© Copyright 2024 | by david nguyen
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October 2014 – February 2018

As a Director of User Experience at Rakuten, I led the site experience and campaign marketing for the US eCommerce division. I spearheaded multidisciplinary teams on user experience, visual design, and digital content management/marketing.

Company Brief

  • Rakuten is a global internet service and fintech company generating $13.74 billion globally in 2020
  • Rakuten.com was an e-commerce marketplace between 2010 – 2020 and a major destination for savvy online shoppers
  • Consumers discovered vast deals on products, earned and redeemed Rakuten Super Points to apply to their purchases
  • Small to large businesses (e.g., bestbuy.com) utilized the platform to engage with consumers and grow revenue through their listed merchandise catalog

Creative Web Design (CWD)

Responsible for Consumer and Business experiences

  • Rakuten.com, proprietary eCommerce (B2C and B2B) platform, iOS App
  • Consisting of 3 teams: User Experience, Graphic Design, and Campaign Marketing
  • Partnering and served as Creative Services with all departments throughout the org

Notable Design Challenges

  • Establishing digital asset workflow
  • Modernizing checkout and overall user experience from SEO to website interactions
  • Brand Trust and Recognition
  • Improving conversion and engagement rates

Design Operations

Accomplishments

  • Implemented Scrum Framework
  • Systemized graphic and campaign marketing design workflows
  • Established Voice of the Customer program
  • Onboarded Analytics and Research platforms
  • Improved people management

Results

  • Promoted transparency and increased efficiency of design work being done
  • Improved consistency in the quality of our design deliverables for marketing needs
  • Gained continuous customer feedback enabling us to create engaging experiences
  • Innovative ideas and solutions thrived (e.g., market test – dedicated mini-site of selling Japanese goods directly from Japan)

Project Highlight: New Checkout

Based on extensive research, this project’s goal was to optimize for conversions and increase member sign-ups, by presenting the checkout flow in an intuitive manner that minimizes friction while showcasing clear benefits to the customer to create an account.

Accomplishments

  • Fully reimagined and replaced prior account creation/sign-in, single page checkout, and post-purchase experience
  • Integrated personalized cross-sell and upsell features
  • Implemented session playback and A/B Testing technology
  • Research and Usability Study insights shared with UX/CWD leadership and CEO of Rakuten (https://www.rakuten.co.jp/)

Results

  • Net Promotor Score (NPS) rating became positive at 44 from -33
  • Incremental Sales improved by 1.5%
  • Average (AOV) increased by 4.88%
  • More conversions and the cart abandonment rate decreased dramatically
  • Single Page Checkout adopted by our leading e-commerce site in Japan

Strategic Initiative Highlight: Rebrand

In collaboration with our executive leadership, I worked on the strike team towards our rebranding efforts. Along with leading our product design and developing the user experience vision, I led the coordination between teams and visual design freelancers.

Brand Pillars

Respect

  • The goals of our merchants and customers are also our goals

Unexpected

  • We never settle for the ordinary

Exploration

  • Our commitment is to constantly captivate customers, providing them with endless product discoveries

Accomplishments

  • Launched eCommerce Marketplace industry-leading, engaging and delightful UI
  • Our first Mobile First designed project – mobile experience site speed improved by over 50%
  • Net Promotor Score (NPS) score increased to 53 shortly after launch

Notable Hands-on Tools Utalized

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