IKEA Store App (Redesign)

The primary project for IMSE 577 was to redesign the UX and UI of a chosen product. Our team choose the IKEA Store Mobile Application.

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Disclaimer: This redesign concept was created only as a educational exercise and is not an official redesign of the IKEA Store application.

Graduate Student Group Project 

Role(s):

Team Lead, UX Designer and Researcher

Class: 

Human-Computer Interaction for UI and UX Design

Winter Semester 2020

mockup of redesgined app
What is the IKEA Store App?

The IKEA store app acts as an in-store shopping companion. It allows users to browse products, find a nearby store, create a shopping list, discover deals and more.

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The idea for this app is incredibly helpful, as an IKEA store can be overwhelming and a companion app makes for a valuable tool.

 

However, at the time of the project, review scores for the app were mixed. Reviews complained of bugs, limited functionality and overall confusion using the app. My team wanted to understand what issues users were having in more depth and what we could do about them.

original app design home screen

The original IKEA store app as of Feb 2020

Exploring the issues

To understand the major issues, my team performed usability testing on the main functions of the app. These functions were broken down into three tasks. 

1. Check the hours for your IKEA store

2. Create a shopping list with candles, a chair, and a table

3. Check if there are any deals on kids beds

Five testers, who all had visted an IKEA store in the past, performed these tasks and were rated on their success on a scale of 1 to 4 (1 being complete success, 4 being complete failure). After their tasks were completed, they also provided a short interview to give their general thoughts on the app. 

Findings from testing

Check the hours for your IKEA store

We discovered issues with

  • Predictability

  • Observability

  • Visibility

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Average Difficulty Score: 2/4

A common issue was that users had problems initially discovering that they could tap the store button to get more information. 

Create a shopping list with candles, a chair, and a table

We discovered issues with

  • Understandability 

  • Error Prevention

  • Multithreading 

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Average Difficulty Score: 1.8/4

Users felt the amount of information on the list screen was overwhelming. 

 

The app lacks a shopping cart feature but many confused the list function for a shopping cart.

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Many were also confused by the meaning of the iconography on the bottom before they tapped it.

Check if there are any deals on kids beds

We discovered issues with

  • Predictability

  • Error Prevention

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Average Difficulty Score: 3.2/4

Filter/Sort options were limited.

 

Offers on homepage were few and sale prices were unclear.

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Ideation and Sketches

Our testing data gave us a solid foundation to address the observed issues with the original app. My team met multiple times to showcase our sketches for ideas on how to improve the design.

sketch of filter screen
sketch of home screen
sketch of sale screen
Prototype version 1

Made using Adobe XD, the initial version of the prototype addresses the issues found during usability testing. These include, but are not limited to: ​

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Increased interactivity indicators for the store button

Simplifying the list screen information

Adding more clarity and options to the filter/sort function

Including labels to bottom bar navigation icons

Testing our design

To understand the current state of usability for our redesign, our team used three methods.

Think-Aloud Task Testing

  • 3 Participants

  • Completed tasks in both the original app and the redesign

  • Thoughts are spoken aloud throughout testing.

  • Survey is given afterward

Remote Task Testing

  • 3 Participants

  • Completed tasks using the original app and the redesign

  • Survey is given afterward asking for encountered issues and usability rating

Heuristic Evaluation

  • 4 UX experts recruited

  • Completed tasks using the redesign prototype

  • Provided feedback on if our design followed usability heuristics 

Final Design Changes

Feedback from all of our tests was very positive, but there were still many areas that needed improvement.

 

Some changes were minor, such as improving touch target sizes for buttons. However, two major changes were made to the prototype for the final iteration. 

Multiple paths to achieve tasks

Improvements to product list

One significant alteration to the prototype was retooling it to account for the user’s need to complete a singular task multiple ways. For example, users wanted to have access to the “Deals & Steals” page from both the home screen and the product categories screen.

Onboarding to reduce confusion

Lastly, a prevalent piece of feedback found across all of our test types was the need for the app itself to provide clearer information on intended functionality. Specifically that the app was meant to create lists of items but not to directly purchase those items. To solve for this, we created a simple onboarding process to briefly highlight that intention. 

Results and reflections

After users finished their task walkthroughs of our prototype, we had them complete a System Usability Scale (SUS) survey. A SUS score above 68 indicates an above-average usability rating. The average score for our redesign was 90. I feel this demonstrates that we completed our initial goal of solving for the usability issues the original application faced.  

 

While I was not the UI designer on this project, many of my design concepts from the planning/ideation phase made it into the final version. I was also proud to contribute by gathering research data and by leading the team throughout the semester. Our team coordinated very well, and I believe it was a significant reason for the project’s success. 

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