When people think about design and user experience, they often imagine just making websites or apps look beautiful. However, design and user experience actually go much deeper and branch out into many more dimensions than mere aesthetics. Today, let’s get to know this field better through the perspective of the talented team from Bluebik’s new business unit, Design & Experience (DE). 

Before diving into the topic, here’s some background information. Originally, Bluebik had a design team called Experience Design (XD), which was part of the Digital Excellence & Delivery (DX) team. The XD team enabled design and user experience for many digital solutions we developed for key clients.  

For the new year, Bluebik is upgrading its capabilities to enhance experiences even further through “design.” Therefore, we teamed up with Earth – Soranun Choochut, the expert in experience design, with the prestigious Red Dot Design Award in 2012 and 2020 to establish a new unit called Design & Experience (DE). Now the team is ready to help transform business organizations by fully addressing customer design and experience needs across three main categories: 

1. UX/UI Design 

2. Experience Design Services 

and 3. Comprehensive Branding and Marketing Campaigns 

Come read along and get an inside look at the DE team’s approach with Earth Soranun, the Chief Experience Officer (CXO); Palm Makorn, Project Management Lead & Associate Director; Earth Wichapon, Lead Designer; and Jam Aijima, Project Management Consultant. 

“Experience” Is the Secret Weapon 

In today’s cutthroat business world, if there’s anything that can help business organizations differentiate and gain a competitive edge, Earth, CXO, confirms it’s “experience.” 

“Experience is the secret weapon of business organizations. In the past, companies might have been product-driven, for example, ‘I make fish sauce, so I’ll sell fish sauce.’ But today’s world invests in experience more. Previously, designing was purely functional: add fish, add salt, bottle it, label it, sell it. But when you incorporate experience, making fish sauce becomes multidimensional. For instance, you might farm the fish yourself and create a story around fish farming. You can even develop a mobile app that lets customers customize the fish sauce flavor they prefer. Some might want a sweeter sauce, while others might want a specific version for deep-frying. 

“If you run the business traditionally, you might sell a bottle of fish sauce for 15 baht. But with experience involved, people might willingly pay 50 baht for a sauce they can personalize exactly to their taste. You can see that experience goes deeper than just a bottle of sauce. Experience is what prevents customers from choosing competitors. It’s the most powerful weapon. Even if our product or service is more expensive, customers will choose us because they love the experience we provide. Although experience is an intangible asset, it’s clearly invaluable.” 

This is just a taste of what experience can provide. Earth, CXO, says that businesses can leverage experience in countless ways, from creating first impressions and enhancing branding to gathering customer feedback or addressing the operational team’s pain points. It is not an understatement to say that the possibilities are endless. 

In the AI Era, “Experience” Becomes Even More Critical  

In the digital world where people use applications and websites daily, “experience” has always been crucial. Certainly, the core of these digital solutions is the functionality that meets user needs. However, if these digital solutions lack beauty, are difficult to use, or aren’t user-friendly, those functions won’t be utilized to their full potential. 

“Let’s say we’re developing an application. While the source code is the key component that makes the app functional, it runs behind the scenes. What users see first is the app’s appearance. Therefore, investing in design and user experience is just as important as the app’s functionality. It helps create a lasting impression and motivates users to actually engage with the app’s features. 

“To use a restaurant analogy: it’s like a beautifully decorated restaurant where you want to take photos as soon as you walk in. The food is plated wonderfully, and when you taste it, it’s delicious. All of this is about experience. 

“In an era where AI is everywhere, simply mentioning AI doesn’t help people visualize what it looks like, as it operates entirely behind the scenes. The role of design teams is to make AI accessible to people, essentially translating AI’s language into something everyone can understand and creating the best possible experience. This is how businesses can differentiate themselves.” 

Complete Package in Design & Experience 

Defining the Design & Experience (DE) team’s services is challenging because they truly offer a “complete package” as design and experience design are interwoven into every step of the customer journey. 

Earth, the Lead Designer, says clients can come with just vague concepts, and the team will take care of the rest.  

“We’ve had cases where a client’s brief was just ‘to open a restaurant overseas.’ We researched and developed everything from the concept and menu to designing both digital and physical workflows.”  

“Clients can come to us even if they don’t have anything concrete. If they feel stuck and want to do something, we can help map out their next steps, whether that means transforming their approach or making subtle adjustments. We see ourselves as a friend who supports them throughout their entire life.”  

To illustrate the team’s comprehensive design and experience capabilities, here are some illuminating cases showcasing their complete design and experiences service. 

1. From Inconvenience to Convenience: The Laundromat Case 

Service: Design & UX/UI Design 

In this case, a laundromat chain with multiple branches across Thailand faced a key issue: their self-service model wasn’t convenient for customers who lacked time to do their own laundry. 

“People work from 8:00 AM, face traffic after work, and finally get home around 6:30 PM with piles of dirty laundry. They can only do laundry on weekends. How can we make our service more convenient for them?” explains Jam Aijima, Project Management Consultant. “Insights revealed that customers wanted a full-service option where they can drop off clothes before work, and pick them up after work so they can have clean clothes ready to wear.” 

Earth, Lead Designer, adds: “We redesigned the system, including the traffic control. One of the main problems was that the staff can’t keep up with the pacing and service standard when many customers drop off their clothes at the same time. Therefore, we needed a solution that maintains service quality without overwhelming the staff. We implemented a queue system through an app where customers can check branch availability before leaving home. This saves time, fuel, and reduces pollution, while allowing staff to work efficiently and ensure properly dried clothes.” 

