IKEA Sustainability
UX CASE STUDY: Designing a Sustainable Refurbished Marketplace for IKEA to Optimize Sourcing, Pricing, and Procurement for Minimizing Furniture Waste and Maximizing Affordability
A UT x IKEA collaboration where I partnered with Program Managers, UX researchers and external stakeholders to address sourcing and procurement challenges in the used furniture market. We translated complex data into customer-centric actionable insights and created high-fidelity prototypes that seamlessly integrated into IKEA’s business and digital ecosystem.
Roles & Responsibilities
User Research
User Interviews, Affinity Mapping, User Personas, Information Modeling (Hierarchical Task Inventory, Flow Models, Task Interaction Models, User Scenario Models)
Design
Storyboarding, Sketching, Wireframing, Prototyping, Low-Fidelity Prototyping, Mid-Fidelity Prototyping, High-Fidelity Prototyping
Testing
Pilot Test, Usability Testing
Project Duration
January 2023 - June 2023 (24 weeks)
01. The Opportunity
Furniture waste is a growing global concern. Through this project, IKEA aims to transform this challenge into an opportunity for sustainable solutions.
"Americans dump 12 million tons of furniture annually"
"Making & shipping a piece of furniture emits 90 kilograms of carbon, equal to flying a Boeing 747 for an hour."
- Fast Company Report
With 12 million tons of furniture waste annually, IKEA's business goal was to tackle this problem by creating a platform for reselling furniture sustainably.
"Used furniture in 2020 amounted to just 2% of total furniture sales "
- marketresearch.com
02. The Proposal
The final design proposal includes feature customer-centric enhancements to the existing IKEA mobile app, specifically designed for shoppers in temporary housing, with a special focus on students.
We suggested introducing a new “Sustainability” section on the IKEA app that features a marketplace for refurbished furniture. This initiative not only meets the needs of these ideal markets but also addresses user concerns associated with traditional marketplaces, ultimately contributing to a reduction in furniture waste.
A glimpse of the final visual design mockups of the home screen
The initiative strengthens the affordable furniture market and significantly cuts the industry’s ecological footprint.
Innovating a Local Approach
We began by addressing the global issue of furniture waste, proposing a regional solution to strengthen the refurbished furniture market. From there, we focused on a local approach—designing student-friendly features within the IKEA app to tackle the significant furniture dumping caused by frequent student relocations. The solution streamlines the resale process, promoting affordable, sustainable living while reducing waste.
We're redesigning the IKEA app with affordable and sustainable features for students, aiming to reduce furniture wastage caused by disposal.
03. Understanding Customer Needs
We conducted interviews with 12 participants to understand work activity in the ecosystem, sorting their responses into high-level trends using a Work Activity Affinity Diagram (WAAD). We created two user personas representing major user classes before data modeling.
3.1 User Interviews
To prepare for generative user interviews, the team wrote a series of research questions later paired with written verbatims that would be recited to interview participants.
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Investigate how people purchase furniture (new & used)
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Thoughts on purchases
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Thoughts on furniture shopping platforms (e.g. online marketplaces, IKEA, social media, etc.)
The team then wrote a moderator script, structured as:
1. Welcome
2. Background questions
3. Focus questions
a. Furniture shopping in general
b. Furniture shopping in IKEA
c. Shopping used furniture
4. Retrospective
5. Wrap Up
To be a part of user interviews, participants had to fulfill the following screening criteria:
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Have you relocated within the past year?
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Have you purchased furniture within the past year?
Participants who did not meet the criteria were exited from the interviews.
3.2 Work Activity Affinity Diagram (WAAD)
During generative user interviews, moderators wrote notes in real-time (verbatim and condensed) onto a note-taking Excel template.
This really assisted in the building of the WAAD diagram.
Link to excel note taking template: here
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The verbatim responses of the 12 participants from the Excel file were analyzed to create useful data notes addressing pain points and user behavior as shown here.
