MAPPING PEOPLE: An Ethnographic Case Study of Ikea Shoppers

Interior Design Educators Council

2017 Video Competition

Students: Shahad Almazrou, Genesis Li, Silviya Zhivkova
Instructor: Nina Briggs

The video, “MAPPING PEOPLE: An Ethnographic Case Study of Ikea Shoppers” is an environmental behavior study of interior architecture inspired by William Holly Whyte’s “The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces”. It is founded on the belief that good design is ultimately judged by how conducive it is to human experience. As interior design students, we gained an appreciation for the lessons learned from sociological approaches to design. Therefore, our insights, conclusions and design implications informed the video post-production process and the narrative.

[NimrodClover]

Prior to this study I had seen an alternate IKEA review mapping how shoppers moved through the store. I had never been to an IKEA store before and I had been told about the "maze like" layout they employ. I also knew about the shortcuts, however these were not as emphasized back then. When an IKEA ironically opening in my hometown I was compelled to visit, that and my wife wanted some Swedish meatballs.

I should add that I am a professional architect and I was also going to the store to experience the spaces. So, I was a spatially educated visitor with a purpose (to get meatballs) unlike most other patrons.

The entry sequence from the lower level parking garage to the escalators leading into the store was obvious - accomplished mostly through signage, parking aisle alignments, and daylighting (lines of sight). The final escalators were obvious to me as the start of the maze, something that was not apparent. However I did note a side hallway that extended toward the bank of cashiers. So, it did appear to be not were I needed to go. So, up the escalator I went.
At the top of the staircase I turned 180 degrees around and say a narrow balcony that encircled the hall that the escalator and elevator shaft mostly filled. On the far side was seating for the cafeteria. I followed this balcony around to the right and ended up walking into the back of the food area.

I looked around for the meatballs in the few coolers but saw nothing like that. I went up to one of the cashiers and asked were one could buy the packaged meatballs and they were not exactly sure, but they knew she had seen people with them in their carts and that the store did have them, perhaps in a different section of the store.

Feeling that I now had a real hunt on my hands I preceded to go out the entry of the cafeteria and back into the "maze". Immediately I realized that I was now at the end of that level of the maze and would need to back-track all the way through that level against the flow of the store. But I was too far along to back all the way through the cafeteria, eating hall, balcony walk, back to the discharge landing of the escalator. So, I pressed on.

I found it ironic that IKEA's iconic product, the Swedish Meatballs, had created this effect. They were not where I would have naturally looked for them. I proceeded to go through the entire level backwards, ignoring the projected direction arrows on the floor and getting a few looks from some patrons and possibly some workers too.

After I made it back to the start, and not finding any meatballs, I then used the shortcuts on that level to get back to the down escalator that would take me to the lower level. I knew from the signs that the meatballs would not be here so I used a shortcut to find my way to the warehouse portion and ultimately to the bank of cashiers.

This entire process took close to 25 minutes. When at last I made it to the registers I saw on the other side a store like space with coolers and signs talking about the meatballs. But to get to it, one needed to go through the registers. So, I waited in line with no items in my hands til I got up to the cashier an asked them how one could buy the meatballs that were on the far side of the registers. They told me that I could run over and grab some and bring them back, which I did.

(There is a register in the store-like portion, but it was not visible from the register that I happened to pick)

When at last I had my meatballs I realized that had I taken the hallway just before the first escalator I would have encountered the coolers within a few dozen steps. My experience left me a bit upset with the store.

I found the maze not to be a bad thing and actually liked the effect it had on breaking up space and providing zones with different feeling. Their vaunted inside track and outside track, orientations, sequences, sign placement, and even flow were lost on me as I experienced the route backwards through a very logical reason, that of trying to find the meatballs. Their camouflage of the hall leading to the small food products store had prevented me from finding my intended product. Ironically, had I found the meatballs that way, I would have never entered their maze at all.

My overall shopping experience was artificially prolonged, frustrating, unproductive, and at the end placed me in a position where the product I wanted was BEYOND the point of sale forcing me to hold the line up while I quickly selected the flavor of meatball (there were 3) and run back to the register. (again backwards)

Not the best first impression. As an architect I was impressed by the spaces but my experience left me with a bad taste for the routing. The meatballs were good however.

I think the next time I go to IKEA I will go backwards - just as a tribute to my first visit.