Immersive in-store
experiences
Conceptualization and end-to-end design of a phygital (physical + digital) experiences that allows IKEA customers explore inspiring interior decoration ideas and plan their dream homes in an engaging way.
Client
IKEA
Scope
Product Strategy
User Research
UX Design
UI Design
Prototyping
User testing
Documentation
Introduction
001
What’s an immersive
experience?
In a retail setting, an immersive digital experience is a new type of in-store touchpoint designed to transform how customers explore and interact with the product range (and room settings, in the case of home funishing showroom).
Using a standard kiosk or any other kind of interface, paired with cutting-edge LED displays or projectors, customers can browse dozens of full-scale spaces and experiment with different product configurations.
This kind of experience bridges the gap between online browsing and in-store shopping, offering an intuitive and engaging way to find inspiration, explore the product range, and make informed decisions—especially in smaller-format stores.
By combining high-fidelity visualizations with seamless interaction, the Immersive Room on which I worked, redefines how customers engage with home design, merging inspiration and practicality in a single, captivating space.
Context
002
Context
As retailers like IKEA shift towards city-center locations with smaller footprints, the need for efficient use of space has never been greater. Unlike traditional large-format stores (the blue box), these urban city stores have limited room for full-scale kitchen displays, inspirational setups, or an extensive product showcase.
Also, younger generations are less likely to visit large out-of-town stores, often due to a shift away from car ownership and a preference for more accessible, urban shopping experiences. At the same time, they expect highly engaging, interactive experiences that mirror the digital environments they’re used to—social media, gaming, and user-generated content. So…
How might we create engaging, interactive retail experiences that fit within spaces
while meeting the expectations of a digitally native generation?
Discovery phase
003
Problem discovery phase
As a member of the in-store digital experience team at IKEA, my role was leading the design of products that help customers explore the range of products in physical meeting points (stores, city shops, plan and order points, etc…).
In order to design the right thing and before tackling a particular challenge, I had to understand the IKEA customer journey and discover the challenges they might have, and that could become business opportunities if addressed effectively.
From a customer journey perspective, this means focusing on the upper funnel: the early stages where people are still seeking inspiration and figuring out what they want.
- Understanding the Acknowledging phase
- Understanding the Exploring phase
- Understanding the Sorting phase
Understanding the Acknowledging phase: Understanding Triggers & Mindsets
To design an immersive experience that truly supports customers from the start of their journey, I first focused on understanding what motivates people to start thinking about their home or starting a new home project, and how they become aware of their needs. This meant looking beyond just shopping behavior and digging into the emotional and practical triggers that bring someone into the store.
Methods used:
In-depth user interviews
I spoke with 16 customers to explore how home projects begin—what inspired them, what problems they were trying to solve, and what emotions were involved. These conversations revealed a range of mindsets: from “I just moved and don’t know where to start” to “I’m tired of how my kitchen looks.”
In-store intercepts
By observing people in-store and talking with them as they browsed, I gained insight into how inspiration often unfolds spontaneously—when they see something that resonates or feel a spark of possibility.
Stakeholders interviews
I also gathered input from IKEA store coworkers on the floor, who shared what kinds of early questions and behaviors they regularly observe. That means interviewing shopkeepers, sales staff, store managers, but also people who are experts on differents parts of the range. These first-hand insights helped validate our understanding of customers who are still in the “thinking about it” phase.
Understanding the Exploring phase: How People Seek Inspiration & Possibilities
Once customers have acknowledged a need or a desire for change, they often move into a more open-ended phase of exploration—looking for ideas, understanding possibilities, and gathering inspiration. This stage is less about making decisions and more about imagining what’s possible.
My goal here was to understand how people browse, get inspired, and begin shaping a vision for their space—especially in the physical retail environment (which is nothing like e-commerce, by the way).
Methods used:
In-store behavioral observation
I observed how customers interacted with room settings, media displays, and signage in large and smaller IKEA stores. The organization already knows what draws attention, as the layout is carefully put together. However, it was interesting to observe what was overlooked, and how people physically navigated inspiration zones in newer store formats.
