WEEK 7: WORKING IN THE SHOWROOMS

30/05/22 - 03/06/22

This week was the final week of the placement for the university term so there is need for some relection! It was also my first week working in the Showrooms!

Interior Design at IKEA:

One of the things I heard most when I chose IKEA as my placement choice was that it wasn’t going to be as beneficial as a regular design practice. Over the past weeks I have not only gained skills in commercial specific tasks that will aid my learning, but I’ve also had the chance to sit down with the Interior Design manager and discuss my future concepts and take on the internal trainings that allow us to truly understand why IKEA is unique and the importance of the design we do. The amount of customer research that goes in to every step of the IKEA process is beyond anything I have seen before. The local market relevance for each country and area is so specific to the creation of the average person to design for. This has inspired me to take this further into my user research at University.

One of my favourite things from this week was the Interior Design meeting! Not only did our thinkbox have ghosts drawn over the wall, but I really had a chance to connect with the team and catch up on what else has been going on in the store. By going round the table, each team member had the opportunity to discuss what they had been busy doing and if they needed any help then we could discuss and collaborate ideas. This was quite pleasant as it ensured the team were all on the same page!

The Showrooms:

This week was quite exciting for my younger self as after years of looking up and being inspired by the showrooms at IKEA, it was finally my turn to work in them. Due to current staff shortages within the department I was working specifically on bedrooms with my supervisor. My challenge for this week was to ensure that during the large rebuild project, the other departments were of a much higher quality. This meant removing any outgoing products and replacing them with new pockets of inspiration whilst still taking the 4 design styles into consideration. This gave me an opportunity to look at and in some cases work with the the upcoming ranges IKEA has to offer which was enjoyable and fascinating to see the direction the store is going next.

What was considerably interesting in bedrooms was the new showroom being built in order to create more inspirational space within the store. I will be a part of the implementation process next week and I look forward to being able to work with a specific archetype to create the ideal room full of solutions. This is what IKEA design is all about! The archetype is also a university student which makes it quite a personal project to follow and I hope I can give valuable information through the implementation.

A quick reflection:

Over the past 7 weeks I have had the best experience working at IKEA, and although there were issues, they were all beneficial towards my project and future career expertise. Through these weeks there has been a significant change in my attitude to working and even doing 40 hours a week, I am still looking for another project to do as I enjoy it so much.

I will be continuining my time at IKEA for another 4 weeks in order to take advantage of upcoming projects tasks that will be helpful towards my final year at AUB. It will be sad when this experience finally comes to a close as I have made great connections in the time I have been working here, but being able to return to Bournemouth and put my new skillset to work will be exciting all the same!