Zenker Suite Redesign
Project
Experience Design
6 weeks
Course
Interaction Design: Understanding Health and Wellbeing
Advised by Elizabeth Kramer & Annemarie Spitz
Software
Figma
Adobe Illustrator
Skills
UI Design
Teamwork
UX Research
Storyboarding
Branding
Experience Design
6 weeks
Course
Interaction Design: Understanding Health and Wellbeing
Advised by Elizabeth Kramer & Annemarie Spitz
Software
Figma
Adobe Illustrator
Skills
UI Design
Teamwork
UX Research
Storyboarding
Branding
Partner: Health Promotion and Wellness at Habif Health and Wellness Center
Primary contact: Arie Baker, MSW, LCSW – Director of Health Promotion and Wellness
Project framing:
The Health Promotion and Wellness team offers services, programs, and resources for all undergraduate and graduate/professional students on WashU’s Danforth campus. Our work together with them this semester will focus on two of their offerings:
Primary contact: Arie Baker, MSW, LCSW – Director of Health Promotion and Wellness
Project framing:
The Health Promotion and Wellness team offers services, programs, and resources for all undergraduate and graduate/professional students on WashU’s Danforth campus. Our work together with them this semester will focus on two of their offerings:
The Zenker Wellness Suite is a physical space, located in the Sumers Recreation Center, where students can access health promotion services, including information and resources related to sexual health, mental health, and other wellness topics. How could this space be more welcoming, approachable, and useful for students?
The Habif social media accounts share timely updates specific to WashU students, including physical and mental well-being tips from Habif staff, program and resource info from Peer Health Educators and practicum students, and community care messages. Often posts direct students to where they can find more information, such as on the website or via email/phone. How could these digital spaces better help students find the info and resources they need?
*Note that following the research phase, each student team will focus on specific areas of opportunity they’ve identified within this broad challenge area.
Through this extensive research process, many things were made clear.
2. Locationally, the Zenker suite is difficult to find. It is located in a seemingly random corner of the top floor of the Sumers Rec Center (main WashU gym). There are no directional signs to guide students there, and the only indication of its whereabouts is a small table outside of the room.
3. The social media lacks cohesion and a clear brand identity. The Instagram feed is a clear byproduct of basic Canva templates that blend into the sea of other posts. The brand has no recognition, a factor of Zenker’s low visibility. Additionally, there are heavy amounts of text on each Instagram post that deters viewers from reading.
Based on the key takeaways from our research, we pinpointed the main points of growth for the suite and divided it into areas of focus.
Finding that the main area of concern was the lack of recognition, we divided our time between enhancing the physical space and digital space. Our final goal was made clear: We wanted the digital and physical channels of Zenker to work together to allow students to successfully find and engage with its resources, maximizing the potential reach of the suite.
Flyers/Physical Signage by Lalo, Physical Markers & Visual Identity and Branding by Christine, Merch by Nissi.
We created three different testing guides, interviewing two students, two clients, and two designers. Upon presenting our low-fidelity concept pages, we received crucial input and advice in the potential direction of our project.
By conducting these interviews, we received more clarity on the direction of our deliverables:
2. From interviewing our clients, we found that although they were under the umbrella of the university, as well as their medical services, they wanted to find a way to differentiate themselves. Appealing to students was a big part of their hopes, and they wanted a more “funky”, modern approach to their visual branding and promotional material.
3. The Zenker suite wants to attract as many people as possible. Students have a different level of modesty or friskiness that they are comfortable with. Thus, having different versions of our signage is important to appealing to the largest range of students.
4. The location of our signage is another factor that we have to consider. There are many obvious popular hotspots on campus where we can hang up our signs, but many of the topics that Zenker covers are more intimate and personal. How can our chosen advertising locations reflect that?
5. Finally, what we include in our advertising materials are important. Attention spans and space on a poster is limited. What is the key information we hope to include, and how do we market it in a way that grabs people’s attention? How do we fit this information in the least amount of words possible? We found that the most important information to add onto the poster was directions to the suite, hours that it is open, and a few examples of popular resources that they give out.
Here, we introduce our team, establish the problem found from our research, and bring forth a solution.
We chose images that screamed funky, modern, and suggestive. We understand that Zenker touches on a lot of “taboo” subjects and wanted to incorporate imagery that would get the message across in a more subtle manner. Elements of the mood board can be seen across our project, through the color platte and use of imagery in our posters.
One of the points that our client brought up was that they did not want heavy restrictions on what kind of content or imagery that they could post. Keeping this in mind, we formulated a brand guideline that establishes a basic rulebook for content format, but still has a lot of room for interpretation and creative freedom. We felt that the inclusion of a guideline was important in ensuring that the brand’s visual voice shines through, uniting the visual identity across all platforms.
Color Palette:
We know that Zenker still needs to have a clear association with Habif. Thus, we took the pre-existing color palette that Habif has and brightened and expanded it. Our client expressed that they wanted to differentiate themselves and be less “sterile” looking while also maintaining their relationship. Thus, a play in the color palette does this in a more intentional way.
Typeface:
How do we combine the funky quality that the client requested, but emphasize that Zenker also addresses a variety of serious topics? How do we strike a balance? We added the funky elements in more subtle ways, especially in the playful connection of letters in the logo. The sans serif typeface “Neulis Nueue” is a relatively tame typeface, but has areas where it has fun, such as in the unique lilt of the descenders and tails.
We recognize that the Zenker suite does not have a professional designer at hand and relies on Canva for all of their designs. Thus, we wanted to create a version of our brand guideline that was more accessible to the current resources that Zenker has. With the Canva template, our client can access the majority of the elements in our brand guideline using non-designer friendly software.
We also wanted to make stickers that would increase the visibility of the suite. Students could take them, or they could be placed on products given out at the suite, placing a name to the resource centere where they received their items and getting the Zenker name out there.
Our intended audience is all WashU students. We wanted to create three versions of signage that catered to different student audiences to fully encapsulate the variety of different backgrounds and comfortability surrounding these topics. Thus, we created moderate, raunchy, and modest versions.
From our research and interviews with students, we found that there was a lapse of understanding in regard to the location of the suite. Although “Sumers Room 303” might sound specific, it is actually quite unclear and does not make the suite any easier to find. Thus, in addition to including the location, we added a brief description of how to get there. Additionally, our team and our client wanted to highlight the resources that were offered, as many target students do not access the resources due to their lack of knowledge of their existence. Thus, we highlighted a list of valuable resources that students would gravitate toward, and emphasized that it was free with big, bold letters. Overall, we wanted to include all of the vital information about the suite without making the signage too overwhelming.
These stickers are yet another wayfinding element in the physical location.