Some users never have a problem, others never have a build that goes right. But unlike Mr Bean, it doesn’t result in many laughs - and this is because it leaves too much up to the viewer’s perception and it leads to assumptions. Why the wordless instructions? As Mr Bean shows, they neatly side-step any language issues one set fits all - this saves a lot of money in terms of translation and printing. So what’s the problem? Wordless, static instructions and too many steps.

Indeed, Allan Dickner, IKEA Deputy Packaging Manager, takes it a step further: “A newspaper in Sweden described IKEA (furniture assembly) as something between civil engineering and captaining a submarine, and I think that’s a good description”. In his rather excellent ‘ The IKEA Effect - A UX Case Study’, Eli Hughes examines the whole of the IKEA user experience - from entering the store to building the furniture at home - and he astutely observes that “everyone has an IKEA horror story”. This gives them a representation of how the furniture would look in their living room, for example.īut in this article, we are more interested in how much better things would be if IKEA would use 3D software and mobile technology in a far more interactive and functional way: improving their assembly instructions.īefore we can talk about how much better, we should really consider what is wrong with IKEA’s current method of producing assembly guides.

The IKEA Place app is a sales support app that allows users to place IKEA furniture within their home environment using augmented reality. It is worth mentioning that IKEA has experimented with new technology in other aspects of its business. Obviously, technology has changed substantially since the first IKEA furniture rolled off the line, and we’re going to explore how a more software-based 3D-model approach could be used to improve the building experience, IKEA’s business and the planet itself.

Ikea manuals