Rakuten Link
Super communication app.
Connecting users with Rakuten ecosystem.
How might we connect users with Rakuten group’s diverse services in a communication app?
Rakuten Link is a communication app providing free phone call and message services owned by Rakuten Mobile. The product strategy team is shifting the business strategy to monetization and wants to grow the revenue with Rakuten's ecosystem (over 70 services). I helped them conceptualize user flows and concepts to integrate Rakuten ecosystem into the app to build a seamless user experience that Link users interact with various Rakuten services.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Apr 2022 - Jul 2022
TEAM
1 UX Researcher
Marketing planners
Product manager
Data analyst
MY ROLE
Project Lead
User Research
UX Strategy
Workshop
Prototyping
I have had the pleasure of working with Jenny on several design projects. She has a broad spectrum of skills rarely found in a single person; from high-level UX strategy to, hands-on UX, and visual design, in combination with business acumen. Jenny is the type of team member/leader that all projects should have!
ANDOFLO, PRODUCT MANAGER - RAKUTEN MOBILE
01 - PROJECT SCOPING
Identifying the business
Compared to the 80% usage rate of its main function "Call", the usage rate of its current ecosystem feature "Discovery" is only about 5%. We would like to figure out why users are not using/interested in the ecosystem feature, and what are our opportunities. So before starting the project, I collaborated with the marketing team to get the data from the most recent user survey. Based on the survey data, we gained insights into our product users and product performance.
Link users using ecosystem - Gender
Link users using ecosystem - Age
Link users using ecosystem - Rank
Link users interested in ecosystem - Gender
Link users interested in ecosystem - Age
Link users interested in ecosystem - Rank
With the quantitative research data, we kicked off the project with a scoping workshop at Rakuten's offices in Tokyo with a marketing planner, a service planner, and a data analyst. The goal of the challenge was to narrow in on the specific scope and start knowledge sharing, define the business problem and outcome of the project, and align on the next steps.
Discussion with stakeholders at Rakuten Crimson office
From the workshop's discussions, we aligned our understanding of the business problem, why we are doing this project and what outcomes to expect. We also agreed that our next most important task is to conduct user interview on both Rakuten Lite user and Heavy user in Rakuten Link.
Lean UX canvas based on our workshop discussion
UX roadmap to align and prioritize our future work after the workshop
We also summarized the internal and external competitors that are providing similar values with the current Link ecosystem features. The similar values that our competitors providing can be classified into communication, points, content, finance categories.
Competitors that are providing similar values as Link ecosystem features
02 - UNDERSTANDING THE USERS
Involving real users to discover needs, pain points and opportunities
Rakuten's strength is "Rakuten Ecosystem" and our ambition for connecting the ecosystem in a communication app is relatively near-term. Therefore, we wanted to understand how people could perceive (positively and negatively) super communication app.
Our process of conducting user research
I collaborated with another UX researcher to design the moderated remote user research. In particular, we sought to better understand user's pain points about the current ecosystem feature and their perception of the super communication app. We conducted 6 one-hour sessions of online interviews. Our participants are selected based on the quantitative demographic analysis.
Remote moderated user research
From the study, we empathized with users to get detailed and nuanced insights about user's pain points and needs of the ecosystem feature. We summarized 2 user persona to better understand and empathize with our users.
Empathy map of Link users
Link user persona
03 - USER JOURNEYS
Mapping the journeys to uncover UX issues
Based on the user research, we uncovered a dilemma in designing for Rakuten heavy users who are already familiar with Rakuten services cross-use, and Rakuten light users who are not aware of Rakuten ecosystem.
To ensure we created solutions appropriate for both user types, we visualized user journeys for each. In the user journeys, we mapped a realistic scenario with the necessary touchpoints and user emotions. This helped us frame the crucial interaction moments to dive into in the actual interaction design work.
Thinking through the experience flow to solve different needs
Based on the user journeys, we uncovered 3 main UX barriers that cause the low usage rate of the ecosystem feature. They are: Product positioning as free call app; Competitors with similar services; Personalization on the content.
Uncovered the 3 UX issues: Product position, competitor and personalization
We started brainstorming both within our design team and with stakeholders to solve the UX issues that were uncovered from the journey mapping. We used storyboards to make our ideas more convincing and easier to be perceived by stakeholders.
Ideas from our stakeholders
04 - OUR SOLUTIONS
Designing for both heavy and light ecosystem users
Welcome!
Users can not only enjoy free calls and messages, but also personalized content from Rakuten ecosystem services. Usage scenarios are conveyed to users right after the splash screen.
Enjoy Personalized Content
Matching Link users with the Rakuten ecosystem. Rakuten services are recommended to users based on their interests. After following the official accounts of each service, users will receive special offers from the Rakuten ecosystem only for Link users.
Seamless Interaction with Rakuten Ecosystem
Link users can not only receive special offers from Rakuten services' official accounts, but also easily get access to the services and enjoy the content from various touch points.
05 - CONCEPT TESTING
POC from both user and
business perspectives
We are currently testing if the official accounts / mini app of Rakuten services in Link is a good fit to connect Link users with the Rakuten ecosystem for monetization.
Business model canvas of our UX strategy
From business perspective, planners are validating if the campaign outcomes in Link of the same Rakuten service could perform better than other marketing channels. From there, we would iterate our UX strategy from feedbacks, enhance motivations if needed, and test out new features and edge-cases.