– SUCCESS STORY SHIFT BY RAKUTEN
Bringing your projects to life in just days
In charge of the Shift by Rakuten project
Tomoko Uemura
Project Manager
Leads and experts
Duration of the project
10 months (February 2020 to November 2020)
Project Team
1 stakeholder
1 project manager
2 content specialists
Solutions that were used
Native app design, development & management
Progressive Web App (PWA)
User experience (UX) app design
– SUCCESS STORY SHIFT BY RAKUTEN
Shift by Rakuten: an app for employees to empower sustainable living
Rakuten, Inc. is a global leader in internet services that empower individuals, communities, businesses and society. A network of 14 business units is committed to creating an environment that doesn’t just focus on performance alone. Rakuten EMEA is keen to promote a more sustainable future via a responsive internal app. The goal is to educate their employees about environmental challenges so that they can adapt the way they work and how they act. This innovative idea also ties in with Rakuten EMEA’s theory of change ‘Learn, Act and Influence’.
A solution that’s been widely embraced by employees at Rakuten EMEA! Via a progressive web app, the company has the power to share the company vision and wider initiatives within the Rakuten network – wherever the employee is situated.
Inform and educate employees about the importance of environmental protection
Rakuten EMEA recognizes the importance of climate change and the impact their work can potentially have on the environment and their position as a top employer. However, trying to educate and influence around 1,700 employees about the severity of the issue, as well as demonstrating their commitment to following a strong sustainability agenda is quite a challenge when there are multiple sites and remote workers to consider.
Hence, the 2 main challenges that needed to be addressed were the following:
Can we create an app that gives staff the tools to be sustainable at work and at home? Can that app be flexible, easy to update, be multi-faceted, measurable, cross device?
01
Responsive content
Enhanced UX. Quality content feed. Ensuring adoption & positive culture change amongst employees.
02
Smart & beautiful design
Interactive features. Quality UI design Creating sticky content & making employees come back for more.
03
Greater accessibility
A Progressive Web App (PWA) to ensure employees’ access remotely and on-the-go.
Deliver interactive and timely content. Empower staff to make more sustainable decisions.
01
– Making a positive culture change with responsive content
Rakuten EMEA formed a partnership with a prestigious global newspaper publisher, enabling them to share the latest developments impacting the environment.
Adding fresh, timely content from a credible source every week is an astute way of keeping the Shift app relevant and valuable.
However, to achieve this habit and make a significant culture change towards a more sustainable future, Rakuten DX made sure the online published articles are accessible, easy to read and responsive.
Within a few swipes, Rakuten Europe employees can read the latest news on sustainability and get valuable tips and tricks to live and work in an eco-friendlier way.
02
– Smart interactive elements and beautiful design
Another feature Rakuten DX incorporated into the Shift app is the ability to set-up weekly quizzes and other interactivities.
Rakuten EMEA can use the quizzes to reinforce company values, initiatives and knowledge of sustainability by asking a series of questions. It’s an innovative way of encouraging employees to keep using the app.
To ensure the interactive features resonated and captured the forward-thinking nature of the app, our team of developers paid close attention to the UI and UX design. The tab system at the top and bottom of the screen also makes it easy for employees to navigate their way around the Shift app and find the features they want to see quickly.
03
– Adding greater accessibility to strengthen the sustainability message
The steps towards creating a sustainable and optimistic tomorrow shouldn’t stop as soon as an employee clock-offs at the end of the day. Similarly, the message should be heard loud and clear even if employees find themselves working remotely.
The key to solving this challenge was to make the sustainability content accessible at any time and on any device to Rakuten EMEA employees. After running a Design Thinking workshop with the Rakuten EMEA brand and sustainability team, completing the story mapping stage and building the architecture of the app, our team of developers used their vast experience to transform the platform into a progressive web application (PWA).
In doing this, the app content is now responsive on all formats, including mobile, desktop or tablets. This makes the Shift app accessible and useful wherever employees are – which is imperative when people are working from home, on-the-go, or off work.
Our solutions
