When the beloved and iconic IKEA catalog was discontinued, it deserved a replacement—one that fit into our digital world. And thus an experimental catalog concept was born. My role was to design that concept.
The IKEA Catalog means a lot to many people around the world—I wanted to capture what it stood for, why people loved it, and explore bringing the same business value the printed version did. I didn’t want to just digitize the catalog—I wanted to give customers something the printed version never could.
We had a chance to do something interesting and learn a lot. All the right people were in place and we had a green light. I pitched a horizontal scrolling concept that reminded users of a magazine. It was honest, unconventional, and very IKEA.
We moved quickly and ran a series of design workshops and experiments—we ideated, tested, and iterated. A few design principles were isolated to guide us; “A lazy laid back experience”, "Show, don't tell", and employing “Communication techniques”, which were little micro-interactions that all had an intrigue with a payoff.
Customers "ooo-ed", "ahhh-ed", and "wow-ed" in user tests. Got giddy over the expressive playful design, and occasionally forgot how to scroll. But all in all, it was very successful in laying the foundation for what would become the IKEA.com approach to storytelling and design. It also set an example internally of the benefits of a disciplined design process of research, iteration, and testing.
