Share IKEA
Student furniture leasing program to reduce single-use furniture waste from university students and enhance the sustainability of furniture.
Client
IKEA
Role
UX/UI Designer
Task
User Research, Wireframe, Visual Design, Prototype
Year
2019
Problem Overview
International students and domestic students moving interstate for their studies have trouble buying new furniture for their short-term stay and recycling their short-term used furniture afterwards.
Business Challenge
Reducing single-use furniture waste from university students and enhance the sustainability of furniture.
Encouraging university students to participate in a leasing program to increase the re-use of IKEA products.
UX OPPORTUNITY
Enhancing the end-to-end experience for customers purchasing furniture for short-term use and offering an adaptive and agile customer experience.
Customer Challenge
Lack of local knowledge and experience.
Buying furniture for short-term use at affordable prices.
Managing logistics of furniture being purchased, including delivery set-up, maintenance and moving out the furniture when required.
The Goal
Primary Goal
Discovering the most pressing problems and needs from the end-to-end journey of university students purchasing furniture and designing an adaptive and agile customer experience that encourages university students to partake in a furniture leasing program with IKEA.
Secondary Goal
Conveying the benefits of reusable products, and raising customers’ awareness about sustainability of furniture and reducing single-use furniture waste.
KPI
The number of subscribers.
Customer satisfaction.
Design Challenge
How might we design a product that can encourage university students to participate in a furniture leasing program and reduce single use furniture-waste?
Discovery
User Interview
I conducted user interviews with two main groups of users: International students and domestic & interstate students. The interviews ran for 45 mins each time, and the following questions were asked;
Tell me about yourself: where do you study and live?
How long have you been in Sydney and how’s it going so far?
Could you tell me what type of accommodation you live in now?
How long have you lived over there? Is it your first accommodation in Sydney? If not, how many times have you moved?
Do you own your furniture? If so, what type of furniture do you have?
How and where did you get your furniture, and how long have you used it?
Was it easy to set up your household when you first moved to Australia from your home town?
If you have moved more than once in Australia, how did you manage your furniture when you moved to your new accommodation?
Have you ever sold your furniture to someone in Australia? If so, how did you sell it?
If you needed to replace your furniture or buy new furniture, what would your maximum budget be?
Are you happy to use second-hand furniture at half-price or prefer to get new furniture at retail price? And could you tell me the reason?
Have you been to IKEA or used the IKEA online store? If you have, what do you like or dislike about IKEA product and services?
If IKEA launched a furniture rental package program, would you be willing to join? If not, what is the reason?
What’s the most you would be willing to pay for this product?
What do you plan to do with the furniture after the completion of university?
International Student
2/4 participants answered that they are looking for long-term use furniture because the cost of buying furniture is not cheap. So they prefer to buy higher quality and better designed furniture even though the price is more expensive.
3/4 participants answered that they have previous experience with sharing the cost of buying furniture with their flatmate, friend or partner.
3/4 participants responded that they planned to keep their furniture when they move out from their current place.
Domestic, Interstate Student
3/4 participants answered that they are specifically looking for fully-furnished apartments because they do not want the stress and responsibility associated with buying new furniture and setting it up and managing it when they move.
3/4 participants answered that they are using a foreign language based online network for recommendations and information (e.g. Chinese language based sydneytoday.com, and Korean language based hojunara.com…)
2/4 participants answered that they are looking for cheaper/basic quality furniture because they planned to only use the furniture for a short-term period so did not want to spend too much.
KEY INSIGHTS FROM USER INTERVIEW
62.5%
Looking for fully-furnished apartments
75%
Have previous experience with sharing the cost of buying furniture with their flatmate, friend or partner.
87.5%
Not keen to buy second-hand furniture from an unknown seller
75%
Positive about an IKEA Leasing program
5 out of 8 students answered that they are specifically looking for fully-furnished apartments because they do not want the stress and responsibility associated with buying new furniture and setting it up and managing it when they move.
6 out of 8 participants answered that they have previous experience with sharing the cost of buying furniture with their flatmate, friend or partner.
7/8 participants were not keen to buy second-hand furniture from an unknown seller because there is generally no warranty and they were concerned about hygiene. However, 6/8 participants are positive about an IKEA Leasing program because they trust the IKEA brand and high quality service.
Competitor Analysis
I also started researching on competitors’ websites to understand how competitors behave and benchmark their furniture leasing programs. I looked through six competitors that offer furniture leasing programs for university students across Australia as well as overseas.
Define
Persona
After user interviews and desktop research, I created a persona based on user interviews and desktop research findings that would exemplify the user type I was targeting.
Customer Journey
In addition, I created the user scenario and then mapped out the user journey, examining the pre-planning, during and post-rental phases of the furniture rental experience.
By mapping out the different stages and actions associated with each phase, I was able to determine and analyse the customer’s pain points and thought processes to produce meaningful insights.
User Scenario
Ming is a first year international student from China that has just arrived in Sydney to study at the University of Sydney. Ming arrived in Sydney 3 weeks prior to her university semester commencing to find her accommodation and settle into Sydney. Ming found an unfurnished apartment near her university campus. She plans to buy all new furniture and home appliances for her home before the first semester commences.
The Opportunities
Provide household-items as a packaged product to help customers save time and stress trying to figure out what essential items they need.
Offer various payment options (Share payment, Up-front, Subscription)
Offer language option for international students
Free pick up system when moving, and for old furniture pick up for credit to avoid dumping/landfill
Free delivery with easy estimating and tracking system for convenient logistics.
Lease take over option
Design
User Flow Charts
Based on user interviews, competitor reviews, desk research and customer journey mapping, I created user flowcharts to map each step on the path the users will take throughout the solution.
Wireframes
I created low fidelity wireframes to establish the basic structure of each page before design and content were added. I aimed to develop the global and secondary navigation to ensure the terminology and structure used for the site meets user expectation.
The product is divisible into six areas: Onboarding, Sign-up form, Custom plan, Product details, Cart & Payment and Delivery & Tracking
Style Guide
In order to create cohesive product design and user experience, I applied the style of the current IKEA website.
When designing, I strive for: clarity, efficiency, consistency, and brand identity.
Final Design
