Unitaiyo American Corporation
OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) and Aftermarket Business
Website: Unitaiyo.com
Overview
Unitaiyo American Corporation imports automotive, marine engine and small engine (for generators, lawn mowers other outdoor power equipment) parts and components mainly from Japan. Parts are incorporated into products for OEM (original equipment manufacturer.)
Unitaiyo works very closely with OEM customers to assist engineering projects for new product development, current product improvements and emissions compliance as manufacturers’ representative. Unitaiyo also supplies parts to automotive aftermarket customers.
I received an email from Chicago, IL. It was word of mouth. I had a kick-off meeting on Skype. The parent’s company, Taiyo Corporation, has a quite long history, established in 1929. There are subsidies mostly Asia and Nederland, the United States. The manager is in charge of the abroad market, the United States.
Challenge
A manager has a vision and preference. I understood it, but as a designer, through design thinking, I was not sure about the direction. I always try to create user centre design. My standpoint is how a user can understand clients business. How can potential customer look at this website? How does user reach client?
After the meeting, I looked for a reason why I create a website. The client didn’t have a website. This doesn’t become a reason for me. I have to deliver a certain value more than a website. As BtoB and business model, I was not sure whether website generates a new customer who has never met before. It’s a very rare situation even there is a great social evaluation.
UX
I considered the touch point, client’s requirements and user needs. What does user want to know about a client? How do they reach client? These will be a clue of contents.
I believe that website is a kind of employee, one of salesperson for the company. A website should represent a company. A website should have a personality, reliability and consistency. It shouldn’t be decided by sense.
Requirement:
– Simple
– Life-size
– No image
Prototype
Through Keynote (Research, Brand Attribute, Persona, User Flow, Wireframe, User Interface, Move Board) and Sketch, I tried to keep simple. I submitted my idea and told the reason why I created these design. One of my goals is always to increase client’s value. I cannot guarantee it, but I have to leave a certain result. Therefore, I sometimes disagree with client opinion. It’s a responsibility of the designer.
I, recently, read the book of Dell Carnegie. He mentions that people should not always stick to my standpoint. It may be correct. After all, the website was developed based on almost client preference.
Web Design
Email Signature
Result
In the end, I delivered a minimum web design which the client preferred. As I said above, I believe that a website is an online sales person for the company. Ideally, I want a website to engage with a potential customer at first impression. Before it happens, I want a potential customer to find a client as much as possible. That’s why a image(visual language) is necessary on the website. The catch copy is clear and important, but the text is not enough fast rather than a visual. Acctually, image included video enhances more engagement than text on social media. These need a combination.
The project is still ongoing. I will apply it near future.
Case Study
Align with Client and Achieve a Goal
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