Chicago Transit Authority
Creating a centralized, mobile accessible resource designed to support healthier behaviors, improve awareness of benefits and programs, and strengthen employee engagement across CTA locations
Overview
Chicago Transit Authority engaged Birkdesign Inc. to design and launch a mobile first internal health and wellness platform to better serve a highly mobile frontline workforce with limited access to desktop systems.
This engagement required a fully integrated creative, technical, and communications solution delivered from strategy through deployment and staff education.
The Challenge
CTA already offered a wide range of health and wellness programs through internal teams and healthcare partners. However, most information was housed in a single internal system that could only be accessed from within the CTA network.
Because many employees spend their workday driving and moving between garages and terminals, access to computers was limited. At the same time, employees relied primarily on their mobile phones for news and information.
CTA needed a secure, easy to update, mobile accessible solution that could centralize wellness information, support frequent content updates, and be fully owned and maintained by the organization.
Strategic Approach
Birkdesign Inc. led a discovery driven process in close collaboration with CTA’s internal health and benefits stakeholders.
Our strategy focused on three priorities.
First, remove access barriers by designing a mobile first experience that employees could reach from anywhere.
Second, increase participation in wellness programs by making content easier to find, easier to understand, and more engaging.
Third, protect CTA’s long term independence by selecting and configuring technology that CTA could own, manage, and expand internally without reliance on proprietary platforms or licensing constraints.
This engagement was approached as a communications and engagement initiative supported by research, content strategy, and platform architecture, not simply as a digital build.
Solution
Birkdesign Inc. delivered a full soup to nuts solution covering strategy, creative, content, technical delivery, and internal enablement.
Program naming and brand identity
Birkdesign Inc. named the Live Well Work Well program and created the complete visual identity system for the initiative while working within Chicago Transit Authority’s existing corporate brand standards for typography, color usage, and accessibility. Although the core fonts and color families were defined by CTA guidelines, our team developed a distinct sub brand that feels energetic, human, and motivating for a frontline workforce.
We designed the logo system, color applications, iconography, illustration style, photography direction, layout grid, and graphic elements so the program could live consistently across digital and physical environments. The identity was engineered to scale across a wide range of materials including internal websites and mobile interfaces, employee communications, posters, brochures, signage, welcome banners, presentations, and on site collateral, as well as branded apparel and promotional items such as t shirts.
We also extended the system into large format and environmental applications, including vehicle and transit related graphics, ensuring the program could be recognized instantly across garages, terminals, and CTA facilities. The result is a highly creative, flexible visual system that fully adheres to CTA brand requirements while establishing a clear, ownable identity for the Live Well Work Well program.
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User experience and information architecture
Based on stakeholder discovery and research, our team created wireframes and navigation structures that organized wellness content into clear, employee centered categories such as healthy living, nutrition, events, programs, and personal health tools. This ensured employees could quickly locate relevant information while on the job.
Content strategy and written communications
Birkdesign Inc. developed the platform’s written content and information structure to translate complex health programs into practical, understandable, and actionable guidance. Content development and topic research were core components of the engagement and were integrated into the overall user experience design.
Platform design and development
We designed and built the Live Well Work Well mobile site and application from the ground up using a semi custom WordPress based architecture. Third party services were integrated where appropriate so that content and tools could be pulled from multiple sources while appearing seamless to employees.
This approach allowed CTA to avoid the cost and long timelines associated with fully custom systems while retaining full ownership of its content and digital platform.
Analytics and technical infrastructure
The platform was configured with Google Analytics and related webmaster tools to allow CTA to track usage, understand which content areas were most valuable to employees, and continuously improve programming and communications.
Birkdesign Inc. also delivered the web server and hosting environment to ensure site reliability, security, and round the clock technical support.
Staff training and internal enablement
To ensure long term success, Birkdesign Inc. provided hands on training for CTA staff responsible for managing and updating the platform.
CTA staff worked directly with the site administration tools, compiled questions and functional needs, and participated in an in person training session at CTA headquarters. The session was recorded to support future onboarding and internal knowledge transfer.
This training and enablement phase ensured CTA could independently manage its content and evolve the platform over time.
The Result
Live Well Work Well began driving employee engagement immediately after launch.
Within the first week, nearly 300 employees accessed the platform. CTA teams observed usage across multiple garage and terminal locations and were able to identify which areas of the site were visited most often. CTA also reported increased participation in several health and wellness programs as a result of the platform.
For the first time, CTA had a centralized, measurable digital channel to support employee wellness communications and program participation.
Why This Project Matters
This project demonstrates Birkdesign Inc.’s ability to serve as a full service creative and communications partner for large, complex public sector organizations.
Beyond visual design and development, this engagement required organizational and stakeholder discovery, naming and brand architecture, user experience and information design, written communications and content strategy, technical architecture and deployment, analytics integration, and staff education.
Live Well Work Well is not simply a mobile site. It is an internal communications and engagement platform designed to support healthier behaviors, improve access to services, and create sustainable operational ownership inside one of the nation’s largest transit agencies.
Services Provided
Content management solution
Personal health tools
Content development and topic research
Wireframing and prototyping
Beta testing and user interface testing
Surveys and quizzes
Calendar of events
Story sharing features
Video and recipe content
Mobile optimized experience
Full creative and user experience design and development