The name of the talk is "Working Smarter – Building IKEA’s Designs system to unlock Innovation", and the speaker is extremely experienced. So, if you don't already have a FBTB ticket – with which you can join the Design Lunch – it's really time to get one!
Karolina Boremalm, Head of Global Design Operations, Digital Experience, and leader of the effort to establish a Design Ops practice and global design system at IKEA is the next speaker at our appreciated FBTB Design Lunches. If you're into design systems – you shouldn't miss out!
– During the last 6 months, we've been working on a global IKEA Design system. This was prompted by a request to re-design parts of the ikea.com with the intention of making it more modern and accessible. During this work, we saw that it was very hard to maintain consistency in the user experience as well as efficiency in the development of features. So, we decided to explore what would happen if we started standardizing design and development. As it turns out it becomes much easier to focus on solving actual customer problems, says Karolina Boremalm.
Why should people eat their lunch listening to your talk?
– This topic is something that a lot of companies struggle with – how to deliver better customer experiences while saving money and innovating on solutions. I'm not saying that a design system solves it all, but it makes life so much easier when brand, experience design, and development have a common language to start from.
– For some the takeaways will be connected to the importance of having a design system, for others, the interest will lie in how it has been done and what principles we've used when creating it. I think however that some general takeaways that for a design system development to be successful you must be open and receptive to the needs of your users and to be willing to admit that this is a never-ending journey.
Being part of such a big and global company as IKEA – what do you think is more important within the design field for you, and what will be important in the future?
– I think that customer needs and wishes are the things that will drive the future. We must have a better understanding of who people are so that we can deliver better seamless and useful experiences to them at any time. The research will be the way forward, at least for us.
Carola Cassaro, Design Director at Work&Co, will co-talk with Karolina at the Design Lunch. Karolina and Carola have together driven the work in the product development of the Skapa IKEA's digital design system - identifying ways forward, managing stakeholders, setting priorities, and creating the strategy for successful product development.
Get your FBTB ticket – and have a look at the Design Lunches schedule here!