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SHIRO

Creating the building blocks that empowered a popular local Japanese skincare and cosmetics brand to expand globally.

Role:

Design Lead

Contributions:

UX Strategy — Design Leadership — Art Direction — User Interface

Core team:

Kaori Ito - Sr. UX Designer

Carla Almazora - UI Designer

Moe K. - Lead Client Partner

Natsuko Kuhara - Data Analyst

Diane Ly - Copywriter

Client

background

SHIRO is one of the fastest growing cosmetics and skincare challenger brands in Japan. As a full cycle natural brand that executes production from raw materials to fully finished products, SHIRO is renowned for the quality of their ingredients and their commitment to their consumers.

Challenge
& solution

Shortly after SHIRO started to expand internationally and launched its original e-commerce store in the UK, they quickly realized that the site’s performance was below par and could be better optimized for both business and customer objectives.

With our overall solution we took SHIRO from being a local Japanese brand with little relevancy in international markets and an inconsistent design language to a unmistakable brand that knows how to speak its customers language, by focusing on creating a brand centered - local user centric experience that everyone can trust and resonate with.

The results:

86+

Components created to help unify multiple experiences & boost production speeds by 100%

Markets were impacted; The SHIRO brand expanded further into Japan, and was introduced into the Europe and the USA markets.

240%

Boost in engagement and conversion rates within 60 days of launch.

Months to build a design language that was used across multiple experiences after launch.

How we did it:

Discover the differences between the markets.
Build a communication strategy for SHIRO in each market.
Create catered information structures that talk directly to what users care about.
Create a visual language and component library to adapt seamlessly and quickly to the expansion.

Discover the differences

between the markets.

After extensive review and research, we saw that to drive sales we needed to build a better consumer understanding of not just the products, but of the brand values – as values play a bigger role in sales conversion in the UK.

Built a strategy of comms for
the brand in each market.

We knew that SHIRO’s story would be just as compelling to UK consumers as to its fan base in Japan. We redesigned the e-commerce site to lower the barrier to purchase by pulling consumers deeper into the experience from the first view. Within the website, the information hierarchy was rebuilt with a values-first focus and the new experience was supported by visuals and content. This showcased SHIRO’s bold signature style and added a sensual dimension to the experience.

Create information structures that talk directly to what users care about.

We created multiple pathways to allow users to find the right product for them. We simplified by configuring 3 intuitive product filters — best sellers, product ingredients and skin concerns — to lower the barrier to the user’s purchase experience.

Create a visual language and component library to adapt seamlessly and quickly to the expansion.

Knowing that we had a short amount of time, and great ambitions to expand, we decided to approach the designs from modular perspective and made sure to create re-usable, agnostic elements to use across different dimensions and platforms.

Additional results

The SHIRO team was so happy with the results of our work that they wrote us a lovely letter to let us know what a wonderful job we did with their brand in the new markets they expanded into. They also entrusted us with helping them to expand into the United States, as well as creating their loyalty strategy and platform for their Japanese market, effectively solidifying our relationship with SHIRO as a long-term client.

皆様

この度は素敵なサイトをありがとうございます。

無事にローンチできて良かったです。

今までのものとは格段に違い、ブランドとして誇れるサイトに
仕上がったことを弊社の代表も、そしてUKの現地スタッフも心から
喜んでおります。

急な対応にも応じていただき、また不眠で作業いただき、
感謝しております。

発表会に来ていたろくに仕事しないUKの会社に対して、

「日本にあるグローバル集団の会社は、グローバルの思考と
クリエイティブ持ちながら日本の魂で仕事を完遂して素晴らしいぞ」
って言ってやりました。ここから精一杯マネタイズしていきたいと
思います。

引き続き、グローバルサイト・USAも力を貸してください。

この辺りのポートフォリオも整理必要ですね。

今後ともよろしくお願い申し上げます。

Dear Everyone,

Thank you very much for creating such a wonderful website. I am glad that the launch went smoothly. It is significantly different from our previous versions and has become a site that we, as a brand, can be proud of. Both our company's representative and the local staff in the UK are genuinely delighted. Thank you for responding to urgent matters and for working tirelessly, even without sleep.

Regarding the UK company that barely works but was present at the presentation,
I proudly said, "Companies in Japan, part of a global group, have global thinking and creativity, yet they complete their tasks with the Japanese spirit. That's truly admirable." We aim to fully monetize from here on out.

Please continue to support us with the global site in the USA as well.

We need to organize our portfolio in this area.

Thank you for your continued support.

Want to
work together?

I’m available to consult, freelance and even open to new full-time opportunities. If you think we can partner up and create something great, shoot me an email.

Contact me

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