QotD: I'm (sort of) Crafty

What's the last thing you crafted, constructed or created yourself?

Hemnes

I'm actually not that crafty, but I'm not bad at following instructions.  And this past weekend (in between soccer and birthday parties and Trina's opening) I assembled a big dresser from Ikea.

I've been meaning to write about this for a while, but Ikea product design is amazing.  I'm not talking about the finished product -- the finished product is Good Enough, especially considering the price.  But the overall product design -- taking into account the parts, the packaging, the instructions and assembly process -- is really astounding.

The dresser I assembled came in two flat pack boxes; total weight was like 250 pounds.  The boxes contained approximately 75 unique pieces, plus all the screws, connectors, etc.  The instructions were well designed, clear and easy to follow, and there wasn't one part missing, nor was there one part wasted. 

You think your Web 2.0 job design job is tough?  Imagine being a product designer at Ikea.  Not only do you have to build a reasonably good looking end product, but efficiently design the parts that its built from, the instructions for assembly, and the packaging approach (there wasn't a cubic inch of space wasted in the flat packs.)  And as if that weren't enough, you need to do it within the constraints of the broader product line.  I've put enough Ikea stuff together over the years that I've kind of "learned their system," and they (obviously) reuse parts across SKUs, as well as assembly methodologies.  Those constraints can be good things -- part reuse, process reuse, easier product extensions, etc. -- but it also means that product design is subject to the evolutionary rate of change of the rest of Ikea.  Such is life.

And it's not just about design, there must also be rigorous QA.  It's not just about product testing once it's assembled...but testing the assembly process itself.  They can't rely solely on a group of dedicated QA engineers (though they probably do use that expertise), like in software usability testing they probably bring in ordinary folks to test assembly procedures.  (Where do they find people in Sweden to do this?  Doesn't Ikea basically own Sweden the way Nokia owns Finland?)

Oh, and pricing?  Don't even bother thinking about what goes into pricing these items.  (Ikea must be seriously worried about the price of oil.)

Now, multiply each of these design constraints, bills of materials, testing, pricing, marketing and distribution factors by the sheer scale of Ikea -- both in geographical reach but also in the absolutely overwhelming number of SKUs they produce.  Is your head exploding yet?  The only thing that kept mine from exploding on Saturday was the mind-numbing yet entirely satisfying 3.5 hour task of assembling the 8 drawer Hemnes chest in white (63" wide, 20" deep, 38" tall) that retails for a mere $249.