TESTING
After sharing the proposed solution with members of my case study, I requested feedback. Here are the suggestions received and how these might be incorporated into the next iteration.
Suggestion 1.
Integrate democratic design principles: form, function, low price, quality, sustainability. Solution. Cards will include icons indicating which of the areas achieved.
Suggestion 2.
Dummy text should be replaced when presenting my concept with IKEA, because if the “tone of voice is off you could hit a very icy Swedish brick wall’. Solution. The company’s protectiveness of their tone is an inside perspective I was unaware of. I will replace text I cut and pasted about the products with Loren Ipsum, which is type using fake words to ensure that client is not distracted by the text, and just considers the concept.
Suggestion 3.
How can cards address critical learnings from technical or administrative areas such as how projects are run, cost vs. quality, on-boarding new coworkers. Solution. This identifies a blindspot in my solution, in that it only considers concepts that lend themselves to a visual medium. Similarly, audio and video provide a superior way to share knowledge than print, and good for storytelling or instruction manuals. Ultimately, it is clear that one system cannot work for everything, so the next step would be to return to IKEA and try to identify all areas, so that the best medium could be chosen.
Suggestion 4.
Maybe just forget the card, and just limit this to a digital format, which is a far better platform, and easier to upload case studies or update information. Solution. I am reminded of how troublesome documentation is when it is not a live document and this is definitely a point to consider. A physical card had other benefits, so the question is if efficiency is the only factor to consider.
Suggestion 5.
You probably should not showcase designers because 'you never know who will like them'. Solution. Designer cards are not so much to celebrate designers, but rather for them to share their learnings from the design practice.
Suggestion 6.
Maybe cards can provide a learning tool, or used as an icebreaker to help get new teams on the same page. They suggest cards to define buzzwords like sustainable, AI or innovation which exclude people from collaborating. Solution. Cards can be used in multiple ways, are inexpensive and customizable to facilitate specific needs, based around sharing the company’s collective knowledge.