Customer interviews
I asked customers to walk me through how they typically find inspiration—both in-store and outside of it. This revealed common behaviors like taking photos, saving ideas from Instagram or Pinterest, or revisiting IKEA’s printed catalog at home.
Journey mapping
I mapped out the steps customers take during this phase, from browsing without a clear goal to collecting and comparing visual references. This helped identify opportunities for the immersive experience to add value—like surfacing relevant ideas more intuitively.
Understanding the sorting: Making Sense of Options & Shaping Preferences
After browsing and gathering inspiration, customers naturally shift into a sorting phase—where they start comparing, prioritizing, and refining their ideas. It’s not quite decision-making yet, but it’s where preferences begin to take shape. Understanding this behavior was key to designing an experience that didn’t just inspire, but also helped customers narrow down their choices with confidence.
Methods I used:
Intercepts and think-alound store walkthroughs
I walked through the store with customers and asked them to verbalize their thought process while interacting with displays or digital tools. This highlighted the mental filters they use to “keep or discard” ideas.
Affinity mapping of insights
I synthesized feedback into key themes—such as the need for side-by-side comparisons, emotional reassurance (“will this really work in my space?”), and clearer guidance on next steps.
Defining phase
004
Defining phase
Framing the opportunity
After gathering insights during the discovery phase, I shifted into sense making mode to define a focused problem space. The goal was to align the product team on what really matters to customers and to frame a clear design challenge that would guide ideation and development.
Step 1 – Turn findings into key insights
I distilled data from interviews, observations, and intercepts into a set of clear, actionable insights about how people seek inspiration, explore product options, and begin shaping ideas in the early phases of their journey.
Step 2 – Mapped customer journeys and pain points
I visualized the upper funnel journey across touchpoints, highlighting moments of friction (e.g. “I can’t picture this in my space” or “I don’t know what goes together with other belongings”) and opportunities to support customers through immersive, digital storytelling.
Step 3 – Created experience principles
I defined guiding principles for the design, such as:
“Inspiration should feel personal”,
“Inspiration should be a shared activity”, and
“Let customers imagine, not decide.”
These helped align the team on future success metrics, tone, interaction style, and content strategy.
Step 4 – Framed the problem statement
Based on the insights, I articulated a clear design challenge:
How might we help customers feel inspired and confident while imagining new possibilities for their home, even in a limited store space?
Step 5 – Shared insights across teams
Finally, I ran alignment sessions with stakeholders, developers, expansion team and store coworkers to socialize key findings and ensure everyone was in line and excited about the identified challenges we were looking to solve.
This phase was critical in making sure we weren’t just building another pointless product, but designing the right kind of experience to meet both customer and business goals.
Developing phase
005
Developing phase
Concept testing phygital experiences
With a clear understanding of the customer journey and key challenges, the team entered the Develop phase, focusing on bringing ideas to life and testing them in real-world settings with actual customers and coworkers.
1. Exploring Bold Ideas
I began by generating diverse concepts: from VR headsets to AR overlays and touchscreen interfaces, aimed at making kitchen planning (our strategic priority) more immersive and engaging.
2. Rapid Prototyping & Testing
Using sacrificial concepts, I discussed and tested early ideas in-store to validate assumptions. These sacrificial concepts are extremely useful to spark conversations with stakeholders and chose a path worth exploring. I found that rapid prototyping is particulary useful during these conversations when we’re talking about concepts that are disruptive or not mainstream.
Key findings: I found out that for instance that, for our users, VR felt too isolating and not immersive enough at low resolutions, while AR lacked impact and neither addressed the shared, in-store experience we wanted.
3. Pivoting to Immersive Spaces
Customer feedback led us to shift toward a physical, shared and room-scale experience. The idea of a life-sized, interactive showroom emerged as the most intuitive and inclusive solution.
