In this project I aim to create a microsite in order to appeal to IKEA audiences over the age of 45. I aim to capitalize on sleek, affordable comfort and minimalistic qualities that IKEA furniture already has and putting a moody spin on it in order to seem more "luxurious" for older audiences.

CLIENT My client is IKEA, who specializes in cheap and simple furniture that is put together by the user. IKEA furniture is famously IKEA brand and has sleek branding to showcase the items at face value. They want to appeal to audiences of the age 45+ by curating a microsite showcasing ergonomic design and affordable prices.

THE ASK We are asking consumers to purchase IKEA’s furniture and explore more of IKEA’s product catalog.

CALL TO ACTION IKEA’s microsite will introduce some items catered specifically for older age groups, showcasing more neutrals displayed in immaculately clean spaces, while also capitalizing on some of IKEA’s more ergonomically designed pieces. The microsite will have a more moody and simplified color palette, mimicking other luxury home brands. The site will also promote IKEA’s cheap prices. The microsite’s success will be measured by the amount of sales IKEA makes to people over the age of 45, as well as the amount of traffic that was redirected from the microsite to other collections on IKEA’s main website.

Other websites that boast a luxurious and trustworthy brand are much more muted in color as to not scare anyone away. These are also designed in terms of easily viewed and used, but I think I could take the design aspect up another level in order to really get the attention and feel of something fresh and "sturdy" feeling.

After collecting 24 survey responses from people ages 45+ about how they shop for their furniture, I used the Google summary function to check out what stood out from each response in order to better understand the audience I'm catering to.

What are some of your favorite parts about the furniture you already own?

Most survey takers responded with comfort and style. There were also a few answers that talked about durability.

On a scale of 1-5 with 1 being best and 5 being worst, what qualities do you look for when shopping for furniture?

Comfort: Most people seemed to put comfort as their top priority, which makes sense.

Color: Color seemed to be a close second for their selections, as it needs to match their existing color styles within their homes.

Price: Price was a close third and is almost always one of the most important parts of purchasing their furniture. They’re looking for affordability.

Material & Accessibility are put mostly 4th and have some general need but not as important as the first 3

Brand: Gen X+ demographics are the least concerned about the brand of the furniture and are more likely to purchase based on the other factors.

Which do you prefer for home furnishings:

And overwhelming response for neutral/earth tones was selected, with the least preference being for bright colors.

Have you heard about IKEA prior to this survey?

95.8% of people said they had

What do you think of IKEA?

55.6% of people agreed that IKEA is great for beginner furnishings but not for the long term.

Have you purchased IKEA furniture before?

Surprisingly, 54.2 percent of people had not purchased IKEA furniture.

76.5% of people agreed that putting together IKEA furniture is annoying and more of a hefty task than anything.

After reviewing the survey results, it seems that older customers aren't fond of assembling furniture, so I will be using the microsite to better advertise their partnership with Taskrabbit, a service that contracts out people to perform laborious tasks.

I started into creating some headline copy in my wireframes that was basic and not too in-your-face due to the audience's style. 

I decided after group feedback that the layout may be a little too complicated for an older audience, so I went to simplifying the layout and shape language. I also pushed the headline copy a bit further to introduce more appealing and "loud" language, as the current copy was pretty "meh."

Alonge with the copy development, I started to introduce different visual aspects to put emphasis on some parts of the copy, as well and played with different colors to communicate both brands at the same time. I wanted to be sure to include contrasting colors with the copy and layout for easy reading, as well as a sans serif font for those who may have reading disabilities, as they are easier to read.

These are three of the final copy options I liked the best, which utilize sayings that older audiences may be familiar with. I really loved the play on words with the middle option but did not want to accidentally step on any toes with an older audience. 

Below is the finalized option for copy, which uses the "Rome wasn't built in a day" saying in a fun twist about assembling furniture. I also brought in the small person illustration that is typically included in IKEA furniture instructions to better stick to the brand. This also seems a little more digestible for a landing page visual, as photos can start to look too busy.

Below are the tablet and mobile designs, as well as a 404 page.

Copywriting, Illustrations, and Design by Heidi Lamerson
Photos from Taskrabbit
Wireframes and Mockups made using Figma