Rakuten
At Rakuten, I worked and shipped several projects and features such as MyRakuten and secure login. I also led the design efforts on a project called the Global Header.
At Rakuten, I worked and shipped several projects and features such as MyRakuten and secure login. I also led the design efforts on a project called the Global Header.
The Rakuten Global Header initiative was a comprehensive project aimed at enhancing the user experience and fostering greater cohesion within Rakuten's digital ecosystem.
The project's primary objectives were to standardize key elements shared across Rakuten services, streamline the point system for clarity and accessibility, facilitate seamless navigation between services, centralize user settings and preferences, while also providing flexibility for individual services within Rakuten to customize on a per-service basis.
Designed for simplicity and efficiency, it featured a streamlined layout: a single-line structure with a hamburger menu on the left for accessing service drawers, a centrally positioned logo typically beginning with 'Rakuten,' and on the right, a profile icon displaying points redeemable across Rakuten services. Serving as the initial point of interaction for users, the Rakuten Global Header provided seamless navigation and accessibility across the platform.
The Rakuten Global Header project stemmed from Rakuten's intricate structure, boasting approximately 80 online services, many accessed primarily through mobile websites. With a unified points system spanning across these services, a centralized hub was necessary for seamless point tracking and management. Additionally, inconsistencies in settings across different services necessitated a unified settings section to ensure changes reflected universally.
By addressing these challenges, the Rakuten Global Header aimed to provide users with a reliable one-stop shop for managing points, understanding point usage, and accessing global settings, thereby enhancing the overall user experience across the Rakuten ecosystem.
The profile button section of the Rakuten Global Header is organized into three tabs - Profile, Discovery, and Settings.
The Profile tab serves as a personalized hub, offering instant access to vital information such as Rakuten rank and points. Users can manage their wallet and monitor financial activity here.
The Discovery tab provides personalized recommendations based on user preferences, allowing convenient saving of favorite services for swift navigation.
The Settings tab centralizes account customization options across Rakuten services, providing users with personalized discovery and convenient account management through the profile button section of the Rakuten Global Header.
The services hamburger menu reveals navigation options tailored to the present service.
The service drawer, situated on the left side of the global header, features straightforward hamburger menu design. Upon activation, it reveals a tailored drawer customized for each Rakuten service, allowing for optimized navigation categories and layouts by each department.
Additionally, individual services have the flexibility to incorporate their own color palettes within the drawer, enhancing brand differentiation while maintaining a cohesive, overall Rakuten experience. Our aim is to ensure users feel at ease navigating through different Rakuten offerings, striking a balance between familiarity and unique service characteristics.
This project did not see the light of day during my tenure at Rakuten. Despite our dedicated efforts and the promising results of qualitative feedback and user research, unforeseen circumstances prevented its completion. Nevertheless, the experience gained and lessons learned from working on this project were invaluable, and I remain proud of the contributions made towards its development.