The data points were further clustered into sections corresponding to the underlying domains that they addressed. Through this exercise, we were able to identify specific areas where users felt issues with.
Examples of Condensing Raw Data into Work Activity Notes
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Raw Data #1: “Finding what I wanted. I want a big mirror but it's kind of expensive. Cheaper options I have to go in person for. I've been looking at FB marketplace but I haven't found what I wanted.” - P2
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Work Activity Note #1: Visiting physical stores have cheaper options.
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Raw Data #2: “Nothing as much. But choosing the chair seemed a little difficult because there were a lot of options.” - P4
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Work Activity Note #2: A lot of options create difficulty in choosing.
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Raw Data #3: It matters how it's listed. I won't look at the product if the person doesn't have a couple of reviews. I like a lot of pictures, videos, and descriptions. A few pictures = scratches. I like responsive people as well. - P6
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Work Activity Note #3: Inconsistent customer journeys in online marketplaces, result in trust issues.
Through user interviews, we discovered that students face challenges in affordability, convenience, and trust when buying used furniture, which informed the features we designed.
3.3 User Persona
We identified two primary user personas: Domestic and International students, each with distinct goals and behaviors related to affordability and convenience. I took ownership of developing two user personas.
Domestic student
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Description: Recently got rid of existing furniture
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Situation: Migrating to a new city for graduation after completion of undergrad
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Goal: Buy affordable but high-quality furniture upon arriving in the new city
International student
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Description: Transited to an unfurnished apartment
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Situation: In a new country, not attached to the current city as they anticipate moving after graduation
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Goal: Find cheap but reliable furniture
Charlie, a new domestic student, needs to buy affordable but high-quality furniture for his move from Arizona to Texas for grad school. He had to dispose off his existing furniture due to the end of his lease coinciding with his graduation.
Shubhi, a new international university student, urgently requires affordable and durable used furniture for their unfurnished apartment after flying in from abroad.
3.4 Stakeholder Engagement
In addition to user interviews, we organized meetings with key stakeholders from IKEA, including:
Procurement Team
To understand inventory sourcing processes and challenges.
Logistics Department
To gain insights into delivery operations and supply chain management.
Sustainability Division
To align our design goals with IKEA's broader environmental initiatives.
These discussions provided valuable context regarding operational workflows and challenges, ensuring our design decisions were informed and relevant to the organization's objectives.
04. Requirements & Modeling
I took full ownership of the following data models as they were identified as appropriate for the project:
task structure model (hierarchical task inventory), usage model (flow model), task interaction model (step-by-step task interaction model), and user scenario model.
4.1 Hierarchical Task Inventory
The team created a hierarchical task inventory model representing all the tasks an IKEA customer can accomplish within our proposed IKEA used furniture ecosystem:
I. Seller - Exchange used IKEA furniture for IKEA credit / cash
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Select furniture model
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Initial quality check
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Arrange transport
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Trade furniture
II. Buyer - Select refurbished furniture for purchase
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Find refurbished furniture
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Checkout— enter payment
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Claim furniture
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Furniture transported to home (either from warehouse or delivery)
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4.2 Flow Model
I created Flow Models to illustrate the working relationship between
i. Machines (database and IKEA website) and
ii. Users/Stakeholders (IKEA buyers/ sellers, IKEA procurement, IKEA logistics, and IKEA used furniture inspectors)
This model helps visualize how the product works in its larger ecosystem and highlights how logistics streamline delivery and procurement manages inventory sourcing, ensuring a seamless transaction process.
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4.3 Task Interaction Models
We leveraged task sequencing models to illustrate different critical usage case scenarios in the workflow of the app.
4.3.1 Step-by-step Task Sequencing Model
Adding refurbished furniture to cart
Submit Request for selling used IKEA furniture
Confirming sale offer from IKEA
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4.3.2 User Scenario Model
Charlie is a software engineer moving out of the city in a week and wants to sell their IKEA furniture quickly while getting a fair price.
