IKEA
Replicating IKEA’s store design formula online.
Client
IKEA is an international ready-to-assembly furniture company.
Outcome
A site design that brings ‘The Path’ online.
Brief
To design a check-out process for IKEA.com/au.
My Role
Research, Strategy, Design
Central Insight
IKEA’s store design formula, ‘The Path,’ is a critical purchase facilitator.
The Process
Research, Discovery, Synthesis, Design
The Research
35 Store Intercepts
10 Interviews
20 Contextual Inquiries
13 Heuristic Reviews
The Discoveries
Discovery 1: IKEA’s stores are at the foundation of its customer experience.
They provide an emotional release and escape.
They're a social opportunity.
They're a place to find creative inspiration.
“My favorite days are spent walking through IKEA. I can just forget about everything else.”
“I just love exploring and passing through different worlds.”
“Stores are the base on which IKEA is built.”
Discovery 2: However, with so few stores in Australia, most customer interactions occur online, challenging domestic revenue.
With only 7 stores in Australia, IKEA's central experience is unavailable for most Australian customers.
What's more, only 27% of all customer interactions occur in-store annually.
This translates to sales, with IKEA Australia accounting for only 2% of international revenue––"a drop in the ocean" according to Australia Managing Director, David Hood.
Synthesis: Unpacking and Replicating ‘The Path’
IKEA's store design formula ('The Path') is a key purchase driver.
An IKEA store floor plan, showing a birds-eye view of ‘The Path.’
'The Path' is an effective purchase generator for the following reasons:
It’s sinuous.
The sinuous nature of the path relieves the customer of decision fatigue. They can instead ‘sit back and relax.’
It’s navigable.
Despite the sinuous nature of The Path, shoppers aren’t trapped. With discoverable ‘short-cuts,’ The Path provides the shopper with a feeling of discovery and accomplishment.
It’s transparent.
The shopper’s ability to see the lay-out as they move through it creates a feeling of mobility and independence.
It delays gratification.
By delaying the ability to buy the item for which they’re shopping, customers feels licensed to treat themselves at the end.
The result?
Impulse buys, which account for 67% of all commercial purchases.
Design: Recreating ‘The Path’ online
Step 1: Developing a user flow that simulates The Path.
To replicate The Path, the online shopping experience would have to be a virtual, linear progression through showrooms. All other actions (learning about products and adding them to cart) should not derail shoppers from the core browsing experience.
A user flow that reflects the flow of The Path: product discovery and investigation without leaving the linear browsing experience.
Step 2: Wire framing what this user flow would look like as a check-out process.
In the wireframe, my goal was to have as few alternative screens as possible, and allow all actions (discovery, selection, add to cart) to occur on a single, sinuous, and virtual shopping experience.
A sketched wireframe that shows how the user flow would come to life (excuse the floor tiles).
Step 3: Designing a prototype that brings the wireframe to life.
While very lo-fi, my prototype demonstrates how The Path would look as an e-comm site and check-out process.
It allows customers to do different actions (investigate products, choose colors and sizes, and add to cart) as they virtually 'walk' through different rooms:
My redesign encapsulates the key element of The Path (replicating sinuous browsing experience, undisrupted by shopping actions)
The new design drastically simplifies the user journey that exists on the current IKEA.com/au site––which shows inventory in a traditional setting (product by product), and requires too much toggling between pages:
The existing IKEA site, which disrupts the browsing process, forces too much decision-making and requires customers to toggle between pages to look at products
The prototype in action.