The IKEA effect is a cognitive bias that can influence the outcome and perceived value of products to a big degree. People tend to place high value on products they partially have created. Hence, the name IKEA effect. It is derived from the Swedish furniture retailer famous for products that require to be assembled by the customers.

宜家效应是一种认知偏差，能够在很大程度上影响产品的产出和感知价值。 人们倾向于给予他们自己创造的产品以高度的重视。 因此，这种就被称作为宜家效应。 它来自于瑞典的家具零售商，因需要用户自己组装产品而闻名。

Products designed by IKEA and LEGO are great examples of this psychological effect. Designers must have the IKEA effect in mind when designing solutions and use it when appropriate.

由宜家和乐高设计的产品就是这种心理效应的优秀范例。设计师在设计解决方案时必须要思考宜家效应，并在适当的时候使用它。

A bit about the IKEA effect

关于宜家效应

The more the needs for customization and co-production are present in your target audience the more the IKEA effect is relevant for you as a designer. The effect can help you instill feelings of competence in the user when the task is completed successfully.

当你的目标用户越需要参与制定与生产产品，宜家效应对于一个设计师来说就越相关。当任务被圆满完成，这种效应能够帮助你给用户灌输以成就感。

The IKEA effect will create stronger bond between the user and the product. The effort that users will put into completing the product to a complete state will transform into love for that product. The subjective value will be higher in comparison to a product that hasn’t cost any effort.

宜家效应将会在用户和产品间产生更强的联系。用户对于完成产品所付出的努力将会转变成对该产品的喜爱。和没有付出任何努力的产品相比，这种产品的主观价值将更高。

For example, participants in on study constructed their own origami cranes. The participants valued them roughly five times as much as another group of participants who didn’t put effort into building them.

例如，参与研究的学员制作了属于他们自己的折纸艺术。参与者对这些折纸艺术的估价大约是另外一组并没有参与付出的群体的五倍之多。

It is important to point out that the IKEA effect is not about putting the effort be it small or big, it is more about the completion of the task. The IKEA effect is present when the user can enjoy the completed task and the product. If the product is disassembled soon after the assembling the effect is lost.

这里需要重点指出的是，宜家效应并不是把付出的努力进行放大或缩小，而是更倾向于让用户完成任务。 当用户享受参与并且完成产品时，宜家效应就会出现。 如果产品在安装后立即拆卸，效应也会随之消失。

Another example points out that it is also about hitting the sweet spot.

另一个例子是有关于击中“甜蜜点”的。

In the period of 1920–40 American food manufacturers wanted to reduce the time and effort required to make a cake. They simplified so much the process that the cooks needed to add only water and bake the cake. Unfortunately, the sales of the cake mix quickly stalled. The manufacturers reached a psychologist named Ernest Dichter. He found out that the reason was the level of effort required. Making the cakes was too easy! It was so easy that people didn’t get satisfaction from baking the cake. People were feeling the same way as buying a pre-made cakes from the store. The solution was to get out the egg of the dry mixture and allow people to add it themselves. Doing that made the sales go up again.

在上个世界20-40年代期间，美国食品制造商希望减少制作蛋糕所需的时间和精力。 他们大幅度地简化了制作流程，人们只需要加水就能烘烤蛋糕。但是不幸的是，蛋糕的销售因此迅速停滞。因此制造商联系到了一个名叫欧内斯特·迪克特的心理学家。他发现这其中的原因在于整个制作的过程中所需要付出的努力程度。制作蛋糕显得太容易了，以至于人们不能从中获得满足感。人们感觉就像从商店购买现成的蛋糕一样。其解决方案是将鸡蛋从原材料中取出，让人们自己添加。这个做法使得销售再次上升。

People had the need to be emotionally invested and get rewards from the process of making the cake not just the end result.

人们需要情感投入，并且从制作蛋糕的过程中获得回馈，而不止是最终的结果。

The journey is as important as the destination!

旅途和目的地一样重要！

Making things too easy is not necessary providing better experience for the user. It is all about hitting the sweet spot where the user can enjoy breaking the egg, get a bit dirty, feel in control and eat the cake in the end.

