SUSHIRO
Sushiro is Japan's highest-selling conveyor belt sushi brand, with four decades of devoted following. When the first Indonesian outlet was announced, Sushiro already had fans here. Word of mouth. Social media. Travel photos from Japan. The brand had followers before it had a single table in the country. The digital presence needed to be ready for that from day one, ready for existing fans and for everyone who had never heard of it.
Challenge
Launching a Japanese food brand in Indonesia isn't just translation work. Conveyor belt dining is still unfamiliar to a large part of the Indonesian market, so the platform had to introduce an entire format, not just a menu. A fan who already loves Sushiro from Japan, wanting the same experience they remember. Someone who has never seen a kaiten-zushi belt in their life, needing to understand what it even is before they'd consider walking in. Serving both, without watering down the experience for either, was the real problem.
My Roles
I owned this project end to end as the sole Product Designer, from brand and cultural analysis through to UI handoff. I worked alongside the development team and managed the design relationship with Sushiro Indonesia's stakeholders as the primary client contact.
Process
The platform was built from scratch, timed to the opening of Sushiro's first Indonesian outlet. I started with brand and cultural analysis, mapping how Sushiro's Japanese visual identity needed to translate for an Indonesian digital audience without losing what makes the brand recognizable. A pre-launch phase came first. A countdown page gave existing fans somewhere to land before the outlet opened. Full UI design, development, QA, and launch followed in sequence with the physical opening.
Key Decision
A Pre-Launch Countdown Page As The First Touchpoint
Before the outlet opened, the site had one purpose. Channel the anticipation that already existed. Fans who'd been following Sushiro from a distance needed a place to go, a date to watch, proof the brand was taking its Indonesian arrival seriously. So I built a countdown page as the first thing anyone would see, turning a launch date into something people could feel building toward.
Appetite-First Navigation Over Brand-First Storytelling
For a food brand, the menu is the product. Visitors arrive curious about the food, not the company history. So menu and food photography sit at the center of the experience, not a brand story visitors have to scroll past first. That's what turns curiosity into an actual visit.
Visual Identity Adapted, Not Just Translated
Sushiro's Japanese aesthetic needed to feel authentic without feeling foreign to an Indonesian audience encountering it for the first time. So I calibrated the color language, typography hierarchy, and visual rhythm specifically for how Indonesian audiences consume food content online, keeping the Japanese character intact while making the experience immediately legible locally.
Validation
The design went through an internal review with the MAI team before being presented to Sushiro Indonesia's stakeholders. Feedback from both rounds shaped the final platform before it launched alongside the first outlet opening.
Solution
Sushiro Indonesia's website serves as the brand's permanent digital home in the country, built around an appetite-driven menu experience, promo and news updates, and an outlet locator designed to convert curiosity into restaurant visits. It launched with a pre-opening countdown page and went live at full capability the day the first outlet opened.
Result
- Sushiro Indonesia's first digital presence launched simultaneously with the brand's first Indonesian outlet, giving an existing fanbase an immediate online home
- Pre-launch countdown page served as the brand's first touchpoint in Indonesia, channeling anticipation before a single outlet was open
- Outlet locator enables physical discovery for new audiences unfamiliar with where to find the brand
- Platform gives Sushiro Indonesia a permanent owned channel beyond social media, with full control over menu, promotions, and location information
- Built entirely from scratch for a market entry, with no prior digital infrastructure to build on
Waringin