As the UX & Service Design Principal at the newly-created Virgin Active Global Experience team, I was responsible for leading an ambitious project to redesign and realign the global digital brand, which was suffering from an inconsistent, localised, fractured, and tactical campaign-led approach.
Due to the autonomous nature of Virgin Active in various global territories, there was not only a striking disparity in terms of brand design but also in terms of information architecture and UX as there were not global standards or guidelines.
I identified and appointed two agencies (Isoflow and Equator), and a trusted specialist design consultant (Torgny Hylén). I also worked closely with the Global Executive team and the Global Brand team to ensure that we respected both the Virgin Active and Virgin Group mother brands. As well as managing the various moving parts, I was also hands-on as an IC.
We conducted a thorough brand redesign exercise, specifically focusing on the many digital elements that had not been properly considered; typography, colour, bespoke iconography, photography, error states, forms, and components.
We also conducted a heuristic usability evaluation and redesigned the information architecture.
It was important that the new design system was flexible enough to be configured in multiple ways so that different territories could build for their unique needs whilst keeping the overall brand design style. We created components that fit together seamlessly in a wide array of configurations.
The Global Brand teams and the Global Executive team signed off on the new design without the need for iterations.
Virgin Active 2019. Team: Torgny Hylén, Isoflow, Equator.
Cape Town