Japan's 31Club reference skews calm density, points-first loyalty, and a minimal white/pink shellbuilt for a market that has used the app for years. Taiwan launch skewed in-store urgency: barcode ready at the counter, faster scan paths, and promo surfaces parents expect from local QSR loyalty apps. The conflict wasn't “ignore HQ”—it was which layers had to stay globally legible (brand color, illustration tone, component vocabulary) versus which could flex for local CRM reality and retail rhythm. My trade-off was to keep parent-brand primitives and review gates while refusing a pixel-copy of Japan: IA, density, and tier storytelling were tuned for Taiwan first, with rationale documented for every divergence before interpreter-led HQ calls.

The decision that actually rewired the design direction—after alignment, not before—was loyalty mechanics: HQ's mental model centers on points and redemption, but Taiwan's phase-one backend was spend-based tiers without point burn. Once engineering and client confirmed that gap in workshops, we stopped designing “mini Japan” flows and reframed the MVP around spend progress, tier unlocks, and voucher redemption—then chose the sweeter, more campaign-forward visual direction (A) because it matched how Taiwan needed to merchandise benefits, while direction B (closer to Japan's quieter white shell) would have under-communicated value in a market still learning the program.