MCRA Japan

While at is + at, I collaborated with MCRA, a leading full-service advisory firm specializing in medical devices, diagnostics, and biologics. My role involved designing a new website for their newly acquired and rebranded company in Japan, previously known as Vorpal Technologies.

MCRA Japan focuses on guiding foreign manufacturers through the complexities of Japanese medical device commercialization. With the retirement of the Vorpal Technologies brand and web presence, the goal was to create a site that seamlessly aligned with MCRA’s overarching brand identity.

The original Vorpal website was outdated and did not align with MCRA’s branding guidelines or web standards. The company information presented was also obsolete and most of the content needed a revaluation as well.

The goal of this project was to integrate MCRA’s branding into the new MCRA Japan website while enhancing overall usability and user experience. This involved creating a cohesive UI kit, ensuring the site was fully responsive across both mobile and desktop devices, and optimizing it for multilingual support in English and Japanese.

To kick off the project, I did some research to gather inspiration and conduct both comparative and competitive analyses. Before diving into direct competitors, I explored a broad range of healthcare industry websites to get a better understanding of modern visual patterns. From there, I examined the layouts, content strategy, and messaging of other medical consulting firms.

To understand the necessary changes to the site architecture, I first mapped out the existing user flow of the Vorpal Technologies website. This diagram helped identify what portions of the site needed to be removed and areas where key information was missing. Since MCRA Japan was now part of the global MCRA brand, the new site needed to align with the parent domain’s overall navigation structure. As a result, certain sections like “News & Updates,” were no longer needed. 

When creating the new site map, a key priority was ensuring a smooth redirection from the retired Vorpal Technologies brand to MCRA Japan. Additionally, the site required a seamless language toggle between English and Japanese to accommodate both audiences. I collaborated with a team of SEO experts and copywriters who provided updated content, including a new “About” section, an expanded services list, and a reorganized resources page.

Old Site Map (Vorpal Technologies)

New Site Map (MCRA Japan)

DESIGN

Using the newly developed site map as a foundation, I iterated on multiple versions of each page while designing a custom UI toolkit tailored to MCRA’s brand. Building on their core purple brand color, I expanded the palette with more vibrant complementary shades and introduced Avenir as a supporting typeface to pair with the existing serif font, Cardo.

I designed and built reusable components, which included buttons, labels, cards, and sub-navigation. I also created a localized footer that fit beneath MCRA’s global navigation and footer system. To ensure a consistent and accessible experience across devices, I also created responsive layouts, including a mobile version with a streamlined hamburger menu.