The purpose of research

1. The purpose of research • Research involves- • Collecting and collating information • Analysing and reporting the findings • Research helps identify • Factors that affect consumer choices such as cost, colour • Consumer preferences within certain target groups.

2. Primary Research • Primary research involves gathering the information yourself. • Such as • shows and exhibitions • Focus groups • Questionnaires and surveys

3. Primary Research • Focus groups bring together a small group of consumers so that designers can • ask questions about how products are used by consumers • Gain feedback on designs • Observe people using existing products to see how they function using them. • Questionnaires and surveys are the most popular method of collecting and analysing consumer information. They can be face to face, telephone or postal. • You need a large sample for it to be reliable • Can be general or target certain groups • Questions should be clear and focused • Avoid leading questions or closed questions.

4. Secondary Research • Secondary research relies on information that has been collected by others. • Secondary sources include- • Statistics • Market reports • Websites • Trade publications • Newspapers • books

5. Inspiration for Design • Designers can gain inspiration from many different places • Art • Graphics and photographs • Materials and fabrics • Exhibitions, fairs and shows • Cinema • Travel • Architecture, furniture and interior design • Nature

6. Product analysisinvolves disassembling an existing product to identify its key features. • Assess • The ergonomics of the product • The size • Component parts • Method of manufacture • cost • Analyse • The function • Style • Key design features • Construction methods • Fibres • Environmental issues

7. Product analysisinvolves disassembling an existing product to identify its key features. • Identify • Colour application • Embellishments • Trimmings • Care label • Finishes • BSI standards • Fabric construction • sizes

8. Industrial Practice • In industry designers spend relatively little time on research in comparison to developing ideas. • They will find out what consumers think of new designs before manufacture using surveys and focused groups. • Designers monitor high street fashion trends called intelligence gathering .

9. Analysing and evaluating • Following any research exercises you need to analyse and evaluate the information gathered to establish • If there is a clear trend in the data • How it will impact on the design • Research findings can be displayed using • ICT such as tables, pie charts, star profiles, line graphs, • Mood boards