The Iconography for Microsoft Viva

Designing icons for experiences that empower employees By Annice Jumani and Rachel Romano <img alt="For the header image, illustrator Anthony Dart created a 3D rendered environment. A coffee cup, graph paper, photographs, and miscellaneous office items are artfully arranged on a desk." src="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:700/1*hmnF7NrZLE8uErXbOiCGEA.jpeg" style="height:394px; width:700px" /> Original illustration and animation by Anthony Dart and Michael Yoon. Last year, droves of people quit their jobs amid what became known as the Great Resignation. This year, the trend is “quiet quitting,” aka burned-out or unhappy employees refusing to go “above and beyond” or hustle at work. The reasons for both vary from not enough money or flexibility to a lack of career growth or sense of purpose, but the catalyst is the same: a global pandemic that upended every system and paradigm we know, including Industrial Era work norms that asked you to keep your nose to the grindstone regardless of working conditions. It’s within this landscape that we launched Microsoft Viva, a new series of experiences geared toward empowering employees. Viva was deeply informed by the many wake-up calls in Microsoft’s <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/hybrid-work" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Work Trend Index</a> — a report consisting of a global survey of over 30,000 people in 31 countries and trillions of productivity signals from Microsoft 365 and LinkedIn — including the takeaway that business leaders are faring far better than their employees. <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/technology-unlocks-a-new-future-for-frontline" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Sixty-one percent</a> of leaders feel they’re “thriving,” which is twenty-three percentage points higher than those without decision making authority. Leaders also cited building stronger relationships with coworkers, higher earnings, and taking full vacation days. <a href="https://medium.com/microsoft-design/the-iconography-for-microsoft-viva-18870e922d35">Learn More</a>