Introduction to market research
Traditionally, research has been used both before the design gets underway - with 'usage and awareness' studies and tracking exercises providing an overall contextual understanding of the market - and after, with 'concept testing' either being used to identify a solution from a shortlist of final concepts, or as a disaster check before launch. In both cases, research has existed essentially outside of the design process.
However, current research tends to emerge from strategic consultancies and design companies who have an intuitive grasp of the value that research and design combined can give to the creative process. These organisations use research to generate insights into the mindsets of customers, clients, service users and citizens, and derive solutions on this basis. As such, their aims and methods differ significantly from the purist socio-demographic approaches of conventional research agencies.
Quantitative research has increasingly become a staple of the design process - both for client organisations and design companies. It is a powerful tool in providing statistical evidence of behaviours or 'patterns' of usage. But while the rigour of a statistical approach is a strong tool for evaluating what already exists, the creative process is often about that which does not yet exist and so cannot be quantified.
On the other hand, there are essentially three types of qualitative research input that can be identified as being part of a design process:
- Generative research, which aims to unearth 'nuggets' of consumer insight that can be fed into the design process at the early stages of concept generation to help arrive at new ideas or innovative approaches.
- Formative research, in which consumer testing is used as part of an iterative design process where customer feedback drives design modifications.
- Evaluative research, which seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of a particular piece of design, whether brand identity, packaging, retail design, advertising or communication.
Over time, these models have often evolved from a simple case of research driving design to a much more reciprocal relationship between research and design. (For more information on the role of qualitative research, please see the sections on this website on 'User-centred design' and 'Ergonomics'.)
In their quest for new projective techniques that allow consumers to communicate to the researchers that which cannot easily be articulated, researchers often use visual stimuli - not just in evaluative research but also in generative research where the use of tools such as participatory design or visual modelling allow consumers to help to create design solutions or to articulate their aspirations, tastes and preferences in visual rather than verbal terms.
New ideas come from different places. Sometimes, as in the case of Dyson's cyclone vacuum cleaner or Virgin's business empire, they derive from an individual who has the courage to question the rationale of an existing product or market. In such cases research may be involved in testing usability or marketability but not in the generation of the idea. However, in many contemporary design processes there is a need for inspiration and insight.
Increasingly, the creative industries have the maturity and the confidence to seek those insights from a partnership with potential users. At its best, design can not only benefit from research but participate in its successful deployment.