Market Data - Market Research

10/10/2016 - Lecture

In this lecture, we're looking at the market data and market research in the industry. This part is important because I can use market research to help me think of ideas to design.

We started talking about the market research.

We use market research to gather information about the consumer so we are aware of what they need and want. There are two types of market research, the primary data and the secondary data. As we all know, any type of secondary research involves us using the internet or books to find the information we need but primary data is where we find our own research, there are two types relating to primary data, quantitative and qualitative.

Quantitative 

Quantitative research is us asking a lot of questions and using the clipboard to gather those information. There are three types of quantitative research, geographic, psychographic and socio-economic.

- Geographic - This data looks at how and where you live.  It looks at that because it could give us a clue of the things you will buy.  

- Psychographic - This data looks at the way you think. It looks at what interests you have, what your passion or hobby is, from that, it would give us an idea of what you would be interested in buying because what you buy could revolve around your hobby or interest.

- Socio-economic - This data looks at your class and financial ability. This could look at how economic activities could affect and influence what you buy.

The pros of quantitative research is that it has a lot of detail because it contains a lot of information, it looks at the different aspects of the consumer, how that person thinks and lives and from that, it could narrow their market to specific consumers, this makes the information very clear and easy to understand. The negative of it is that the method is complex and hard which comes at a cost, it could vary around £150,000. It would be even hard to do if there are any time restraints. 

Qualitative

Qualitative data is information about qualities and the information is something that can't be measured. This involves having an interview and a focus group, having to talk to people who are in the know about an issue that needs to be understood.

Unlike quantitative, qualitative's method is easier and cheaper because all it involves is preparing and arranging a meeting which is something that can be easily done and quite quick at times. The cons of it is that there is no statistical validation, the information given can't be measured like I said before, it's all opinion so there isn't much evidence to it and it's only a success if the discussions are controlled in the right way.

Market Segmentation

We moved onto 'Market Segmentation'. It's a marketing strategy that involves dividing the target market of existing and potential customers and combining the ones who have the same interests, characteristics and common needs.

This can be broken down to different ways, it can be done by age, sex, social class, geography, hobby/interests and so on. This will help you determine what type of customer you are designing for and how you will design it. The objective is to design something that matches the expectation of the consumers.

Below is an example of explaining what market segmentation....

Take books as an example, there are two types, fiction and non-fiction which then splits into different genres, furthermore, it splits into age groups and specific types of different narrative. By doing this, it narrows down the target audience and who you are designing for but also shows that there are different types, it doesn't just stop at genres as an example.

To have a successful market segmentation, you have to make it measurable and identifiable but also, it have to be accessible. It has to be substantial because you have to make a profit and generate a decent amount of money in otherwise it's a waste of money if you think the advertisement will work then a large amount of money can be put in to pay for everything. Finally, it has to have a meaning, it must connect with the target audience, if not, there will be no profit coming in, it has to relate to people who you think will buy into your design.

This lecture was useful because it showed that when it comes to research, there is a wide range of different things I have to look at and I have learned some of the terminologies in this lecture. I also looked at the pros and cons of each so that if I'm at that stage where I have to research and gather information, I would know which would be the most effective one for me at that time depending on time, cost etc.

Design Process

Lecture - 3/10/2016

In this lecture, we began with looking at the design process chart, it discusses design in the industry world and how it is affected by many different factors outside the design like marketing, production, finance etc and it shows when they get involved at what stage of the design e.g as shown below, production would get involved when the design is at the 'Design Concept' stage because they would have to contribute money to making the design and to develop it.

This is why as a designer, if I was working for a company, I have to think about how it would affect not just me but the finance team, marketing team and so on because everyone is depending on my design that I made which is why mistakes should not happen.

If mistakes does happen, there are several types like human error and design error. If an error does happen, I have to make sure that it's a human error and not a design error because mistakes can occur as humans but we can fix it, we can't fix design errors which then leads to some complications. 

To make sure we are on top of everything that is going on with the world and making sure we don't make a human error, the image below is important because it's telling us that it's important that we know what is going on and what we need to know.

This is vital when working with a client so we know everything that is going on and know if there will be any changes to the world soon because a client might want me to design something that involves another culture, it's up to to me to know about that culture so I don't create something might offend them which makes me look bad and the company who hired me. Pete's advice to us was to read the news.

The next part was about how to deal with clients. Pete's advice to us was to make the client the boss or make them feel like the boss, what that means is if you let the client feel like the boss and let the client have an input into the design, they will buy into it because they have contributed towards it so it will feel like they have created it, this will create a good client relationship because you're letting the client be a part of the design.

It is very important to note down everything that has been said and record any requirements so that I have evidence of the conversation, in case the client starts saying they didn't say something even though they did, I will have evidence of it, not only that, in case I forget anything, I can use the notes to help me remember instead of going back to the client and asking what they said because it will make them feel that I weren't listening.

What I need to understand that all of the information will not be there and what I mean is, the client might not give all of the information to me, that could have been by accident or on purpose, that doesn't matter because my job either way is to ask questions, assess the situation and respond to it. Before I leave my client, it is vital that I have all of the information I need.

Product Positioning

A company would use this technique to determine where they want to present their products in the best possible way. It's a good way to determine who your competitor is so you got an idea of how they work and how you can respond to it e.g There's no point for Lada to be placed by Rolls Royce on the diagram because they can't compete with them because of the quality and price so they have to be realistic of where they are at the moment.

This is also another great way for me, as a designer, to ask the company, where do they want to be in 5 or 10 years because knowing how high or low they want to be placed in the future will tell me what ambitions they have and I can work in a way that suits them, e.g, if a company wants to continue making low quality products at low price, I would know exactly how and how much work I should put into the design.

PEST Analysis and SWOT Analysis

PEST Analysis is a tool used by businesses to assess the market by looking at the different factors like Political, Economic, Social and Technological. It is assessed by analyzing the environment around them to see if they will have an impact on their product or organisation, then the results of it is used to identify the strengths and weaknesses but also the threats, this is where SWOT Analysis comes in.