Press enter or click to view image in full size Abstract version of IKEA logo. Original image by Francesco Maria Furno

The IKEA Showroom Effect. Or how to make your client’s decision easier in a design process

Francesco Maria Furno

6 min read1 day ago

Sometimes we speak Sanskrit. From our side, as designers and expert professionals, we assume that what is crystal clear in our heads will be just as clear on the client’s side.

In a complex project like designing a brand, we often ask our clients to make an effort of imagination, to picture the visual system before it exists.

But what is obvious to designers is not obvious to clients. We mentally visualize a solution, so why do we assume our clients do too? They aren’t, and have no reason to be, used to it. Sometimes we should come down to earth for a moment and remember that some people don’t have that visual culture, that experience or that background, and need a little nudge from us. I call it the IKEA showroom effect.…