IKEA’s disappearing search can be a UX miss 🚧🧩

The other day, I was browsing IKEA’s mirror collection.
Scrolling through dozens of products, I suddenly thought “Maybe I should check out dressing tables instead.”
That’s when I noticed something:
All the filter options (Sort, Category, Size…) stayed pinned as I scrolled.
But the main search bar? Gone.
This only happens in the territory level of IKEA’s information architecture the deep category pages where you’re already inside a specific product range.
From a UX perspective, that’s a problem.

Here’s why:

Affordance: A search bar’s affordance is simple it lets you search anytime. But here, that action disappears once you scroll. The affordance is present only at the top, so mid-browse, it doesn’t feel like you can search.

• Minimal Effort: Hick’s Law and Fitts’ Law both remind us every extra step slows people down. If I want to search for something new mid-scroll, I have to scroll all the way up first.

• Visibility Principle (Don Norman): Controls should always be visible so users can act without having to recall where they are. Hiding search forces users to remember and backtrack.

Fashion platforms like Myntra, Flipkart, Nykaa, and Meesho get this right they keep the top navigation and search sticky, letting users pivot anytime.
Amazon and IKEA? They don’t. And from a usability standpoint, that’s a miss.
Design should respect how people really shop not just how we assume they will.