Once we’d identified effective solutions to the challenges, we drafted a new vision for the customer journey intricately detailed in animations and prototypes, which helped ensure all parties were aligned on the plan: aspirational and sophisticated, but also attainable. Together with IKEA, we established a strategy to work as partners with internal teams, sharing design and development labor, openly exchanging ideas and feedback, and even providing guidance on IKEA’s hiring strategies.

From mattresses to lightbulbs to kitchens and beyond, the variety of products IKEA offers are presented and sold in a myriad of ways. The flexible digital designs enable a shopping experience optimized by category and use. Inspiration galleries, planners, guides, and other content can easily be added to help shoppers find their perfect option, plus accessories and add-ons to complete the look. With around 250,000 SKUs per market, this aspect of our work was essential.

Industry-leading contextual digital tools raise the bar on data transparency and give customers control over how data is collected, stored, and used. Customers can choose if and how the company uses information—such as their IKEA browsing history, previous purchases, and product preferences—to inform product recommendations in its app, and eventually on its website. To aid explanation of these abstract concepts to users, we explored evolving the iconic IKEA assembly character as an approachable guide.

From a custom icon set to branded price presentation and rigorous color guidelines, each component infuses the IKEA branding into our digital platforms. To complete our design system, we also established a new, digital-first tone of voice with dynamic writing guidelines. Now, writers, designers, motion designers, and developers have everything they need to produce new work across the digital ecosystem.

By including best practices for accessibility into design components, we ensure our digital products are natively inclusive. Solutions are defined once, and repeated throughout development.

A design system is only successful if it’s used globally by an organization. That’s why we helped IKEA establish strategies for training tailored to user types and knowledge levels, advocating for adoption, maintenance and upkeep of components and documentation, and hiring a team dedicated to its management. These critical pieces helped to ensure long term success.

Digital touchpoints are integrated to bridge the omni-channel experience. In-store features give users the ability to scan products, explore options and accessories, then skip the checkout line while in the physical store, reducing customer stress and simplifying the path to purchase.

We helped create Upptäcka, a replacement for the aging digital in-store installations. These new kiosks integrate with each other and the overall IKEA digital ecosystem, reducing one-off solutions. Upptäcka adapts to each store and location, making it the most contextually relevant digital touchpoint at IKEA.

Fixa is a task management app designed to digitize time-consuming paper-based processes, making co-workers more efficient and effective, freeing up time to focus on customers. Co-workers have called it “the best product IKEA has ever given them.”