The importance of design research

Clients often come to us with their ideas for a marketing campaign, however before we can get started we always remind them about market research and how it will guide our design decisions. This is perhaps one of the most important steps that every campaign should begin with. Without the right information from research, coming up with a successful design that communicates to the target audience is almost impossible. Good research is always the corner stone for success.

Among the first things that need to be considered when doing research are:

• Who your customers are
• What they need
• What others have to offer
• Discrepancies within the market
• How your product is accepted

On the surface the answer to these questions may be easily obtained, but for more detailed information you will need to get your hands dirty with some solid research. Once you clearly understand the intricacies behind why your customers or potential customers act a particular way, then selling to them becomes easier. Generally you will want to conduct two types of research to come up with the data that you need. First you will need quantitative data. Information gathered through this kind of research will provide you with numerical figures such as the number of people in your market, their gender, age etc… With this data you will be able to better define who your customers are.

The second form of research that you need to conduct is qualitative research. This will give you information that is based on opinions, beliefs and other data which cannot be quantified. Such information can be very important for understanding what consumers need and the gaps that exist within the market.

Both of these important forms of research can be achieved through a mix of questionnaires, surveys and interviews. Whenever creating questionnaires it is essential to be strategic. It is also important to make sure that you have questions which can verify the data gathered. This can easily be done by having similar questions in different forms, just to eliminate assumptions. This way you can check whether answers are consistent. It will also be good to have materials that are easy to use and understand.

Although it can be good to do market research on your own it can be a pain. The help of a professional researcher may be useful in order to properly gather data needed. More than this it will also be important to interpret data correctly. Again, a professional may be able to help you properly understand the information that you gather. Make sure that you invest in proper research for your business. Gathering the correct data always pays off. The information that you gather will determine the success of your product or service after all.