简化产品不一定能为用户提供更好的体验。用户也会享受打破鸡蛋，弄脏双手，参与了烘焙过程，最后吃到蛋糕的感觉。

IKEA effect in your design

在设计中应用宜家效应

The act of creating a thing with ones own hands increases the perceived value to the creator. As Designers we are familiar with that feeling.

亲自参与对产品的制作能够增加创作者的感知价值。作为设计师，我们感同身受。

Let’s look at some ideas how to utilize that in our designs so users can see bigger value in the products we make.

让我们来看看在设计中如何利用这些想法，让用户在我们制作的产品中看到更大的价值。

People are willing to pay more for products they create than equivalent pre-assembled products. The general rule is the higher the contribution the higher the valuation is. Yet, if the effort required is too big or the contribution too small, people won’t probably complete the task. The IKEA effect is possible only when the user actually completes the task.

相较于预先组装好的产品，人们更愿意为自己参与制作的产品支付更多的钱。一般来说，付出的贡献越多，其价值越高。但是，需要付出的努力太大或者贡献太小，人们都无法从中获取满足感。宜家效应只有当用户参与其中并顺利完成任务时才能实现。

To hit the sweet spot we need to aim at creating a product where the level of effort is low but the perceived contribution is high. This way the IKEA effect can be achieved.

因此，我们需要设计一个费劲程度低但是贡献较高的产品，这样才能更好地实现宜家效应。

Whenever possible let users have control over customization of the product and service. Design it to be easy to execute (as breaking an egg) and to have a high perceived contribution (as cooking a whole cake).

尽可能让用户可以把控产品和服务的定制。设计应当易于执行（例如打破鸡蛋），并带给用户高度的感知贡献（例如烹饪了一个蛋糕）。

When you let the users feel in control and put a bit of effort into getting what they need from your product/service, they will form a stronger bond with the product/service.

当你让用户感受到控制产品需要付出一些努力，而这些努力帮助他们顺利地从产品/服务中获取所需时，他们就会与产品/服务建立更强大的联系。

Digital designers for example can use sample data and editable templates to achieve the IKEA effect. Make the first experience with your app feel dynamic and alive to the users. Prompt them to edit the templates and interact with the product.

例如，数字设计师可以使用样本数据和可编辑模板来实现宜家效应。让用户在初次体验你的 APP 时能够感觉到灵活和易操作。促使他们编辑模板并与产品进行交互。

For example, leading them through the process of setting up their profile to completion. Executing successfully a simple task as sending their first email or setting up a widget on their website.

Simple actions requiring low effort and making the user feel like having high contribution will lower the fear of dealing with a new product. If done properly and continuously for a period of time it even can lead to forming loyalty to the brand and product.

例如，引导他们完成创建个人资料的全过程。成功执行一个简单的任务比如发送给他们的第一封电子邮件或在他们的网站上设置一个小控件。简单的操作不需要用户付出太多精力，但能让他们感觉有很大的贡献，这能够缓解他们对新产品的恐惧。如果用户正确且持续这样一段时间，这甚至能培养用户对于品牌和产品的忠诚度。

You might even gain a few ambassadors saying things like “It was so easy to setup and start using it! You should give it a try.” Or as the case of IKEA furniture “I saved some money on it and now it looks so good, even better than the fancy expensive furniture in the other shop.” :)

你甚至可能会获得几位宣传大使的称赞：“这个使用起来太容易了！ 你应该尝试一下！” 或者就像宜家家具一样， “我用低价买了这个东西，它现在看起来非常不错，甚至比其他商店里花哨昂贵的家具更好！” :)

Final thoughts

最后的想法

Sometimes saving the users a bit of labor could deprive them from a bit more happiness if they were to make the small effort. Think if you should decrease the user effort to zero or close to zero.

如果当用户想要花费一点精力的时候，有时候如果你帮助他们删除了这些付出精力的环节，这有可能会削弱他们的愉快感。思考一下你是否应该删除这些环节。

To make use of the effect we should engage people in the design and increase their sense of product ownership and brand loyalty. This way our designs will be loved more.

为了有效地发挥宜家效应，我们应该让人们参与产品的设计，增加他对的产品的归属感和品牌忠诚度。 这样我们的设计就会备受喜爱。

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本文翻译来自 Medium

https://uxdesign.cc/design-principle-ikea-effect-2d908b2de81

原作者：Tubik Studio

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