Design+Specifications+-+research


 * __Research__**

This is the stage where you must be enthusiastic or you will start to worry. Once you are into the research, design ideas will come as a reflection of the knowledge you have gained. This section gives guidance on some of the research that you can do.
 * 1.** Gather information about similar existing products. This will give you a good understanding of what is out there and what as already been done. When you later reach the stage of sketching your ideas, you can assess some of the best existing designs and try to improve on them, or you might have a completely new idea of your own. The Internet is excellent for this kind of research.
 * 2.** Find out what the problems are with the existing products by doing a user trip. Information about user trips can be found on other pages within Wikidworkspace. These will help you discover your own opinions on the products.
 * 3.** Find out other people’s opinions about existing products. A good method of doing this is by questioning them. Make sure that you have got a standard set of questions that you can ask them all. For each question ask them to rate the product between 1-5. Record the information in a list format so that you can compare all the results on one page. Example questions you might want to ask are:
 * Is it comfortable?
 * Does it look good?
 * Does it perform well?
 * Can you clean it easily?
 * Does it store easily?
 * Would you buy one?

All of this information will help you to get a feel for what other people’s opinions are and how much they vary. [|www.design-technology.info/anthropometrics/page2.htm]
 * 4.** Research the technical stuff such as ergonomics and anthropometrics. They sound like sciences that need a full time training course to understand, but relevant information can easily be extracted from books and the Internet. You would be surprised how many existing products do not incorporate it in their design. This information will give you solid guidelines to compare existing products and spot where improvements can be made.

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 * 5.** Research and decide who your target customers are. What are their lifestyles? How are they influenced? Are they attracted to the visual design, the practicality, the environment or the price etc.?
 * 6.** Research ideas the aesthetics for the product that suit the target user. Do not focus all your research on similar products; try to think outside the box for ideas. For example, why not make a coffee table that is shaped like an aeroplane wing. If it is suitable for your target customer, then go for it. Mood boards are a good tool to help you decide on the aesthetics. Information about Mood boards can be found on other pages within Wikidworkspace.
 * 7.** Decide which colours are suitable for the product and the target user. It is good to look at existing similar products, but if you are aiming at a different target customer, you might want to change things. For example, an object that is aimed at wealthy middle aged people might have a polished classic finish. However, if you made a cheap version for little girls, the colour pink immediately comes to mind. Once again, a Mood board would be a useful tool to help make decisions in this area.
 * 8.** Environmental impact is one of the biggest design considerations of the modern age. Are the materials recyclable after use? Are recyclable materials suitable? Are there any environmental regulations to comply with when manufacturing the design? Finding out this information is not the easiest of research tasks because it is still a fast developing subject and regulations are changing all the time.

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 * 9.** The cost of manufacture is probably the main reason if there is any scope to improve on existing designs. Cheap manufacture equals cheap retail. A lot of people will make do with a poorly designed product for a cheap price. The ultimate goal is to produce an exceptional design at a cheap price. Unfortunately, this is every manufacturer goal as well. Because this is a tall order, it is probably more relevant for profit hunting manufacturing companies than it is for schools and students.