USABILITY TESTING

Introduction.

IKEA offers affordable, eco-friendly, and unique Scandinavian design furniture by owning its supply chain, dominating procurement, and favoring self-serve services for competitive pricing.

IKEA

Problem Statement

IKEA's unintuitive website navigation and product categorization hinder efficient browsing and discovery, potentially impacting sales growth and customer satisfaction goals.

Objectives

Test effectiveness of current product categories and navigation for specific product categories

  • Assess product findability without search

  • Check comprehension of Swedish product names

User Goals

Users look for specific products without relying on search 

Participants

The target audience includes regular online shoppers who have used or plan to use the IKEA website, whether they are familiar with IKEA's product range or not.

User Tasks

  • Task #1

    Find a 2-seater sofa or a suitable alternative, such as a small sofa or loveseat, and add it to the cart.

    Entry Point: IKEA.ca Homepage
    Restrictions: No search, no sign-in

    Metrics:

    Time to complete tasks

    Navigation errors

    Success rate

    User satisfaction

    Main Goal:
    Test product findability and navigation without search.

    RSVP

  • Task #2

    Find and demonstrate an understanding of three items from the "MALM" series.

    Entry Point:IKEA.ca Homepage
    Restrictions: No search, no sign-in

    Metrics:

    Task completion time

    Navigation errors

    Success rate

    Satisfaction rating

    Accuracy in identifying 3 items

    Goal:
    Evaluate if Swedish product names aid understanding and assess hover state visibility and navigation effectiveness.
    RSVP

Findings

  • Positive

    IKEA's website makes it easy to look at different types of products and see clear details about them. The navigation bar and filters are helpful tools for shoppers.


  • Negative

    Finding specific items is tricky, product names are confusing, and the site shows unavailable items. It's also hard to find related products or go back to previous pages (breadcrumb?)


  • Mixed Experience

    Some shoppers like finding matching items to buy together, while others have trouble finding products that go together.


Challenges & shortcomings

Balancing User Goals with Natural Behavior: While the test aimed to evaluate navigation without relying on search, it became apparent that allowing users to explore the site freely would be more in line with natural behavior, as search is a common and effective tool for navigation.

Complexity of Tasks: Some participants, especially new users, found the tasks challenging, particularly when navigating without search and dealing with Swedish product names. This led to frustration and impacted the reliability of the test results.

Participant Diversity& Unexpected Task Completion The diversity in participant experience with IKEA’s products led to inconsistencies in findings. Returning users completed tasks more quickly, raising questions about whether the tasks were equally relevant for new users.

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