Ikea Canada
- A UX Research on Ikea's website.
The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of the findability and discoverability issues of Ikea's Website. We wanted to find out if the users would have difficulty in using the website and accessing their products and services.
Role: UX Researcher
Client: Ikea Website
Timeline: 14 Weeks
Team: 4 Members
Discovery
Phase 1
Secondary Research - Competitive Analysis
Compared Ikea website with two other websites mainly Wayfair Canada and Canadian Tire based on their business goals, user goals, Heuristic Analysis and SWOT Analysis.
Phase 2
Primary Research - User Interviews
Interviews were conducted with 8 participants as a team. We collected their thoughts, emotions and experience of using the Ikea Website.
Phase 3
Persona and Journey Map
User Personas and Journey maps were created after analyzing and synthesizing the data collected from the 8 interviews. This was done so that the insights collected gives us an idea to move on to the further steps of wireframing and prototyping.
Competitive Analysis
After conducting an in-depth competitive analysis of Ikea with Wayfair Canada and Canadian Tire, the team found out few pain points with the Ikea website.
Findings from Competitive Analysis
1. Hidden price until the last step.
When selecting between king or queen size bed it shows addition to the base price and not total price. Assembly pricing not seen until the last step, tax on the cart and so on. How can we create more transparency surrounding our pricing structure?
2. Breakdown of cart details.
On the checkout page, user’s don’t get a breakdown of the price, item quantity and even item name of all the products they’re checking out. How can we provide more transparency about the user’s cart information until the last step?
3. Assembling products is difficult.
Post-purchase experience is the most difficult part of buying furniture from IKEA because it requires assembling which is often complicated and stressful. How can we make assembling the products easier for the users?
4. Few usability issues that cause frustration to the users.
While hovering over the icons, they don't denote what each one stands for reducing legibility. Delivery could have customizable options for users efficient use. How can we provide more transparency to make the navigation simple?
Main Hypothesis
After conducting the competitive analysis and analyzing the findings, the team developed a hypothesis to better navigate and understand the problem.
Improving how product cards are displayed in the cart and checkout pages on Ikea's website will make it easier for customers to see what they're buying and how much it costs. This will lead to quicker and smoother checkouts, making shopping more efficient for customers.
Research Questions
01. Can you describe your overall experience with making a recent purchase on Ikeas website?
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02. Sketch out an ideal journey for an online shopping checkout experience
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03. Can you tell me how you ensured that the items in your car were correct before proceeding to checkout?
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04. Are you able to ensure the price breakdown during the checkout process?
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05. Have you ever thought of considering Ikeas assembly servicing option. If yes, where and how do you look for the information related to it?
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06. How would you rate your experience using Ikea website's checkout process?
User Interviews
8 User interviews were conducted. The participants were a mix of men and women who were domestic and international students. Some of them had prior experience in using the Ikea website to buy furniture and decor items while others were new to this.
The purpose of the interview was to discover the users’ thought when making furniture purchase online, especially the pain paints when they were going through the purchasing journey.
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Key Findings:
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Unclear pricing leads to frustration
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Assembly service is not expected but appreciated
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Dimensions and measurement confusion encounters in the purchasing journey
“Ikea website does not provide proper dimensions but I feel amazon does it better."
"I really need edit option on the checkout page before paying because the paymnet page is again a decision point for me."
"I need proper price breakdown and no surprises at the end"
“I love going to the physical store as it gives you a complete idea of a furniture, say its scale, proportion etc."
"I’d prefer an assembly services option on the cart page so I can easily select the products I need help assembling."
“I like how well-structured Ikea website is and how bright the website is. Ikea is way more calming and is not overwhelming for me. I can look for the products that i want to look for.”
User Persona
After conducting 8 interviews, we narrowed down our findings and created a single persona and journey map of Rachel Green including all the needs and tasks she does.
Journey Mapping
Next Steps
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This project focussed on user research to understand and address user needs effectively. Interviews with students provided diverse perspectives and insights, uncovering key pain points, particularly around the findability of certain website elements. The team will prioritize and fix the issues found during user interviews as the first major next step.
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Moving forward, the design process will involve developing wireframes and prototypes, followed by usability testing to ensure a user-centered solution.
Key Takeaways
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I found it quite challenging to design a Screener and Discussion guide. Asking the right questions sometimes lead to asking leading questions.
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A UX Researcher should be an avid listener which is an important quality. I learnt the importance of patiently listening to their stories in order to uncover the reason behind certain interactions, behaviors and experiences.
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I also refined my ability to commuinicate meaningful insights and translate them into a concise persona and journey map ensuring all the necessary details were perfectly captured.