However, their social media ads didn't receive much local interest. Knowing that others at work have faced similar challenges, Charlie is worried about resorting to throwing away or giving away their furniture for free.
They discover the IKEA Sustainability feature on the IKEA app, which offers a hassle-free solution to return furniture for cash or store credit. Charlie is pleased that they can easily upload details through the app, which will be remotely inspected by store personnel. This saves them time and effort and ensures they can sell their furniture, arrange transport and receive credit all through the app.
Rhea, a newly-arrived international student in the US, wants to furnish her home with affordable and durable furniture.
Although she explored used furniture on marketplace apps, arranging transport was difficult, and meeting strangers for inspection made her uncomfortable. Also, some sellers inflated prices.
Discovering the IKEA Sustainability feature, she finds that she can buy certified used IKEA furniture. The Sustainability feature has a special student section, where she can access student bundles, checklists, and buy required products based on her needs. IKEA also arranges transport, which relieves her of that burden.
Sal is an eco-conscious individual looking to replace their old IKEA couch with a durable and sustainable option.
They are hesitant to buy new furniture due to environmental concerns and the furniture dumping crisis in the US. Sal wishes there was a mainstream way to purchase used furniture without dealing with individual owners.
Discovering the IKEA Sustainability feature, Sal is relieved to find a trusted retailer selling used furniture while also offering the option to sell back their existing furniture for a discount on their new purchase.
05. Ideation & Design
5.1 Storyboarding
I went to a whiteboard and drew two storyboards outlining needs and subtasks with
1) students exchanging used IKEA furniture back to IKEA for in-store credit, and
2) students purchasing used IKEA furniture.
Scenario 1: Exchanging used IKEA furniture for store credit
Scenario 2: Student purchasing used IKEA furniture
5.2 Sketching & Wireframing
Following storyboarding, I took to the whiteboard to plan key user flows, tasks such as purchasing and selling, and screen layouts, ensuring seamless integration into the IKEA app’s existing ecosystem.
Aligning on the overall user flow, we split the key user tasks among the team members to sketch individual flows.
Sketching paper prototypes helped us conceptualized user activities, interactions, and features to fit the needs of the user and the ecosystem.
Series 1: Inspecting used furniture on IKEA Sustainability (Sketches by a teammate)
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Series 2: Onboarding, student verification and student home
06. Prototype & Pilot Test
After evaluating our flow diagrams and sketches, the I decided to narrow down scope to designing tasks that involve:
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Customers going to the IKEA sustainability page, adding refurbished furniture to checkout
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Customers logging into IKEA for students, interacting with features (e.g. furniture bundle, checklist)
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Customers selling used furniture
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Customers finding used furniture based on location
On evaluating our existing flow diagrams/ brainstorming, the team opted to not design screens that involve IKEA inspectors or other IKEA employees (which was the entire 2nd half of our hierarchical task diagram).
6.1 Low-fidelity Prototyping
The wireframes show how users can buy used IKEA products, including a student section that requires authentication with a .edu email. The app also includes a checklist feature to help students keep track of what they need to buy and suggests options for each product.
The wireframes show how users can sell their used furniture to IKEA for in-store credit. They can identify the furniture model, report damages, and rate the condition in curated steps. After an agent inspects photos, a quote is sent as a pop-up for the user to accept or reject.
6.2 Mid-fidelity Prototyping
I proceeded to mid-fi prototyping for more user tasks:
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Splash screen with clickable access to search page, campaign sliders, and sustainability campaign
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Checkout page with product summary, quantity adjustments, delivery options, and payment method selection
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Students login with university email for benefits and offers
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Curated furniture bundles with option to add/remove items and checklist feature
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Sell option for existing IKEA products with model selection, damage reporting with photos, and submission for evaluation by IKEA. Offer made and user can accept/reject, followed by payment and delivery method selection.
