Design research and strategy for more active, playful and connected lives.
☼ Lisbon/London
Vital Agents
The things that make us human are getting designed out.
For decades, technology has been measured by how much effort it removes. Convenience, speed, efficiency. These have been the benchmarks of good design.
But research is catching up with what many people already feel: that frictionless living has a cost, and that the things we optimised away — movement, play, sensory experience, presence and connection — turn out to be the things that sustain us. Vital Agents exists at this intersection.
We help cities, designers and organisations create places, products and experiences that get people moving, playing and connecting beyond screens.
Themes we explore
We help teams understand people and design better places, products and experiences.
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How places, services and systems can make movement a natural and appealing part of everyday life, from public space and active travel to recreation and the outdoors.
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How places, products and experiences can encourage curiosity, exploration, imagination and meaningful play across ages and abilities.
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How we can create healthier relationships with technology and more compelling opportunities to participate, connect and experience life beyond the screen.
Teams we support
Cities and public-sector teams
Architecture, landscape and design practices
Play, outdoor & family-focused organisations
Digital wellbeing & family tech teams
Research that connects emerging signals with real lives
We combine cultural scanning with interviews, ethnography, surveys and real-world pilots, helping teams see both what is changing and what people actually need.
Hi, I’m Megan.
I'm Megan Anderson, founder of Vital Agents. Over the past 10+ years I've worked with teams at Spotify, Google, IDEO, Ford, and others, bringing human insight to the heart of design, research and strategy. In collaboration with STBY, I've co-authored and edited two books on Design Research, Explorers and Pioneers.
I was born and raised in Singapore, educated in Australia, and the Netherlands, and professionally shaped by years of research practice in London. Moving between cultures early on gave me a keen eye for how technology, place and environment shape the way people live and feel.
I founded Vital Agents to bring rigorous human insight to the places, products and experiences shaping how we move, play, connect and spend our attention.