IKEA Curtain

THE CHALLENGE

Online curtain selling performs much worse than offline

To complete the KPI for our next financial year, we concentrated on our popular product curtain and expanded its target users by offering customization services online. IKEA has no experience with curtain design tools, therefore we must figure it out from zero.

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The IKEA Curtain Design Tool is the fifth DIY Design Tool issued on the IKEA App.

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BACKGROUND

According to the business department, IKEA Curtain Digitalization is a promising concept. Our offline service today earns 300 million CNY per year; they anticipate that if it is digitalized, the revenue will increase by 260 million CNY, meeting our next year's KPI.

SCHEDULE

PRIMARY RESEARCH

RESEARCH GOAL

Revalue and Redefine the Service

PRIMARY EXPLORATION

The Best Way to Learn about a Service is to Pretend to be a Customer.

COWORKERS INTERVIEW

Place:
IKEA Offline Stores, Xuhui District, Shanghai

Content:
Interview two coworkers who sell curtains about the curtain-buying process and their experiences.

COMPETITIVE EXPERIENCE

My mentor and I pretended to be a mother and daughter to purchase curtains for our new room, and we used both offline and internet retailers.

PRIMARY ANALYSIS

Three Service Blueprints for Three Kinds of Services

WEAK POINTS & OPPORTUNITIES

PRODUCT COMPARISON

SERVICE COMPARISON

SERVICE INSIGHTS

PRODUCT DEFINITION

DISCUSSION

As a user researcher, I met with product managers and the business department to discuss product orientation strategy with my peers from the design team.

METHODS

The UX team organized everyone in the discussion by putting dots on the board to indicate which needs they thought were important.

CONCLUSION

A curtain design tool is valuable for both IKEA and users, but it should only cover a part of the users' experience.

SURVEY

USER INTERVIEWS

ANALYSIS

Curtain Customization is More Than Just Selecting a Fabric.

PERSONA & USER JOURNEY

DETAILED PROCEDURES OF RED ZONES

MAIN OPPORTUNITIES AFTER DISCUSSIONS

Efficiency-focused and Fine-Tuning

Exampled by Other IKEA Design Tools

INSIGHTS FOR REQUIREMENT MEETING

USER RESEACH

REFRAME UX QUESTIONS

How much DIY and customization do users want for their curtains?

1. Why did users give up/purchase the IKEA curtains?
2. What issues did users encounter during the purchasing process?
3. What online assistance do users require?

Target Users: Users who bought curtains in IKEA

We conducted a survey to assess tough steps with a large number of clients and identify the steps to quit the service. Interviews later will be held for more in-depth reasons.

Place: IKEA Research Lab: Interview Room & Observation Room

To choose what to include in the app, we interviewed two groups of customers: those who quit the IKEA curtain purchase and those who completed it.

USER SUMMARY

IKEA Customers Emphasize Efficiency

USABILITY ANALYSIS

The More Decisive, The Earlier In The Process.

USABILITY INSIGHTS

ITERATIONS

USABILITY TEST

USABILITY TESTING

I used Think-Aloud to conduct three online usability tests to evaluate the prototypes' clarity, completion, and comprehension.

ER SUMMARY

MY LEARNING

Setting priorities and having a clear goal makes teamwork more efficient and motivating

IKEA's openness to opinions has always been accompanied by an abundance of concerns from various jobs such as researchers, designers, and product managers. To avoid becoming stuck on one issue without going deeper, identifying priorities and sticking to the goal are essential to keep the discussion on the right track.

Insufficient quantitative data to support broader perspectives and credibility

IKEA conducted a lot of qualitative, person-focused UX research, which could result in sticking between individual cases due to the user researchers' subjective judgment. More quantitative data should be gathered and analyzed to get a more comprehensive understanding of the trend and user behaviors.

OTHER LEADING WORKS

ISSUE

First Issue In China In Feb. 2023

I finished my internship in January, just as designers and developers began their job. It's a pity I didn't see the App's launch and missed out on the response from real users. However, it is heartening to see that the Curtain Design Tool has been successfully launched.