Vitinn – a new design system for the City of Hafnarfjörður

Introducing Vitann – the new design system for Hafnarfjörður municipality.

The Municipality of Hafnarfjörður is on a fast track for digital transformation. In a relatively short time, projects both large and small have come to light, and things have moved quickly, despite the fact that new digital products or solutions usually take a long time, and even several years, to prepare and develop. Thus, over the past few months and years, the emphasis has been on producing simple things that deliver benefits known to matter to residents. At the same time, work has been underway to implement larger digital solutions, which are now beginning to see the light of day. The Vitinn design system is an example of one such project.

A good user experience and a consistent appearance for the City of Hafnarfjörður

Vitinn, a new design system for the City of Hafnarfjörður, which is now being introduced, will serve as a guiding principle for all design for the City of Hafnarfjörður. It simplifies the design work for staff and others involved in designing for the municipality, whether for print, screens or digital media. At the same time, the town's logo, which has become firmly rooted in the hearts of its residents, was updated to meet the demands of modern media, which are different from those of the past, and to reflect the changed landscape. The update mainly involved standardising the line thickness for professional presentation on digital media. The new design system includes, amongst other things, the town's logo in all sizes and formats, along with important information on colours, fonts, illustrations, and image style, thereby creating a cohesive look for the council's media and materials. With the introduction of the system, the council's design is set to become more consistent and cost-effective, and the user experience will be improved in the long term.

The design system is the result of a collaboration between the town's staff and Metall Design Studio, H:N Markaðssamskipti, Ólafur Már Svavarsson and Berglind Ósk Bergsdóttir. Hafnarfjörður is an employer of around 2,000 people across 70 locations, and achieving a good overall image or identity for this large organisation, by Icelandic standards, is a significant challenge. Not all designs will be rolled out at once, but with the launch of the Vitan design system, the journey begins.

Examples of completed projects based on the new design system:

• Video about the Map Website
• Video about the youth council
• Museum of Local History website (opens in May)
• Job and planning advertisements
• Service announcements
• Reports
• Brochures
• Target posts
• Flags

Examples of projects in the final stages that are based on the new design system:

• Library website (opens at the beginning of summer)
• My pages (design completed, launch this year)

Service priorities, administrative review and market strategy: a guide to the work

The shaping of service priorities and the prioritisation of service projects carried out in 2019 and 2020, as well as the administrative review and market strategy development undertaken for the municipality in 2019, have been the guiding principles and foundation for the strategic work that has taken place since its establishment.tion of the Service and Development Department in autumn 2019.

The findings of the administrative review revealed, among other things, a heavy workload in professional areas and a lack of procedures, with the consequence that the services of the City of Hafnarfjörður failed to evolve and strengthen in step with changing times, increased scope and greater demands. Instead of meeting the challenge with an increase in full-time equivalent posts, it was decided to begin significantly strengthening the services that can be resolved at the first point of contact and to systematically review key processes through dialogue and collaboration between service users, service providers and the municipal authorities. This work and dialogue has highlighted numerous opportunities for improvement, including through an increased focus on self-service and digital improvements. This work is already beginning to deliver direct benefits to residents and other stakeholders. This work also informed the council's service priorities, and the values Warm, reliable and smart have been the guiding principle in the council's projects and actions in recent terms.

Examples of simple projects have come to light in recent weeks and months:

• Rubbish collection lookup
• Live counters in swimming pools
• Calculators that simplify tariffs
• New English website
• Improved information provision for immigrants
• Primary school term dates dressed down
• Implementation of electronic signatures

More detailed information about the process and implementation can be found at the municipality's blog.