31189a - Learning activity 03

Famous brand website UX

Choose one of these famous brands: Adidas, Red Bull, Apple, Billabong or IKEA

• How do they promote themselves online? Find examples of their online presence.

• Visit their main site. Decide how it meets the usability goals (Useful, Usable, Desirable, Findable, Accessible and Credible).

• Choose one of the brand’s competitor websites and rate it as well.

Compare the two evaluations and discuss which site is strongest when it comes to UX.

Answer

Of these companies, I chose IKEA[1] - one of the best-known furniture manufacturers in the world.  The company was founded by a then 17 year-old Ingvar Kamprad of Elmtaryd (the farm where he grew up), Agunnaryd (the hometown in Smaland, in Southern Sweden) back in 1943.  Seventy-three years’ onwards, it is now become famous for its modern architectural designs, eco-friendly simplicity and interior design work.    Here is its official site: http://www.ikea.com/.  Here is the Australian site (for the eastern seaboard): http://www.ikea.com/au/en/; and here is the site for South Australia and Western Australia: http://www.ikea.com/aa/en/ (if anyone happens to live out that way). J

However, like the vast majority of the Australian population, I happen to live on the eastern seaboard (NSW, ACT, Vic, TAS and Qld), so it makes sense to check it out. J

In terms of self-promotion online, IKEA has both a desktop site and a mobile one.

It also promotes itself via a mobile app (which makes shopping easier for those on the go[2]) and it is available on through both Apple and Google Play (Android phone) J

IKEA also have available a sales catalogue[3] that is accessible online[4], or they can mail it to your postal address[5].

IKEA also promote themselves via social media:

v     Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ikea.au

v     Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IKEA

v     YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/IKEA

v     Google+

v     Pinterest

v     Twitter

v     Instagram

Okay, back to the main site.

User experience (UX) on IKEA

The Open Colleges e-book defines User experience (UX) as:

… thinking about how a user interacts with a site. It considers the user’s expectations and abilities, and why they may be visiting a site. A good web environment tries to improve the user’s experience as they navigate around a site. 

They also add:

One way to consider the usability of a site is to use the Usability Honeycomb by Peter Morville (visit LINK 4 to find out more). Ask yourself if a particular site meets these conditions –

Hence, we judge the site by these criteria:

•     Useful: Meets a need – people can access information on IKEA’s products and services

•   Usable: Easy to use – navigation bar at top showing categories of products, store locations, departments; able to click on the images for more information on the different products, rolling banner showing latest news; disclaimers; cookies policy – makes information easier to access

•     Desirable: Carries through the branding of the product and creates an image – the logo and colour scheme are shown throughout the site.

•   Findable: Desired content is easy to find – the site is accessible via Google and other search engines; and information is available via navigation bar and other links within the site. 

•    Accessible: People with disabilities can access the information?  Actually, I am not sure, because people with visual impairments might not be able to access the site.  However, the availability of online ordering makes it easy for people with mobility issues to purchase furniture.

•  Credible: The information presented is trustworthy and up-to-date.  There is a Terms and Conditions page[6], privacy policy and cookies policy.  And there is a returns policy for anyone dissatisfied with their purchase.

IKEA’s main competitor is Freedom Furniture[7].  They began in 1981 and became one of the biggest furniture retailers of Australia and New Zealand[8].  Their site is similar to IKEA’s in many ways, but as a retailer, I find them much better because they have more locations for their stores, some of which are closer to where I live[9] (being a Sydneysider myself, Freedom has 10 stores in Sydney, IKEA has only three).  In addition, you can follow Freedom Furniture via Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube.

---

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IKEA

[2] http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_AU/customer_service/mobile.html?icid=au|iba|20140701|100

[3] http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_AU/catalogue-2017/index.html

[4] http://onlinecatalogueasia.ikea.com/AU/en/IKEA_Catalogue/

[5] https://secure.ikea.com/au/en/customerservices/catalogues

[6] http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_AU/media/pdf/tasmania/IKEA_terms_2015_Tasmania.pdf

[7] https://www.freedom.com.au/; see also Freedom Furniture Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_Furniture?oldid=659678694 Contributors: John Vandenberg, Edwardx, Ollieinc, Grumbly360 and Anonymous: 1

[8] https://www.freedom.com.au/freedom/the-freedom-story

[9] https://www.freedom.com.au/stores