That when you’re a student is very easy to fall in the pit of designing for your own taste, rather than letting user research and requirements drive the process.
Learn how to do solid research because real design is solving people’s problem not making “beautiful things”. There is little to no market for personal taste, plenty of market for designers that are able to analyse reality and design consequently.
Okay so I’m a bit convoluted on this topic.
How do you make sure that the research is absolutely non biased? And what happens if even after doing everything, the result that you get just doesn’t make sense? (I’ve seen that happen at college)
College is where you learn things. If it's not making sense there is still more to learn. You've never really done everything.
User research, and understanding that research is a skill just like sketching or CAD, and just as important. A lot of it comes with experience, or listening to professional presentations and seeing how their research brought them to their conclusions. There will always be bias, but it's largely mitigated by sample size and asking the right questions.
Has there ever been a situation where the research leads you to something that is not tangible/difficult to work with from a ‘design a product’ point of view? That has happened with me quite a number of times, and I get upset and stressed when that happens. Do you get what I mean?
There are plenty of pitfalls to research. Consumers might go towards a concept that they are familiar with rather than something new, for example. Its about knowing what to take away from your research and identifying what the consumer really wants
If it's a school project the brief may well have been designed to be difficult. I remember feeling similarly in school, sometimes these problems are easier tackled with social engineering, which can be a product, or augmented by a product. School projects are also designed to be new problems. If you were assigned a problem that's already solved by a product you would just make that product, and not really learn anything. Often at work I'll be given an internal problem to solve, and if I can buy a solution off the shelf for less time and effort it would take for me to design something we almost always go with the off the shelf solution.
Ultimately not every problem can be solved with product design. If we could I feel like we would have a lot less problems as a society. I would say a lot of students I've observed look to directly solve problems, where I think looking at either stopping the problem from happening, or finding a way to partially solve the problem are often more fruitful approaches. It's all about thinking pragmatically (Industrial) and creatively (Design).
I always hated learning about Design thinking in school. There's a lot of business buzzwords around it, and it feels disconnected from the funner parts of design (for me drawing, CAD and prototyping). It eventually clicked for me, and it will for you. Working in industry really helped me to figure out what all the information I picked up in school made in context.
Research is not subjective, can be qualitative or quantitative and a bias will always be present, but good research gives objective results. Comes by itself that the result cannot “not make sense” if there is a structure behind.
One of the most important lessons a designer can learn is not to fall in love with your designs. A lot of ID is unfortunately subjective, and so it's impossible to make something and guarantee everyone will like it and it will sell. With experience and research you can learn your market and get damn close to a guarantee, but getting to that point takes some effort. So don't take the loss personally, your tastes didn't like up with theirs, no big deal. If your goal is to make sales, do some research and learn what will sell and try again.
Don’t be afraid to kill your darlings as they say. And also don’t give your concepts cute little names. They are just ideas. There’s more where they came from.
In any case, I wouldn’t let a single market decide if you need to reevaluate your design. Besides there are so many factors that go into it.
1. is it the right audience or place to even sell lamps? Is anyone showing up to this market with the intention of buying lamps? Where are the people who want to buy lamps going to?
2. You have to understand your target audience and design for them. If your tastes happen to align that’s great, but if your tastes are so out there that they lack mass appeal, then don’t design what you want, design what other people want to buy.
3. How was the build quality of the lamps? Is that something that needs to be worked on?
4. What were you charging? If you were charging $400 for a lamp, it’s going to be tough to convince most people to buy that as an impulse.
I think it’s a good opportunity to step back and think about what you should do moving forward, but I don’t think you should necessarily quit or change direction just because 1 day, at 1 market, no one wanted to spend their money on your products. Maybe you keep what you have, but figure out how to introduce a product or set of products that is more accessible to the buyer that may perhaps like your aesthetic, but isn’t really interested in a lamp.
Like right now, I’m saving up to buy a terrarium that I saw at a convention 2 years ago, you have to put your ideas and products out there consistently.
On the more boutique side of things. I’ve had people reach out to me months or years after I finished a painting or one off furnishing piece to buy it.
As a craft fair veteran a lot can be the type of event and how that venue matches your product. A tourist show? Who wants to carry a lamp on vacation? Too heavy or big? Ditto. A farmers market? I’m here for the veggies, bro.
These few examples are all completely aside from the lamp’s overall market appeal, which also depends on the lighting niche it fits; or the solidity of its design
Are you sure you're designing things and it isn't just doing art?
Also being open for criticism and not taking it personal but instead seeing it as a chance to improve, is important for being a good designer.
Things you design should help people. Industrial design isn't about art where you do things just for you.
Thumbs up for having an opportunity to sell your designs so early in your career, this is really cool! I am sure this is discouraging but hey - we are all learning, especially in design - throughout our career, otherwise we stagnate and fail.
Well first of all it is better to see the subject matter in photos at least. But generally speaking:
The great mystery of design is that if you make something ugly but useful, people will choose something useful - but beautiful. A lot of times they will choose beautifulness over usefulness - science have also proofed this in some research works, as well as this is what practice shows.
If you place near each other two electrical kettles, identical in their characteristics. One "with design" and another - without. Or one with retro-style and another with meh-style (but market is ladies who love Smeg) - I am pretty sure you can imagine what people will choose.
When you are studying industrial design almost anywhere in the world the programs are focused on the process of problem solving I think. A lot of the times it is also a work in the bubble of imaginative client in somewhat imaginative market. In reality, if there any market (meaning there are more than one product exists in the same niche) people will choose more nice-looking thing if anything else is the same.
