The Need

The primary goal was to design a mobile app that feels premium despite being a free service. It needed to look familiar to users, aligning with expectations from modern ride hailing apps, while also introducing the distinctive feature of an integrated advertising experience. The app had to stand out from traditional ride apps while maintaining a high-end, intuitive feel.

The Challenge

Designing for a culturally different market like Japan came with unique challenges. Many Western UX conventions don’t apply in this context. For example, in Japan, the "positive" action button is placed on the left, and the "cancel" on the right the opposite of what’s common in Western interfaces. These types of cultural design norms had to be respected to ensure the product felt native and trustworthy to users.

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Another challenge was the multilingual nature of the product. Japanese was the primary language, so all designs needed to account for changes in text length, character size, and layout flexibility. Regular design reviews were held to ensure the UI looked polished and consistent in both Japanese and English.