IKEA Undercover

During the 2019 winter break, I worked as a part-time cashier at IKEA CITY Wukesong, Beijing. Over the course of the job, I collected every question customers asked me and every pain point I observed — from missing price tags to confusing bag options at checkout.

At the end of my stint, I compiled these observations into a customer experience journey map covering six stages: browsing, selecting, paying, packing, and leaving the store. I voluntarily presented the map to the store manager.

This was a spontaneous act of design thinking applied to a real-world retail environment — no brief, no client, just genuine curiosity and a desire to improve the experience for both customers and staff.

2019年寒假，我在北京五棵松宜家城市店兼职做收银员。在工作期间，我收集了顾客向我提出的所有问题，以及我观察到的各种痛点——从找不到价签到结账时对购物袋选择的困惑。

兼职结束时，我将这些观察整理成一份顾客体验旅程地图，涵盖浏览、挑选、付款、装包和离店六个阶段，并主动向商店经理进行了汇报。

这是一次将设计思维自发应用于真实零售环境的实践——没有项目简报，没有客户要求，只有纯粹的好奇心和改善顾客与员工体验的愿望。