(In progress)
My role: Web Architect, Lead Designer, Lead Developer
I’m leading a redesign of the website for the fourth-largest department store chain in China. Doing e-business in China is … complicated. Very few Chinese have credit cards, and those that do, usually have cards with banks that prohibit or limit online purchases. Chinese street addresses (for delivery) are not standardized as in most countries (my home address is basically “behind the Zhongxin building on North Hubin Road”). Everything needs to be done in at least two languages.
A general lack of standard business processes means several of our stores already have their own websites, with their own vendor and VIP card processes. And Chinese designers don’t always speak the same visual language (or for that matter, spoken language) as customers, leading to … unsophisticated … design choices.
In the U.S., I came to understand that the process of redesigning the company website often catalyzes larger institutional changes. Multiply that experience by a billion. With all that to manage, we’re implementing the site in stages, gradually adding functionality with every step.
Here we have a comparison: before (right) and after (below).
