Market Research Strategies
The strategies listed here are tools you can use to identify the market need and requirement for your design IA inquiry in Criterion A1
Use these strategies to understand the opportunity, user needs, and justify the opportunity.
Literature Search
Secondary Research
Data: Qualitative and Quantitative
This is the research and review of scholarly articles, newspaper and magazines, books, and other publications.
Advantages: Many sources available; Relatively easy to access online and offline; Variety of data sources and types available.
Disadvantages: Many sources can make research time consuming.
Product Analysis
Primary Research
Data: Quantitative and Qualitative
Analysis of existing products in order to compare and determine aspects such as: key features, form, materials, performance characteristics, function, ergonomic factors, manufacturing techniques, and cost. In some cases, products may be disassembled to gain a deep understanding of the materials, components, and manufacturing techniques.
Advantages: Identify key aspects of competing products in the product category; Determine essential features for the intended product; Identify design opportunities
Disadvantages: May not be possible to analyze all aspects of all products; Secondary data only possible if data is gathered via literature, online, etc. Gathering of primary data can be expensive and time consuming as examples of each product need to be purchased.
Expert Appraisal
Primary Research
Data: Qualitative
An expert is someone who is uniquely qualified based on their skills and experience, to give feedback on a design. An expert might be a “super-user”, engineer, designer, or other person with unique and specialized knowledge. Their opinion and observations about a product or design would address aspects that a regular user might not consider or be aware of. For example, a material scientist might give feedback as to how the use of a certain type of plastic is better suited for mass production of a tool handle, while the target user might not comment or consider this aspect of the design.
Advantages: Detailed knowledge can be extremely useful to the design context.
Disadvantages: Expert may be biased; Difficult to locate an expert.
User trial
Primary Research
Data: Qualitative
User trials involved the observation of people using a product and the collection of qualitative data from them about their opinion of the product. It is done with people who are actually using the product (compare with User Research)
Advantages: Easier and cost effective as the trials can rely on observation and surveys.
Disadvantages: Users may have a wide range of opinions, and may use a product in very different ways, which may make it difficult to analyze or draw conclusions.
User Research
Primary Research
Data: Qualitative
This is the collection of users’ opinions through surveys and questionnaires. It may or may not involve people who have actually used the product. It is largely focused on gathering people’s perceptions about the product.
Advantages: Very quick and affordable to implement.
Disadvantages: Questions need to be carefully constructed in order to gather meaningful data.
Perceptual Mapping
Primary Research
Data: Qualitative
Perceptual mapping is a digram that shows customers perceptions of a product, or aspect of that product. This diagram is created by first interviewing or surveying customers about a product. Using this data, a perceptual map is created showing how people perceive the product. Next, this map is used to identify gaps in the market that could be filled by the product. Marketing and promotional strategies would then be directed to that gap.
Advantages: Quick and (relatively) easy to construct; easy to identify gaps in the market; Effective visual communication tool.
Disadvantages: Can be biased due to its subjective nature
