A trip to IKEA

Subject: A trip to IKEA
From: Ben Kovitz <bkovitz -at- nethere -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Sun, 21 Apr 2002 21:24:55 -0700


I went to IKEA, to look for stuff to organize my horrendous mess of an
apartment. Anything to please the cats, you know.

This place could be a field trip for technical writers. The entire
store is a marvel of information design. It's the really magnificent
kind of information design: the kind you don't notice.

There was a sort of cylindrical-shaped bookcase. You might wonder
what use such a thing could have. The row of big binders stored on
one shelf instantly made it clear. Big binders are wide at the spine
and narrow at the other end, so they naturally form the sort of
pattern you get when you cut an orange in half and look down at all
the pieces. So hard to explain in words, so easy to understand when
you just see the binders on the shelf.

Very subtle, but all sorts of things were like that. They have a lot
of simple, practical furniture that requires a wee bit of
out-of-the-box thinking to see how to use it. So they arrange the
furniture or add extra items in a way that stimulates your
imagination, like the binders. As you wander through the store, you
find yourself getting all sorts of ideas for how you could put these
things to use in your house.

It's all done with a light sense of humor. In a room all decked out
in red, there was a copy of "Red" magazine sitting on a table. That
one didn't stimulate my imagination for how to decorate my apartment,
but it led me to walk patiently through each display, seeing whatever
odd things I might notice.

Hmm, tossing in little Easter Eggs soothed the impatience of (at least
one) American customer, encouraging him to slow down and be open to
things he wasn't looking for. A whole dimension of information design
I hadn't even considered. Usually I'm thinking, "How can I get needed
information to an impatient and narrow-minded user?" I still think
that's usually a good idea, but here was a context where you could
cultivate patience and curiosity as part of information design.
Scattered throughout the store were large posters describing places in
Sweden: usually outdoor shots with a big sky, a little text with a lot
of white space, and no sense of hurry. Hmm.

The store layout is a little weird. It's like a maze, but it's
completely linear. There is a section where you start, from which you
can get to one other section. From that section, you can continue to
the next section, and so on. Only when you get to the last department
do you reach an exit. This is very restrictive, but I think it makes
sense from a sales perspective. You *will* see everything they
offer! Also, it's very simple. Once you understand the layout, you
are never confused. Having more choices is not always better. (A
lesson I often need to be reminded of.)

Anyway, I highly recommend going there even if you have no interest in
boxy furniture that's big on primary colors. You can also watch the
way the customers move through the displays.


Ben Kovitz
Author, Practical Software Requirements: A Manual of Content & Style
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1884777597
http://www.manning.com/Kovitz

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