) fosters calm and reassurance.
- A unified identity communicates professionalism, trust, and approachability.
- Branding elements, like the ripple motif, reinforce collaboration and guidance.
Understanding the Users: Personas
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Maria (Patient)
Age: 62
Background: Retired teacher, undergoing long-term musculoskeletal rehabilitation.
Abilities: Reduced mobility, occasional cognitive fatigue.
Goals: Navigate the centre easily; understand schedules and instructions; feel calm and reassured.
Pain Points: Overwhelmed by cluttered signage; difficulty reading small or low-contrast text; discomfort when information feels unclear.
Needs: Clear, high-contrast info; consistent visual cues; warm, accessible tone.
👨⚕️
Jonas (Staff Member)
Age: 35
Background: Physiotherapist supporting multiple patients daily.
Abilities: Experienced, but multitasking constantly.
Goals: Communicate instructions efficiently; provide positive patient experience; use materials reflecting professionalism.
Pain Points: Inconsistent printed materials; outdated forms; visual identity doesn’t reflect quality of care.
Needs: Clear templates for print/digital; intuitive signs and labels; unified, credible visual identity.
🧑
Elin (Visitor/Relative)
Age: 28
Background: First-time visitor supporting her father.
Abilities: Tech comfortable, unfamiliar with facility layout.
Goals: Find the right room; understand her father’s experience; feel welcomed.
Pain Points: Confusing hallways; inconsistent signage; printed info feels clinical.
Needs: Clear wayfinding cues; friendly emotional tone; simple, approachable communication.
User Journeys
Design interventions addressed each stage to reduce stress and improve orientation:
🏥
Arrival
Visitors and patients enter the centre and need clear visual cues and welcoming signage.
➔
🧑⚕️
Check-In
Staff guidance should be concise, supportive, and easy to follow.
➔
🗺️
Navigation
Hallways and treatment zones are made intuitive through consistent way-finding cues and signage.
➔
🩺
Treatment
A calm environment and clear communication help reduce cognitive load for patients.
➔
📄
Follow-Up
Patients and visitors receive consistent, readable print and digital materials that reinforce clarity and accessibility.
vigour /ˈvɪɡə/
noun
noun: vigor
strength, energy, or enthusiasm:
They went to work with youthful vigor and enthusiasm.
strength of thought, opinion, expression, etc.:
He gave his side of the story with vigor.
UX-Driven Visual System
The design was inspired by the seafront views from the building, which became the foundation for the ripple motif. This motif appears beneath “Vi” (“We”) in the Vigør logo, symbolizing collaboration and collective support: We support. We strengthen. We recover.
The ripple also reinforces movement, transformation, and emotional reassurance, reflecting the centre’s mission of guiding patients and visitors through a calm, supportive environment.
Design decisions directly responded to the physical and informational context:
- Long corridors and multiple treatment zones → addressed with colour-coded zones and clear way-finding to help users orient themselves.
- Inconsistent signage and materials → improved hierarchy, typography, and layout to create visual consistency across physical, print, and digital touchpoints.
- Sterile environment → softened with a calming palette of blues and neutrals, balanced with generous spacing and accessible typography.
- Formerly long, complex name → replaced with Vigør, a short, positive, and memorable name that conveys vitality, strength, and reassurance.
Touchpoint Applications
Environmental & Wayfinding
- High-contrast typography and intuitive symbols.
- Colour-coded zones for orientation.
- Signage designed to reduce cognitive load.
Print Materials
- Consistent layouts for appointment letters, brochures, and instructions.
- Clear hierarchy improves comprehension for patients and visitors.
Digital Interfaces
- Website, screens, and social assets aligned with the identity system.
- Typography, colour, and spacing enhance usability and readability.
Internal Communication System
- The “Vi…” (“We…”) framework provides staff with a consistent, empathetic way to communicate.
Website UX Contributions
- Established typographic hierarchy, colour rules, and spacing to ensure readability and scannability online.
- Recommended navigation labels aligned with user mental models.
- Defined grids, components, and layout for a consistent digital experience.
- Ensured the website reflects the same calm, clear, and reassuring environment as the physical centre.
Focus: Applies the same design principles to digital interfaces, ensuring cohesion across online and offline experiences.
Outcomes & Impact
👁️
Improved Clarity
Reduced confusion and improved orientation for patients and visitors.
📍
Easier Navigation
Consistent visual cues improved wayfinding and reduced cognitive load.
🔗
Great Accessibility
Improved legibility and accessibility across physical, print, and digital touchpoints.
🏅
Stronger Brand Recognition
A unified identity that feels trustworthy, recognizable, and approachable.
Key Takeaways
🧭
Identity as UX
Design decisions were approached as functional tools, not just aesthetics.
The identity system supports clarity, consistency and orientation, allowing users to understand and navigate the environment with greater ease.
🔠
Accessibility
Legibility and inclusivity shaped every visual choice.
Typography, colour contrast and layout were developed to be readable and intuitive for diverse ages, abilities and language backgrounds.
🌊
Emotional Design
A calm and reassuring visual language enhances user wellbeing.
The ripple motif, tone of voice and colour palette contribute to an environment that feels supportive, encouraging and grounded in care.
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