company
Team
IKEA Home Smart
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(Text borrowed from about.Ikea.com) According to WHO,9 out of 10 people globally breathe polluted air. Indoor air can be just as polluted as outdoor air, yet many underestimate the risk of air pollution in their homes. IKEA is committed to give everyone access to clean air by increasing awareness of indoor pollutants and providing solutions that improve the quality of the air we breathe. Aiming to combine smart technology with design to enable better awareness of one’s indoor air, IKEA launches VINDSTYRKA, a new smart sensor for indoor use that allows people to measure and monitor the air quality in their homes.

my role
This project spanned over my entire internship period and I was part of many different phases. Initially, creating discussion material used for interviews, doing competitor research, and summarising the insights. Later exploring visual expressions and different user flows, using both paper sketches and digital mock-ups. Finally, I, through a lot of problem-solving (considering the segmented display), designed the final layout, making sure to include all information required.

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Vindstyrka air quality sensor

Vindstyrka is a smart indoor air quality sensor that complements the rest of IKEA's solutions for better air at home. The product can be connected to the newly launched Dirigera hub and IKEA Home Smart App as well as directly to the air purifiers in the product range – making them turn on if the levels of PM2.5 gets too high. Vindstyrka measures PM2.5, tVOC (Volatile Organic Compound), temperature and humidity.

Images borrowed from about.ikea.com

Process of creating Vindstyrka

Based on the initial research phase of the project, we iterated on how to display the required information. Due to the number of parameters that should be shown, using a segmented display, we had to use our best problem-solving skills to utilize the given space in the best way possible. For example, exploring options of either toggling between detailed views of each parameter or display everything in an overview. (Most of the process pictures I cannot show.)

Exploring layouts and different ways of utilising the "Mode Button" for different interactions
Images borrowed from about.ikea.com

Learnings from internship

Working on a product like VINDSTYRKA was something I had never done before. Designing for a segmented display, learning for example how many segments could be used or how close to each other, was challenging and required a lot of problem-solving. In the beginning, I found myself mostly focusing on designing visually pleasing options but later understanding how they did not necessarily cater towards the best user experience – which forced me to reconsider what should be prioritized.

In addition to this, being an in-house project, I got to experience what it is like to work with different stakeholders within a company, such as other designers, product owners, engineers, and suppliers. Working with these people gave me an understanding of what it is like to strive toward different price points. IKEA Home Smart, aiming to be more affordable than its competitors, made me learn about what drives the price up or down while developing these kinds of products – and how one as a designer can work with or against that.

During this internship, I spent 50% of my time at IKEA Home Smart working on products such as VINDSTYRKA. However, the other 50% I spent at the classic IKEA Design Department working on both small storage products, such as VATTENKAR Desk Storage, VATTENKAR Wall Storage, and RISATORP Desk Storage, as well as furniture. Spending time with both teams was really fun and enabled me to be creative in a broad way. However, it also confirmed for me that working with UX and digital products makes me much more excited!