6.3 Pilot Test
The team recruited one participant for the pilot test and later 3 for usability testing after passing them through several screening questions.
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Are you a former IKEA shopper?
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Yes = Pass
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No = Exit
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Are you currently a university student?
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Yes = Pass
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No = Exit
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Have you used the IKEA app within the past six months?
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Yes = Pass
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No = Exit
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Have you bought used furniture within six months?
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Yes = Pass
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No = Exit
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The team then conducted one moderated usability test through the following format.
Focus Questions - Generative Tasks
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Think out aloud what you see on the screens.
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What do you expect to see on the IKEA Sustainability page? (Before opening the page)
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What do you think the IKEA Sustainability page offers? (After opening the page)
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What do you expect to see when you click on student offers?
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What do you expect to happen after preparing a checklist of items?
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What do you expect to happen after you successfully place a sell request?
Focus Questions - Evaluative Tasks
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Navigate the refurbished marketplace from the homepage.
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Select a store to search for refurbished goods.
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Access the student store within the refurbished marketplace.
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Authenticate your student status.
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Make a checklist of items to be bought on the students’ page.
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Place a sell request for your IKEA table.
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Accept the offer from IKEA and schedule pickup for your used product.
Retrospective
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Is there anything about the low-fidelity screens I shared you think I should know more about?
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Can you share with me three of the most memorable things you found on the screens I shared today?
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Can you share with me three of the most frustrating things you found in the screens I shared today?
Findings and Heuristics Evaluation (Nielsen Heuristics)
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No option to adjust quantities or remove items directly from the cart, impacting User Control and Freedom.
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The navigation bar didn’t reflect items added to the cart, breaking Visibility of System Status.
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The flow for selecting furniture categories during selling was unintuitive, conflicting with Match Between System and the Real World.
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In the "Damage Inspection" section, the plus button under the notes was unclear, also affecting Match Between System and the Real World.
6.4 High-fidelity Mockups
The mid-fidelity prototypes were converted to high-fidelity by conforming to IKEA's design system and patterns to build user trust.
The design system is highly influenced by the existing system of the IKEA app since the designed elements are housed within the existing app ecosystem.
Accessing the IKEA sustainability marketplace from Home Page.
Waiting for IKEA's offer, accepting it, and arranging pickup
Explore student bundles and customize bundle
Sell a used IKEA desk and submit it for IKEA inspection & pricing.
Log into an IKEA as a student
verifying .edu email
Create a checklist of furniture you want to buy
6.5 Explore it Yourself (Clickable prototype)
The clickable prototype featured here allows users to perform the key user taks.
The prototype begins at the existing home page of the IKEA app, which features a banner for the 'Sustainability' campaign. The campaign can also be found at other locations within the app.
Given below is a list of user tasks:
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Accessing the IKEA sustainability marketplace.
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Find a nearby IKEA store and add a refurbished product to your cart.
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Sell a used IKEA desk and submit it for IKEA inspection. Now there will be a notification for a request you submitted, please accept the offer.
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Log into an IKEA as a student and select a bundle, remove one item from it and add to the cart.
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Create a checklist of furniture you want to buy.
Our final prototype was designed to integrate easily into IKEA’s existing digital ecosystem, delivering a scalable solution beyond students, that not only reduced waste but also strengthened IKEA’s brand as a leader in sustainability.
07. Learnings
Embrace Ownership
I discovered that true ownership goes beyond managing tasks; it’s about actively shaping outcomes, driving results, and facilitating conversations that align everyone toward a common goal.
Prioritize Customer Perspectives
I learned that deeply listening to users reveals essential needs and insights, transforming a project from good to exceptional and underscoring the critical role of customer empathy in driving design excellence.
Adapt to Speed and Agility
I realized that the best ideas often emerge from rapid experimentation, teaching me that flexibility and swift decision-making can lead to surprising breakthroughs.