Portfolio Case Study

IKEA +
you

Role Design & Communications Lead — Rhodes
User Research & Insight User Interviews Jobs-to-be-Done GTM Strategy
Problem

A globally loved brand desiring local market knowledge.

Australians have a complicated relationship with their living rooms. They want spaces that feel personal, coordinated, and liveable — but most don't know how to get there. IKEA's own Life at Home research identified four persistent frustrations:

  • Inadequate storage
  • Lack of personalisation
  • Poor coordination
  • Limited know-how for open-plan living

Meanwhile, IKEA's brand inspiration score was falling. Nearly half of Australians no longer felt IKEA gave them good ideas for their home. The opportunity wasn't to shout louder — it was to listen harder.

Approach

Stop broadcasting. Start co-creating.

IKEA + you was built on a simple premise: real families, real frustrations, real solutions. Ten families — one per primary market area, recruited through IKEA Family and social media — co-created living room solutions alongside IKEA's home furnishing experts. Local relevance at a scale IKEA Australia had never attempted before.

I led the Rhodes PMA end-to-end: discovery, in-home user interviews, research synthesis, stakeholder alignment, and final delivery — both in the family's home and recreated in a 25m² in-store installation at IKEA Rhodes.

Each family's story became the content. Their lived experience, captured from start to finish, was distributed across every touchpoint — in-store, online, social, and earned media — with the aim of reaching the many Australians who share the same frustrations.

Outcomes

15 million people reached. A brand repositioned.

Since launching in February 2018, the campaign reached over 15 million Australians — more than half the population. Brand inspiration scores climbed from 48% to 61%, against a modest target of +2%. Inspiration visits to IKEA.com.au rose +67%, with mobile session time up +68 seconds.

In-store, 65% of total store visitors engaged with the IKEA + you installations. IKEA Tempe saw visitor numbers three times higher post-launch. Store events generated AUD $6.8M in sales, exceeding target by AUD $5.6M — with a further AUD $1M anticipated in website basket sales.

"Our house is a bit of a transit area — four doors, and the clutter was very difficult to look at. The children's things just seemed overwhelming."
Lesley Bluett  /  IKEA + you Participant  ·  Hunters Hill, NSW
15M+
Australians reached
More than half the national population
+11pts
Brand inspiration score
From 48% to 61% — target was +2%
+67%
Inspiration visits
IKEA.com.au — +68s mobile session time
$6.8M
AUD sales generated
Exceeding target by AUD $5.6M
What we learned
Storage is the gateway frustration

Across all ten PMAs, inadequate storage was the most immediate problem — but it masked deeper issues. Solving storage unlocked a family's ability to think about personalisation, coordination, and identity. It was the entry point, not the destination.

Real people outperform hypothetical personas

Recruiting actual families removed ambiguity from the design process entirely. The Bluetts' four-door transit problem, Ali's art supplies, Fin's gaming setup — these specifics produced solutions with precision impossible to reach through generalised audience thinking.

Identity is a furnishing brief

The most impactful design decisions weren't about product selection — they were about surfacing who the family already was. Pulling trinkets, photos, and personal objects into the room created warmth no catalogue can prescribe. Expertise isn't telling people what to buy. It's helping them see what they already have.

Participant Persona  /  Rhodes PMA

The Bluett Family

Research method In-home discovery & user interviews
The Bluetts
John, Lesley,
Ali & Fin
Rhodes PMA  ·  Real Participant Family
Household
John, Lesley, Alison (15), Finlay (10) + Tuzi the rabbit
Life stage
Teens & Tweens
Dwelling
4BR freestanding house with pool, owner-occupied since 2007
Location
Hunters Hill, Lower North Shore, Sydney
Space type
Renovated open-plan kitchen, living & dining with outdoor connection
Key frustration
Clutter, no sense of identity, nowhere for anything to live
"It's been really nice to see the final solution has a space for Ali to store her art gear, and Fin in here at the same time playing his games. IKEA gave us a great sense of organisation — it made it cosier."
Lesley Bluett  /  IKEA + you Participant
Their Home

Set on the high side of a leafy Hunters Hill street, the Bluetts' renovated open-plan living space had good bones but needed direction. Everyday clutter had taken over. The room felt like a thoroughfare — four entry points meant nothing had a home, and nothing stayed put. Their warmth and identity were missing.

How They Live

John and Lesley are full-time professionals. Alison fills the space with art supplies — painting, sculpting, making. Finlay needs room to game. Tuzi the rabbit has opinions about the sofa. Four people using one room for completely different things, at the same time, every day. The room had to work harder.

Frustrations
  • The living room doubled as a transit zone — no clear place for anything
  • Children's belongings accumulated with nowhere designated to go
  • The space felt anonymous — no reflection of who the Bluetts actually are
  • Open-plan layout created visual noise without a unifying design direction
  • Family mementos, travel objects, and personal items were boxed away, unseen
What They Needed
  • Modular storage that worked hard without looking utilitarian
  • Dedicated space for Ali's art and Fin's gaming to coexist gracefully
  • A visual identity rooted in their garden — organic textures, natural materials
  • Family objects brought out of hiding and into the room with intention
  • A solution that felt like them, not like a showroom
Goals
Tame the transit zone
Four entry points need a storage system, not a daily negotiation
Make room for everyone
Ali's art and Fin's gaming need to share the same space gracefully
Tell their story
Travels, trinkets, and family moments deserve to be seen
Bring the outside in
Hunters Hill gardens and harbour light as the design brief
Storage as identity
Organisation that reflects the family, not just contains them
Feel like home
A solution that's unmistakably theirs — not a catalogue page
🌿
Outdoors In
Organic textures, houseplants, harbour palette
📦
Modular Storage
Hard-working, adaptable, family-scaled
🎨
Ali's Corner
Art storage — dedicated, not a compromise
🎮
Fin's Space
Gaming acknowledged, not hidden away