In Store Smart Home Experience System
Roles
UX Designer
UX Researcher
WS Facilitator
Tools
Figma
Miro + Teams
Adobe Photoshop, After Effects
Overview
Over a span of 13 months, I had the exciting opportunity to spearhead the conception, creation, testing, and launch of an interactive in-store experience for IKEA's Smart Home products, which included an awesome collaboration with SONOS for their speakers.
As the UX lead on this project, I collaborated closely with the brilliant minds of SONOS product developers based in Boston and the innovative IKEA Store Experience Designers in Malmö.
My role was all about crafting a jaw-dropping in-store experience that would captivate IKEA store visitors worldwide. Picture this: we had to design interfaces that seamlessly blended into room setups, product display shelves, and islands throughout the IKEA Stores. But that's not all! We also put in serious effort to transform our concepts into user stories, considering the unique challenges posed by the in-store custom interface, user behaviours, and the intricate relationships among smart home products.
Fast forward to today, and you can find the incredible result of our collaboration in IKEA Stores across the globe. It's a testament to the hard work, expertise, and passion of a team that truly understands how to create an immersive and user-centered experience.
Challenges
In this project, we faced challenges developing a custom interface for seamless user-friendly introduction to SONOS Smart Speakers and IKEA's Smart Home Products.
Our biggest challenge: To create an inviting experience without overwhelming users in the busy store environment. To simplify introducing the product range and enable users to envision themselves in a real-world smart home scenario with ease.
Adapting to diverse global markets was crucial. We constantly had to refer to product details and release dates, guiding our design process for different markets.
Our aim: a modular interface that accommodates different sensibilities and product availabilities. This meticulous approach ensured adaptability and delivered a tailored experience worldwide
Goals
1. Design an experience that catered to various user types, including those who are interested, curious, ambitious, enthusiasts, as well as bystanders observing in the store.
2. Blend the sense of being in a smart home with a user-friendly interface that seamlessly integrates into users' "Life@home" and feels effortlessly simple to use.
3. Achieve a balance between meeting business goals and addressing product availability challenges by developing a modular interface that excels in technical robustness, delights users, and ensures a sustainable product development process.
Research and
Analysis
To understand the scope of the project, I engaged with a skilled team of experienced interior designers who shed light on the modular nature of IKEA setups tailored for global stores. They also shared insights on lighting control to create immersive experiences. Additionally, we conducted an analysis of users' music preferences and light preferences for different moods, which further informed our understanding of the project's possibilities.
Utilising this collective knowledge, our team collaborated in workshop sessions to seamlessly merge these experiences into captivating "Scenes."
Results
The outcome of this extensive research and collaborative effort led to significant insights. So, what exactly is a scene? Following a two-month discovery phase, which involved workshops and learning from interior designers and product experts, we conceptualized a unifying element that simplifies the overall experience and resonates with individuals in their smart home journeys.
Internally referred to as "experience sets," these pre-set scenes involved the transmission of macro control signals to synchronize various elements within the setup. This included adjusting lighting, speakers, blinds, and other products, with specific settings for each, such as light intensity, sound, and blind height.
By carefully crafting these combinations, we curated scene-specific experiences tailored to individual rooms, ensuring a seamless and suitable ambiance.
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For e.g. Waking up would be available in bedroom setups and Party would be a setting for Living room setups.
INFORMATION
ARCHITECTURE
After finalizing the scenes and technical setup, designing the interface became easier. Working with other designers and the product owner, I created user stories to guide interface development.
We collaborated closely with IKEA store employees, conducting casual interviews to understand their daily work and interface troubleshooting. This informed the creation of user stories tailored to their needs, simplifying the setup flow for the IHSES experience.
To kickstart the process, I took the initiative to work on the information architecture and wireframe the interface. I also engaged in discussions with the developers based in Boston at SONOS.
Their primary role involved handling the development and addressing technical limitations of the interface, including establishing the communication protocol among the project's products.
Wireframes
After a lot of iterations and wireframing, prototyping, user feedback and alignment, I managed to decide on a final wireframe structure that would be functional in every room setting.
We also wireframed a whole setup interface flow for the IKEA employee user type, even if it was a one-time setup use case.
Interface Design
Designing the interface was a lot of fun and it had its share of challenges with multiple teams involved in the approval process.
Each interface had to be approved before finalising it, discussing it with developers, and preparing assets for usability tests.
I received valuable assistance from junior UI designers and graphic designers at IKEA, which facilitated a collaborative workflow
Validation and User feedback
The interface was tested in stores in Copenhagen, Malmö and in several cities in the Netherlands. The interfaces were stress testing with the end users as well as the Ikea employees responsible for setting up the whole smart home ecosystem in the store. We used the feedback from the testing rounds to make changes and also identify features and improvements for the next version.
Conclusionand Reflections
The product's release in Scandinavian markets garnered a remarkable footfall of 125,000+ people within the first month, fueling increased smart home product awareness and sales for IKEA. The in-store interface, version 2.2, is now globally live in all IKEA stores, with ongoing enhancements and added functionality.
Moving forward, IKEA has chosen to pursue its own interface project, parting ways with SONOS. The future holds exciting innovations yet to be unveiled. Nonetheless, I take immense pride in contributing to a digital/physical interface that not only introduces people to new technology but also creates an engaging and transformative experience seamlessly integrated into their daily lives.
This project provided valuable insights into the workings of a massive corporation like IKEA, fostering my understanding of interior and store design. Leading a cross-functional team through workshops, user research, and testing, we achieved our ultimate goal.
Overall, this journey as a Senior Designer on this in-store experience project has been both challenging and rewarding, fostering personal and professional growth.
I'm grateful for the opportunity to contribute to an innovative project that seamlessly blends technology and design, leaving a lasting impact on users and their lives at home :)
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