IKEA using AR to let users decide which furniture fits where (2020)
karlsnotes.com
karlsnotes.com
It's very odd that the submission (dated October 2020) suggests that the app is something new.
It's also a pretty bad app -- I tried using it a couple months ago. It failed to render anything on my brand-new iPad, though it worked on my iPhone. It also only has about ~half the current furniture IKEA sells, so I could only try out one of the three desks I was interested in, which made it entirely useless for comparison. Finally, you can't even search for items by name -- you have to navigate a hierarchy of every model the app has.
In other words, it still needs a LOT of work. The app gets occasional maintenance updates but IKEA doesn't seem to be seriously investing in it, unfortunately. The fact it's missing half their furniture is pretty unforgiveable.
This doesn't surprise me very much. I'm gonna rant a bit now.
I used to make consumer facing software for IKEA 10+ years ago and the dynamic back then was that IKEA Communications (the marketing arm) would always have these pretty cool and interesting projects, but they (and we) were constantly running up against the wall that is IKEA Systems.
Basically, whatever Systems says is the law, and they had all kinds of... interesting laws.
For example, Systems owned all environments (production or otherwise) and had very draconian rules with regards to deployments. Everything had to be documented and packaged in certain ways, certain formats had to be used etc. This wouldn't be so bad if you are given clear instructions, but we never were. So we'd do our best, throw packages over the wall and then eventually get them back with pretty useless commentare like "This is not up to code" but no indication of what's missing or otherwise wrong.
Oh and you only had four deployment windows a year, once a quarter. It could take days to get a response, and if you missed the deadline you'd have to wait three months for the next window. Of course, whenever Communications had a project they wanted done it would be stale and out of date if you missed the deployment deadline, so it truly was a deadline as in your project is dead if you miss it. Needless to say, we had to crunch more than a few times.
But it was fun working with Communications – they were a very creative and fun bunch. It's also really cool to visit IKEA HQ down in Älmhult, where they have the photo studios, loads of furniture and props from pretty much any decade, a very cool 3D graphics department etc. We had a lot of fun there.
Anyway, Systems had a way to always make every project so much crappier than it could've been. They were like the lawyers that would come in and tell us that "you can't do this, you can't do that." Systems and Communications didn't really talk to one another either. It was a bit like being the kid in a family where the parents are always passive agressive against one another, and the kid is just sitting there in the middle having to deal with all the crap. The people were nice enough, but the whole setup was draining and you end up with a lot of compromises.
All that said, I had good fun working for IKEA back in the day, and I don't have any regrets. I also obviously have no idea what it's like to work for them now, so the above may have absolutely nothing to do with the AR app and current states of play etc. Maybe it's better now, but my experience having tried to plan both a kitchen and bathroom in the past few months lead me to believe that maybe not that much has changed in the past decade.
Usual product positioning in HN, meanwhile actual discussion is flagged:
I think the 2021 AR move will be that you can buy Ikea furniture, and an AR filter will let you take pics for social media showing Design Within Reach (or whatever fancy brand) furniture in the same places.
And the 2022 version will be when you wear an AR headset at home, so you can pretend all on your own.
To really get better quality I need to pay something like 5-10 times as much as IKEA prices, and that it is rarely worth.
It's happened to the best of us. If you've ever built a LEGO kit and been off by one stud somewhere early in the project, you'll know the feeling.
Free tip: Get a powered screwdriver before you start. It will definitely be worth the investment.
But even if the instructions are very clear, videos could make it more approachable to people.
I think the story here is that they were overwhelmed with a high demand during the past "WFH and improve your home year" all while their production and shipment capacity was being more or less randomly reduced (separately in each country) with very little warning.
Stock sync issues? I used to think they had bugs there until I realized they're constrained in two aspects that are both unusually tight at the moment:
a) forecasted availability of products in your particular shipment center
b) forecasted availability of home delivery capacity in your particular region
Note that the two will have to match up for the same week at least (maybe less), or there'll be a pileup. In a normal year this isn't really a problem, there's some slack...
The strategy I eventually landed on was to give up trying to bundle everything into one neat order to save a little money. I've been ordering large/heavy stuff (like sofas/beds) for home delivery in separate deliveries, as soon as I've been able to decide on something. Smaller things I've been picking up outside their nearby store. If I didn't live near an IKEA, I'd order the smaller items by postal/package delivery.
Most stores ship your order within 2 days. With IKEA your’re probably going to wait a week for them to handle the order and hopefully ship it.
It works reasonably well and gives you a general idea of how large the furniture is and how it would fit in the space. Surprisingly, they do a good job with the lighting on the object and if you unfocus your eyes a bit, it does seem like it's in the room with you.
fixed that headline for you
This isn’t a data-grab it’s a sales vector. Make it easy for people to envision their house with your product in it. IKEA’s best marketing is their catalog and showrooms where you can actually see their stuff used in different actually livable rooms and see how they would fit into yours. Same thing but now it’s literally your house.