Redefining Retail: Designing The Hyundai’s First Integrated E-Commerce Platform as South Korea’s Department Store Pioneer
The Hyundai, established in 1977 in Seoul, is South Korea’s largest retail department store distributor. Currently operating 20 offline department stores, The Hyundai has set its sights on a digital transformation, aiming to transition from its legacy as an offline retail leader to a unified e-commerce ecosystem.
As a Product Designer, I contributed to achieving the client’s digital transition goals by participating in the planning, digital structure development, and user experience design of The Hyundai's first mobile platform.
Our goals were to achieve a “Headless Operating System, Flexible Commerce Architecture, Seamless On-and-Off CX Integration, and Comprehensive AI Implementation.”
The Hyundai’s new platform is not just a B2C e-commerce solution but a shopping ecosystem with the characteristics of social media. To align the product direction with the client’s specific goals, we conducted extensive user research and competitive analysis to develop effective design solutions.
In particular, I was responsible for analyzing the Korean E-Commerce market landscape and conducting competitive analysis, which facilitated a successful collaboration between the Base Design New York team and The Hyundai client.
To deliver a design solution that satisfies both The Hyundai’s loyal existing customers and new customers familiar with digital platforms, I mapped out and designed various user journeys.
To deliver a design solution that satisfies both The Hyundai’s loyal existing customers and new customers familiar with digital platforms, I mapped out and designed various user journeys.
To deliver a design solution that satisfies both The Hyundai’s loyal existing customers and new customers familiar with digital platforms, I mapped out and designed various user journeys.
To address The Hyundai’s diverse target audience, ranging from their 20s to 50s, we categorized users into four detailed segments and mapped their unique user journeys. This process enabled us to design new features and tailored solutions that cater to each group’s needs.
One example is the “My Selection” feature, inspired by non-e-commerce platforms like Instagram, Behance, and Pinterest. This feature allows users to effortlessly save and share products of interest, ultimately enabling them to curate their own personalized collections.
I designed wireframes for the new platform, detailing each page and its corresponding features.
Rather than just providing simple product sketches, we needed highly detailed wireframes to effectively demonstrate specific features to the client. As a result, my team at Base Design and I created high-fidelity wireframes for each page and feature of the product.
These detailed wireframes enabled us to engage in in-depth communication with the client, ensuring alignment and clarity throughout the design process.
Through collaboration with Base Design’s Brand Design Team, our UI exploration transformed HiHi into a more compelling and attractive product.
As the months-long UX process neared completion, I collaborated with Base Design’s industry-leading Brand Design Team to begin the visual design phase. Together, we conducted a UI exploration aimed at achieving the client’s goals while meeting the needs of both existing and new customers.
