Ikea
As a mock client project, our team was tasked with the following prompt. IKEA is looking to understand user needs and create a mobile prototype that will allow users to discover plans and purchase items for their homes.
Scope and constraints
Two-week group sprint in a team of four
Project Development Lead, UX designer and researcher
Marvel
Figma
Miro
Tools used
Roles and responsibilities
Our goal is to create a user-friendly and immersive design. We want to provide a fun, unique, and engaging experience for our users as they navigate the joys of home/apartment ownership.
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Problem statement
Our users enjoy their in-store IKEA experience, but they want to be able to shop for IKEA products at home with the help of a personalized IKEA planner. There is no current resource/customer service available on the mobile app.
How might we..
Create a human connection on our mobile platform to encourage our users to explore different IKEA design possibilities?
opportunities
methods used
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Heuristic
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Competitive and comparative analyses
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Research Plan
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Complete interviews
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Persona
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Journey map
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User flow
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Problem statement and how might we
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Navigation Scheme
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Create a paper prototype
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Low fidelity prototyping
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High Fidelity prototyping
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Presentation
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Research report and plan
Foundational Research
Why would someone use a planner tool?
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Assitance discovering new items or design inspiration
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Expert knowledge without going into a location
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Easy access to that information on a more flexible schedule ​
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A more personalized shopping experience
current shopper demographic
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New homeowners
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Long time homeowners
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Millennial and Generation Z apartment renters
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People looking to have a collaborative design experience
Jo Kirkland
recently married, first time homeowner
Persona
Bio
Age-31
Relationship- Married
Location- Asheville, NC
Career- Photographer
Scenario
Jo & her husband Isaac are looking to spruce up their new home. They both have accumulated their own furniture over the years & want to blend their current style with new pieces. They have decided to go to Ikea & need some guidance on planning out their purchases to create a cozy and personalized room.
Frustrations
-Jo is frustrated that she has to go to multiple stores to find what she wants and is often unsuccessful
Goals and needs
-To create a room that feels cozy by blending new IKEA pieces with her current furniture
-To find furniture that is both aesthetically pleasing & functional
How are users currently shopping for furniture ?
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The majority of users go through the design process alone
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50% of users take into account members of their household (i.e., children & animals) when buying furniture
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Most users design rooms based on colors or a piece they find ​
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75% of our users said that colors & aesthetics are equally as important as functionality
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100% of our users design one piece at a time rather than an entire room​
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Many wanted to share their designs with others on their social media accounts
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Most looking for Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram ​
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What could this process look like?
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Style quiz to curate information and products to users
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​Show related items
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A VR feature to place existing furniture into their spaces. Or to have furniture they are interested in placed into their space.
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Search by uploading images
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Uploading liked images or inspiration for the room/design
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Ability to share to social media
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And upload other photos from those platforms
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The ability to chat with a specialist
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Video chat, phone call texting​
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Booking in-person appointments
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Primary Research
Selecting how to proceed with so many features
Our team was very excited to bring a unique experience to our users. In our paper prototype, we wanted to build out as many features as we could to try and appeal to all of the user feedback we received
While many features were a welcomed addition to the platform, many were confusing or unwanted.
Rather than being inclusive, we cluttered the app with more features than any user wanted.
Finding the mvp
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1. Users liked the step-by-step instructions.
2. Many users liked the idea of a style quiz.
3. Users were confused as to how uploading a photo would be helpful.
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4. Though users were interested in the quiz, they did not want to type out all of their responses. There was a strong want for multiple-choice options.
5. They wanted to see IKEA furniture pictured throughout
6. Users interpreted this as only having three questions. They were looking for more out of the quiz.
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7. Having ratings of each specialist tested very well.
8. Users let more connected to the specialist because they picked them.
9. Users assumed the quiz would have asked what room they were designing for. Because of that, the drop-down menu seemed redundant.
10. Icons were unclear.
11. Users were not sure what these boxes symbolized.
12. Having the options in this format made it unclear as to what they were. Many said the first part read like a text conversation, but this as is removed that experience.
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13. Users were unsure if they were talking to a person or if the text were auto-generated.
14. Formatting here was confusing.
15. Users wanted to know if they had to communicate through text.
Cutting down on clutter
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1. Removing the upload image options helped to provide clear direction.
2. There was some confusion as to what the homepage was.
3. Types of questions in the quiz tested well.
4. Users wanted to skip certain questions.
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5. Users liked that they could choose how they communited with the specialists.
6. Having a portfolio and biography of each specialist tested extremely well.
7. While the words in the bottom navagtion bar helped, users were unsure where they were in the feature.
8. Users wanted to know if they had to set up a meeting right after the quiz to be connected to a specialst.
9. The conversation read more human, which the user liked.
10. With the familiar format of text conversation users.
11. Users loved that there was product information with the image.
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12. Users noted the change in the position of the text.
13. Users were unclear if adding an item to the cart would remove them from the feature.
14.There some confusion as to the items that were recommended. Users wanted to see variety in the products.
Branding like ikea
1.The minimalist design was on-brand with IKEA.
2. Length of quiz tested well.
3. Users liked that the material examples were of a real product.
4. Skip features were added to all of the questions.
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5. Having images of the specialist helped people feel more connected.
6. The white text on the blue background was a bit hard to read to some.
7. Uers liked that they could be sent recommendations without talking to a specialist.
8. New bottom navigation bar showed in app placement clearly.
9. Having a cart helped some connect that they could purchase the suggested items directly.
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10. Improved formatting limited confusion as to the process.
11. Users were unsure what the wishlist would be.
12. Users connected that liked items would be in the profile.
Reflection
There is only room to grow
After our final iteration of the high-fidelity prototype, my team and I felt that we had confidently selected and designed our current MVP users. Even with the success of our current prototype, there is still a lot more that could be done. While it was not within the scope of our project to build a VR component, a few testers did mention the feature. Being able to customize a space while seeing a live mock of that design could be an engaging selling point.
what i enjoyed about this project
As this was my first collaborative UX/UI experience, it was a very informative mock assigment. Not only to new ideas and design perspectives but to diffrent methodes and tools to use for deliverables. It is imperative in a creative field to be open to knew practices to grow as a designer or researcher.