Vishal Thakur

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Vishal Thakur

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IKEA's Developer Portal

IKEA's Developer Portal

View the interactive prototype

View the interactive prototype

What is the IKEA Developer Portal?

It’s a central hub where developers access APIs, tools, and resources to build digital IKEA experiences.

It’s a central hub where developers access APIs, tools, and resources to build digital IKEA experiences.

Impact

Improved onboarding and documentation access for global developer teams

Team

  • IKEA’s Design Team (Sweden)

  • UX Designer (India)

Timeline

8 months
Nov, 2021 - June, 2022

My Contribution

  • Enhanced the overall UX through better information structure and clearer navigation.

  • Applied the Skapa Design System for improved visual and functional consistency.

1

Why Redesign?

Portal content hadn’t been updated in over 3 years

Not scalable for global IKEA developers and collaboration

Needed alignment with IKEA’s brand and Skapa Design System

2

Fixing the Flow

  • Before redesigning, we analyzed the existing portal to understand why users struggled to find information.

  • Structure lacked clear navigation, making key resources like APIs and documentation hard to locate.

What we did?

What we did?

  • Mapped the user flow to define key screens and how each section connects.

  • Identified gaps and overlaps in content based on user needs and business goals.

  • Improved discoverability by surfacing important resources like APIs, docs, and support.

Updated Information Architecture

Updated Information Architecture

3

From Sketch to Structure

  • Before moving into high-fidelity designs, I explored early ideas through quick sketches and low-fidelity wireframes.

  • This helped validate the information hierarchy, discuss layouts faster, and align the team on structure and flow.

Sketches

Wireframes

Wireframes

4

Consistency with Skapa

  • Collaborated with the Sweden design team to review and define new reusable patterns.

  • Contributed new design elements that were later added to Skapa, enhancing the shared system for future projects.

5

The Final Look

View the interactive prototype here to explore the designs in action.
Note: Due to NDA restrictions, not all screens and final designs are included in the prototype link.

6

Challenges & My Learnings

Challenges
As the sole designer from India, I faced a few challenges - especially around understanding user workflows and managing a large information structure.

  1. Understanding developer workflows

    It took time to learn how developers actually used such portals. I spent sessions with tech teams and studied other global portals to identify what worked and what didn’t.


  1. Structuring complex content
    Organizing a large amount of content into a clear IA was challenging. I explored multiple structures and finalized the hierarchy with the Sweden team.

My Learnings
This project deepened my understanding of user behavior, information architecture, and the importance of iteration.

I learned that good design isn’t just about simplicity - it’s about making the right information accessible to the right users.

  1. Understand Users Deeply

    Design decisions must be driven by their needs, not assumptions.


  1. Information Architecture Matters
    Even small IA decisions can shape the entire product experience.

My Learnings

This project strengthened my understanding of user behavior, information architecture, and iterations.


It helped me learn that good design isn’t about simplicity alone, but about making the right information accessible to the right users. 2 key learnings were -

1. Understand Users Deeply
Design decisions must be driven by their needs, not assumptions.

2. Information Architecture Matters
IA even though it’s a small step, it directs the entire process

I transitioned out before the launch but ensured a smooth handoff, with well-documented foundations that helped the development team move forward confidently.