Redesign Rakuten Mobile Apps - UX Case Study
Did you know that Rakuten is one of the e-commerce from Japan? Have you ever used the Rakuten app? For those of you who are not familiar with Rakuten, let me explain it briefly.
Rakuten is a giant Ecommerce from Japan. Rakuten was founded in Japan in 1997 by a person named Hiroshi Mikitani who is now the company’s CEO. Rakuten in Japanese means optimism. Since then, Rakuten’s growth in Japan has been unstoppable.
Rakuten has a relatively high rating on the App Store (iOS) with an overall rating of 4.6 • (28,210K). But it doesn’t compare to its Android app with a 4.3 (233.7K) overall. The main assumption about the gap is that there are features in iOS that are not available on Android. The difference in design and flow across the two devices makes me curious to look for opportunities to redesign the app.
Therefore, with my basic knowledge of UX, I tried to research current Rakuten apps and look for ways to improve the experience. Without further ado, let’s see the truth.
*I am not affiliated with Rakuten in any way. The only person who wants to grow up on UIUX design
Research
Observe
To begin my research, I started to look for critical user reviews about the Goodreads app on Google Play (Android) and the App Store (iOS).
After seeing see reviews from the users, Affinity diagrams helped me deduce their complaints when using this application. can help me to find other hypotheses for further research.
The most obvious highlight is that there are more iOS app users than android apps. But surprisingly, most of the users also commented that all the combined features on the two devices are still lacking compared to the website. Some users have to switch to the desktop site to use certain features.
One review that caught my attention is the potential Rakuten become “References to the buyer”. Unfortunately, Rakuten does not seem to prioritize the opportunity to explore aspects of the favorite features of the application. Even though the favorite features are available, users cannot use them effectively yet.
This is a big loss for Rakuten because it will be beneficial for them to increase the power of buyers to always use the application continuously.
Another comment about the user interface can be improved to make it easier for users when searching for items.
Survey
Furthermore, I conducted user research by distributing online surveys to regular and infrequent users of the Rakuten app. This survey can help me to find out their habits using Rakuten, find pain points and their needs, create User personas and create a series of solutions thereafter. You can see the full experience using the questionnaire with click SurveyLink
Here is the result :
The following are some of the outlines gathered from the 8 participant’s answers:
- Before they shop online, they will carefully consider reviews from other buyers, promotions and coupons, and whether the store has these items available.
- Most of them use the Rakuten application to collect points and use coupons. and an option for cheaper product prices.
- They tend to spend time in the app by searching for less expensive products that do not exist on the other platforms.
- The features they use most often are coupons, shopping carts, favorite features.
Persona
Based on data gathered from user research, I have created the user personas in different gender identity in which I gave insights on user goals, frustrations, motivations, and personalities that should be an essential key to create the solution of my project.
Define
The next step is to gather feedback from user research to form the basis of the redesign phase. At this step, referring to the survey answers, annoying points are identified and the user’s needs can be identified.
Pain Points
- favorite features and Shopping cart. the thing they always complain about in reviews. Users are sometimes confused to find their favorite features to indicate the goods or stores they like.
- Log in user. In fact, users sometimes forget their email and password or they are always asked to log in to their account after entering items into the shopping cart. this is the most comments on the review.
- Outdated UI. Some people say that the interface can be improved to be more attractive by changing the display so that it is less crowded. sometimes there are ads that are too big and many buttons are unnecessary.
Needs
- Easy login. an easy way to log in to an account in the application is a necessity for Rakuten users, especially those who often forget their account.
- Simple user interface. people will agree that the simple appearance will increase user satisfaction in any application.
- Optimization of favorite features and shopping cart. This can be the first step so that the Rakuten application can be used sustainably by the user.
- Better Searching Features. Makes the search feature more simple and not create confusion
The main focus
before going to the design stage. I define my main goals in the redesign of this app. as a limitation for case studies to ensure that the results are feasible and consistent main
The focus of this UX Case Study
- Simplify the user’s interface and prioritize what is necessary
- Optimizing login and make it more simple and efficient
- Develop favorites and shopping cart features into a familiar and efficient
Design
I was equipped with a problem background I started making a view using Figma. The end result is below:
HomePage and Navigator
Key Changes:
- On the Home Page, I slightly changed the layout and spacing between elements.
- Navigator is something that is often used by users in the process of looking for items. I changed the contents of the navigator which was most needed by the user.
- Navigate Bar Above is useful for users looking for some items. I’ve changed the layout, it looks more spacious, and added a notification button.
- Navigate Bar below to go to the Home Page, Favorite items, shopping cart, and profiles.
Optimizing login
Key Changes:
- The addition of red color to the login CTA helps prioritize future actions.
- Authentication with google email is one of the problem-solving points for people who often forget their accounts
Favorite features and Shopping cart
Based on research results and user complaints, I tried to change some elements.
- Changed the card layout on each item.
- Show the favorite feature in each item
- Changed the shopping cart navigator according to priority
Basically, I just like the redesign features in this application. without changing user flow. but there is confusion about the same coloring CTA button.
so I changed one of the colors of the CTA button to give a signal to the user to better understand the flow.
You can browse the full experience using the prototype. If you have any feedback, please let me know 😊.
Validate
The users are asked to perform the following tasks after I have provided them with the predefined scenarios:
- Log in to your account quickly.
- Like one item on the home page.
- Make a list of what you liked to add to the shopping cart and follow the ordering process.
An example scenario is the following: “Imagine that you are looking for a mattress but don’t have much time but will continue the ordering process later.” It is important not to influence user behavior by mentioning keywords on the site when describing the scenario (for example, “Go ahead and search for places. stay “would not be ideal as it offers additional referrals to the user).
In this project, usability metrics that I used are Effectiveness
Effectiveness
This metric helps me to know the success rate of this app based on users’ ability to complete the tasks. Here are the tasks of this usability testing.
In total, I observed 18 attempts. Of those attempts, 15 were successful, 2 were partially successful and 1 were failures. I gave weight one point for success, half point for partial success, and 0 points for failure. This is the formula of effectiveness rate:
So, based on a test of its effectiveness is 88.9% so I just iterated minor part.
Evaluate
Implementing the design above can specifically improve the user experience for those who are busy but have a need to shop. For example, if a user orders an item, he can easily figure out how to store some of the items he likes just before placing them in the shopping cart.
Rakuten App is very well designed. I love company, and I love UX. I just wanted to see if I could help make it more fun and intuitive to use than it already is! * Although I encountered some usability issues in my testing, I think the design suggestions for the wishlist feature and Optimizing login will be the most influential towards Rakuten’s bottom line.
* I am not affiliated with Rakuten in any way. The only person who wants to grow up on UIUX design
