Russians are bad at interior design. Russians tend to see interior design trends as a mix of luxury and platitude. These designs are expensive, outlandish and inapplicable for small apartments.
For IKEA interior design is about solving problems. We offered students their very first experience of solving problems of real people. In exchange we promised that the best designers will be given an opportunity to be hired by IKEA and will visit the Stockholm Design Week. We created a web platform for designers to meet problems. People apply for solutions by describing their problems, attaching photos and setting their budget. These problems are distributed between the designers and solved using IKEA products one by one.
As a result people get real solutions of their problems for free. Young designers get experience, recognition and opportunity to work for IKEA. IKEA is also happy.