The queue system is just one example. The team revamped the entire experience, from store layout to service design (including laundry bag purchases and fabric softener options), app development, and staff workflows. They even designed measuring caps for detergent, as detergent usage impacts both service costs and wastewater treatment. 

Ultimately, this experience design helped the laundromat chain offers a truely convenient service to their customers. 

2. Swiping Left on Rolex, Swiping Right on Tinder: The Telco Case 

Service: Branding & Marketing Campaign 

This telco client faced a challenge: their previous branding wasn’t very inviting to the younger generations, whom they wanted to target. “Our task was to create an experience that would attract the new generation,” explains Jam Aijima, Project Management Consultant. 

“After brainstorming, we decided that instead of targeting just the new generation, we’d create a campaign for all generations. We didn’t want to abandon existing users just to acquire new ones,” continues Earth, Lead Designer. “So we created a reward campaign for 3 generations, with different prizes. Parents’ generation might get an expensive watch like a Rolex, while younger people might prefer Tinder Gold. For this campaign, we are extremely grateful that the client trusted in us, despite having to coordinate with more partners. The response was excellent. We saw a higher participation and redemption rates.” 

More than just designing the brand activation, the team also managed the communication campaign by creating 3 separate ad campaigns for each generation and broke traditional advertising rules by including all the minute details. 

“Usually, ads put important details like numbers in tiny text, which users find confusing and ignore. But some people are genuinely interested, so why not help them read it?” explains Palm Makorn, Project Management Lead & Associate Director. “That was why we made ads with large, readable information. Back then, Generative AI was trending, so we used it to enhance the experience. The feedback was amazing. People engaged because it was both beautiful and readable. Click-through rates increased 3-4 times. The client also received the deliverables faster, had more options to choose from, and paid less. It’s essentially faster, better, and cheaper.” 

As showcased here, this team truly offers a complete service, creating innovative user experiences across all dimensions. 

Design & Experience Are More Than Just Good Looks 

At this point, it’s clear that design and experience go far beyond aesthetics. Both elements are deeply integrated into every touchpoint of the customer journey. When we prioritize both design and experience, customers enjoy our products and services more, while employees become happier and work at their full potential. 

Importantly, the DE team works systematically and methodically. Every project involves user validation to confirm that the solutions actually work. “We’re scientific designers. Our designs must always be tested. Even though we combine our experience with the client’s experience and also user insights, our group can’t represent millions of people. That’s why we heavily emphasize user validation,” explains Palm Makorn, Project Management Lead & Associate Director. 

Earth, CXO, adds an example: “Today’s design and experience work isn’t just about completing it for boss approval. It requires repeated testing. For instance, with a gas station project, we build one mock-up branch and run it. We bring in customers to test it, get influencers’ opinions, and gather employee feedback. We revise it 2-3 times until it’s truly perfect. Investment-wise, if a project is worth 100 million, we invest 1 million. That’s 1% to test and verify everything works.” 

This is why every project from this team genuinely solves pain points and enhances user experience, whether for customers or organizational employees. 

Bluebik’s Take On Design & Experience 

Design and experience work is nuanced and unique. That’s why Bluebik never repeat any solution twice. “We never sell template work to clients,” confirms Earth, CXO. “While we understand it could save costs and time, we see ourselves more as bespoke tailors. We talk with clients first: ‘What occasion is this suit for? Will you be in air-conditioned rooms or walking outside? Could you lift your arm so I can measure your shoulders?’ We truly craft customized work for each individual client.” 

Furthermore, the DE team is known for their lightning-fast work. Forget about having feedback meetings today and waiting until next week for revisions. The DE team makes changes live during the meeting. “This is our signature standard of work. We have numerous tools to help clients visualize immediately, whether it’s live-design, Hi-Fi mockups, or visioning workshops, which clients find very impressive. We’re not temperamental artists; we aim to be a sharp weapon in solving problems or creating new imaginative solutions for our clients.” 

Most importantly, as mentioned, experience is woven into every step of the customer journey. By combining the capabilities of our new DE business unit with our existing technological expertise in other business units, whether it’s Cybersecurity & Digital Trust, Big Data & Artificial Intelligence, or SAP ERP Advisory & Implementation, Bluebik’s digital solution delivery capabilities are more powerful than ever. We’re ready to be the strategic business weapon that creates a sustainable impact for our clients. 

Which D Define Our DE Team? 

Before parting ways, we asked each team member to choose one word starting with ‘D’ that captures the DE team’s work philosophy: 

Deep: getting to the heart of the matter, as explained by Earth, CXO 

“For me, it’s ‘deep’ diving to the heart of the matter. Firstly, when we work, we pursue what we’re passionate about with full dedication. Secondly, design isn’t just surface level. We need to dive deep into every detail and consider all dimensions.” 

Dazzling: making every project shine, as shared by Palm Makorn, Project Management Lead & Associate Director 

“I choose ‘dazzling’ becuase once we’ve done our deep-dive research, we then focus on making our work stand out. We create something with a wow factor, unique, aesthetically pleasing, and most importantly, communicative with users.”  

Direction: following the same compass, according to Earth Wichapon, Lead Designer 

“I pick ‘direction’ because a clear direction enables everyone in the team to deliver quality work that feels unified, as if created by a single person. No matter what that direction is about, such as creating positive social impact, it needs to be clear.” 

Diverse: using variety to solve various problems, as described by Jam Aijima, Project Management Consultant 

“For me, it’s ‘diverse’ because our team is made up of different individuals. We leverage this diversity to work across multiple dimensions and solve various problems for our clients and users.”  

These insights show how the Design & Experience team works beyond just creating aesthetically pleasing designs. If you’re interested in joining our team to create great experiences for clients and users, check out our open positions at https://bit.ly/careersatBBIK