The readiness of the Army National Guard (ARNG) depends on the health and fitness of its Soldiers, many of whom are far from military installations and face ongoing challenges balancing their Guard duties with civilian life. As a result, many Soldiers have difficulty accessing programs, facilities, and support networks to help keep them healthy and fit for duty.
To overcome these challenges, Guard Your Health launched a website for Soldiers and their families to access health-related tools, information, and support resources to overcome challenges and encourage healthy behaviors.
Site visits, surveys, and interviews uncovered the challenges Soldiers face when balancing their National Guard duties with civilian jobs and family activities.
These findings helped identify underlying health issues and fitness topics of importance to Soldiers, preferences for receiving information and messages, and preferred website content.
Personas and audience profiles helped build empathy and understand the pressure Soldiers face that makes them prone to unhealthy habits and risky behaviors.
After learning about what information is the most important to the target audiences, a visual sitemap established the navigational hierarchy and showed the connections between the pages.
Wireframes established the basic structure and functionality of the pages and served as a blueprint for the design and development efforts to follow.
The visual style guide established the standards for the usage and application of core visual elements, including the logo, color, typography, and photography.
User research and feedback helped determine the most effective visual aesthetic and tone to resonate with 18-24-year-old Soldiers in a way that fosters trust and ultimately adoption of healthier behaviors.
Bold, eye-catching colors and clean design combined with casual conversation and humor helped differentiate this website from existing military health resources.
The content is specific to the unique health and wellness needs and experiences of Army National Guard Soldiers and families. Topics included nutrition, exercise, stress, sleep, dental health, and family resilience.
The website featured inspirational stories from Soldiers and family members to inspire others in the National Guard community to achieve and maintain healthy lifestyles.
The website used responsive web technologies to allow Soldiers and families to access health information and wellness tools on any device and screen size.
