Using Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions as a framework, we redesigned IKEA India's homepage to reflect the country’s unique cultural values. The new homepage prioritizes national pride, simplicity, helpful information, and local accessibility, ensuring that IKEA’s online presence aligns with the expectations and behaviors of their new Indian customer base.
Overview & Impact
How might we help IKEA adapt its global homepage to better reflect Indian cultural norms and expectations?
Over a two-week sprint I worked in a cross-functional design team to localize IKEA’s homepage for the Indian market. Our challenge was to create a culturally sensitive design that honored Indian values, avoided offensive imagery, and stayed within IKEA’s existing design system.
Key Results
Guided by Hofstede’s Six Dimensions of Culture, we assessed how Indian customers might interact differently with a Western-based interface. Using those insights we proposed a range of UI adjustments, including nationalistic imagery, a simplified navigation structure, and localized language support. We also introduced new elements like a product specs tab, and a virtual assistant to better align with users' practical expectations.
The resulting design delivers a more intuitive experience for Indian users by prioritizing clarity, local representation, and high-context visuals. While constrained by IKEA’s design system, our solution demonstrated how cultural UX research can drive design decisions at scale.
Discovery
India’s cultural dimensions offered actionable guidance for design adaptation.
We used Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Model to identify behavioral patterns likely to influence user needs in India. Six key metrics shaped our design recommendations:
Opportunity
Nationalistic Imagery
77
India scores a 77 on Power Distance, indicating an appreciation for leadership, positions of power, and nationalistic ideals.
Opportunity
Cooperative Features
48
India scores a 48 on Individualism, indicating a society that shares both collective and individualistic values.
Opportunity
Masculine Imagery
56
India scores a 56 on Masculinity, indicating an appreciation for displays of individual success and power.
Opportunity
Simple Navigation
40
India scores a 40 on Uncertainty Avoidance, indicating an acceptance of imperfection and a somewhat warm adjustment to current circumstances.
51
India scores a 51 on Long Term Orientation, indicating an affinity for quality products and services.
Opportunity
Helpful Information
26
India scores a 26 on Indulgence, indicating a culture of restraint and appreciation of helpful, practical, and communal products and services.
We also reviewed competing e-commerce platforms in India to understand user interface norms. Through competitive analysis, we validated our assumption that clear, informative, and community-oriented design patterns would resonate best.
Solution
Design updates balanced cultural alignment with IKEA's UI constraints.
Using IKEA’s existing component library, we redesigned the homepage layout to align with our research insights while maintaining development feasibility. Our key solutions included:
1. Nationalistic and Masculine Imagery: Based on India’s scores on Power Distance and Masculinity, we recommend adding high contrast imagery, as well as visual elements of nationalistic pride and individual success.
2. Concise and Helpful Information: Based on India’s scores on Long Term Orientation and Indulgence, we recommended adding navigation tabs for product specs, build instructions, and company offers, as well as a virtual assistant chat box for user support and accessibility.
3. Linear Navigation: Based on India’s score on Uncertainty Avoidance, we recommended adding a simple and linear navigation style throughout the home page. User’s should have multiple options to choose from, but in a way that feels secure and reduces cognitive load.
4. Localization Features: Based on IKEA’s constraint to localize recommendations, we also recommended adding a dropdown menu for local languages. This menu would be localized via the user’s location within the country, displaying their local language based on their location.
These proposed recommendations were tested in design critiques with our peers and instructors, resulting in refinements that made the layout feel familiar, empowering, and informative to the intended audience.
Iteration
Design critiques and cultural review helped refine the tone and layout.
Given our short timeline, iteration occurred within two rounds of peer and mentor feedback. We received targeted critique on visual hierarchy, information architecture, and cultural clarity. Notable changes included:
Swapping leather products for fabric furnishings to avoid offending users with animal-based materials
Enhancing color contrast and button placement for improved usability
Reducing homepage clutter to avoid overwhelming new users
Although we couldn’t conduct full usability testing, each update we made was in direct response to feedback aligned with our research insights. If given more time, we would have tested key features like the language dropdown and product specs tab to ensure clarity and reduce friction across India’s diverse user base.
Conclusion
Reflecting on cross-cultural UX design and future opportunities:
This project taught us how deeply cultural influences affect UX and UI expectations. Designing for a non-Western audience required letting go of aesthetic assumptions and anchoring all of our choices within a nimble form of ethnographic research. We gained valuable experience working within brand constraints, balancing practicality with cultural sensitivity.
If we had more time, we would conduct usability testing with Indian users and further iterate based on real behavior. We’d also explore adaptive interface patterns that shift based on region and language, helping IKEA create a more scalable international UX strategy.
Ultimately this sprint sharpened our ability to localize product experiences with empathy, rigor, and an eye for cultural nuance.