To explore the potential of immersive spaces, I ran an ideation workshop alongside product owners and business navigators. The goal was to spark ideas and lay the groundwork for a solid business case. After some great discussions and brainstorming, we decided to move forward with two different tracks:
- Designing an immersive experience for inspiration
- Designing an immersive experience to support complex planning
Delivering phase
006
THE FOLLOWING PART FOCUSES ONLY ON THE LAUNCHED SOLUTION OF IMMERSIVE ROOM FOR INSPIRATION. REACH OUT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT MY WORK ON OTHER SOLUTIONS.
Delivery phase
Prototyping the thing right
This is where we made the concept real and putting a first version in front of users in Spain, France and Japan.
Once we had a clear vision, we moved into the prototyping phase, translating early ideas into testable, tangible experiences in our Madrid experience lab. This was a highly collaborative, iterative period focused on validating assumptions, refining the user experience, and shaping the final direction of the Immersive Room launched in Tokyo Shibuya store in August 2024.
1. Information Architecture & Interaction Flow
I mapped out the full interaction flow for the immersive experience, from standby mode and design selection to real-size visualization and purchasing flows. My goal was to ensure a smooth journey whether the user was self-navigating or guided by a coworker.
To help with in-store deployment, I also created workflows for admins and tools to manage the in-store kiosk efficiently.
• Defined screen states, transitions, and interactive touchpoints
• Structured filtering logic for selecting room designs (space type, style, budget)
2. UI Design with IKEA’s Design System
I designed the touchscreen interface for the kiosk using IKEA’s digital design system, ensuring consistency, accessibility, and familiarity for customers, as well as the CMS that allows store staff configure them remotely.
• Created responsive layouts for large touchscreens
• Applied IKEA’s component library for buttons, filters, navigation, and modals
• Iterated based on early usability testing
3. 3D Asset Creation & Visual Design
To create an immersive and visually compelling experience, I collaborated with interior designers to generate market-relevant room settings.
• Defined framing and projection guidelines to enhance realism
• Integrated ON/OFF states, smart switches (e.g. day/night), and interactive hotspots, as well as video overlays.
4. Low to Mid-Fidelity Prototypes
We built rapid prototypes to test various interaction models and physical configurations:
• Touchscreen UI click-throughs (Figma)
• Motion tests for C-shape immersion using 3D projection
5. In-Store User Testing
I planned and facilitated usability tests in-store with real customers across different demographics.
• Observed natural interactions with the prototype setup
• Conducted think-aloud sessions to identify usability pain points
• Measured key metrics like ease of navigation, time to task, product discovery and engagement with features like filters, transfer to mobile, or product hotspots.
• Synthesized insights and turned them into design refinements
Summary
⚡️ TLDR
Faced with the challenge of smaller IKEA stores limiting product displays, led a discovery process to understand how customers seek inspiration and make decisions. Based on insights, developed an immersive room concept for planning spaces like the kitchen of your dream or visiting inspiring virtual room settings. Prototyped, tested, and oversaw the launch of both a customer-facing kiosk and an admin panel for store coworkers to manage content and backend operations.
🧠 LEARNINGS
Phygital immersive experiences bridge physical and digital retail, bringing emotion to the customer journeys.
Sacrificial concepts are a powerful tool for early concept validation, sparking honest feedback and saving time.
Experience principles guide design decisions more consistently than vague goals.
Cross-functional alignment early on (with stakeholders, store staff, developers) avoids misaligned expectations later.
Cultural differences have to be taken into account when deploying new features or creating digital touchpoints.
🩷 LOVED
Mixing strategy and creativity: Balancing rigorous research with bold, visionary design thinking.
Designing for emotional needs: Not just functionality, but creating a feeling of inspiration and confidence.
Engaging in real-world customer research: Especially the in-depth interviews and in-store intercepts.
Opportunity framing: Turning scattered insights into clear design challenges and strategic directions.
Creating tangible prototypes: Rapidly moving from idea to in-store installations to validate concepts.
❗️ CHALLENGES
Designing within spatial constraints in mind.
Keeping alignment across many stakeholders: Especially when introducing disruptive, non-traditional retail experiences.
Managing ambiguity: Early on, the problem space was large and loosely defined, requiring you to narrow it strategically.
Validating disruptive ideas: Finding ways to make futuristic ideas tangible enough for real-world testing without huge resources.