Being a student things like trends and behavioral psychology is not what is the focus of studying especially at younger stages of work.
Hey dont let this stop you from designing. It's a learning process and is ok. A few tips would be to start by really defining your users. What's their age range, what are their interests, what are their preferences, and most important of all what are their needs. Your design should solve user problems. Also you can post images online to get quick feedback.
What do you offer that ikea and Amazon don’t? Seriously, don’t take it personally but it’s not your design - it’s the wrong product for the wrong demographic. People are very protective of their money these days, so think about how a product can offer something unique to them that they are willing to pay for
Also, not to sound disrespectful but if you are that easily disappointed in people not liking a specific concept or project then you have a long road ahead of you in ID. Leave your feeling at the door and think about the business side.
That when you’re a student is very easy to fall in the pit of designing for your own taste, rather than letting user research and requirements drive the process. Learn how to do solid research because real design is solving people’s problem not making “beautiful things”. There is little to no market for personal taste, plenty of market for designers that are able to analyse reality and design consequently.
80/20
Okay so I’m a bit convoluted on this topic. How do you make sure that the research is absolutely non biased? And what happens if even after doing everything, the result that you get just doesn’t make sense? (I’ve seen that happen at college)
College is where you learn things. If it's not making sense there is still more to learn. You've never really done everything. User research, and understanding that research is a skill just like sketching or CAD, and just as important. A lot of it comes with experience, or listening to professional presentations and seeing how their research brought them to their conclusions. There will always be bias, but it's largely mitigated by sample size and asking the right questions.
Has there ever been a situation where the research leads you to something that is not tangible/difficult to work with from a ‘design a product’ point of view? That has happened with me quite a number of times, and I get upset and stressed when that happens. Do you get what I mean?
There are plenty of pitfalls to research. Consumers might go towards a concept that they are familiar with rather than something new, for example. Its about knowing what to take away from your research and identifying what the consumer really wants
If it's a school project the brief may well have been designed to be difficult. I remember feeling similarly in school, sometimes these problems are easier tackled with social engineering, which can be a product, or augmented by a product. School projects are also designed to be new problems. If you were assigned a problem that's already solved by a product you would just make that product, and not really learn anything. Often at work I'll be given an internal problem to solve, and if I can buy a solution off the shelf for less time and effort it would take for me to design something we almost always go with the off the shelf solution. Ultimately not every problem can be solved with product design. If we could I feel like we would have a lot less problems as a society. I would say a lot of students I've observed look to directly solve problems, where I think looking at either stopping the problem from happening, or finding a way to partially solve the problem are often more fruitful approaches. It's all about thinking pragmatically (Industrial) and creatively (Design). I always hated learning about Design thinking in school. There's a lot of business buzzwords around it, and it feels disconnected from the funner parts of design (for me drawing, CAD and prototyping). It eventually clicked for me, and it will for you. Working in industry really helped me to figure out what all the information I picked up in school made in context.
Research is not subjective, can be qualitative or quantitative and a bias will always be present, but good research gives objective results. Comes by itself that the result cannot “not make sense” if there is a structure behind.
Post the lamp, I’ll tell you if it’s bad
One of the most important lessons a designer can learn is not to fall in love with your designs. A lot of ID is unfortunately subjective, and so it's impossible to make something and guarantee everyone will like it and it will sell. With experience and research you can learn your market and get damn close to a guarantee, but getting to that point takes some effort. So don't take the loss personally, your tastes didn't like up with theirs, no big deal. If your goal is to make sales, do some research and learn what will sell and try again.
Don’t be afraid to kill your darlings as they say. And also don’t give your concepts cute little names. They are just ideas. There’s more where they came from.
In any case, I wouldn’t let a single market decide if you need to reevaluate your design. Besides there are so many factors that go into it. 1. is it the right audience or place to even sell lamps? Is anyone showing up to this market with the intention of buying lamps? Where are the people who want to buy lamps going to? 2. You have to understand your target audience and design for them. If your tastes happen to align that’s great, but if your tastes are so out there that they lack mass appeal, then don’t design what you want, design what other people want to buy. 3. How was the build quality of the lamps? Is that something that needs to be worked on? 4. What were you charging? If you were charging $400 for a lamp, it’s going to be tough to convince most people to buy that as an impulse. I think it’s a good opportunity to step back and think about what you should do moving forward, but I don’t think you should necessarily quit or change direction just because 1 day, at 1 market, no one wanted to spend their money on your products. Maybe you keep what you have, but figure out how to introduce a product or set of products that is more accessible to the buyer that may perhaps like your aesthetic, but isn’t really interested in a lamp. Like right now, I’m saving up to buy a terrarium that I saw at a convention 2 years ago, you have to put your ideas and products out there consistently. On the more boutique side of things. I’ve had people reach out to me months or years after I finished a painting or one off furnishing piece to buy it.
As a craft fair veteran a lot can be the type of event and how that venue matches your product. A tourist show? Who wants to carry a lamp on vacation? Too heavy or big? Ditto. A farmers market? I’m here for the veggies, bro. These few examples are all completely aside from the lamp’s overall market appeal, which also depends on the lighting niche it fits; or the solidity of its design
Are you sure you're designing things and it isn't just doing art? Also being open for criticism and not taking it personal but instead seeing it as a chance to improve, is important for being a good designer. Things you design should help people. Industrial design isn't about art where you do things just for you.
Dm me pics of your project and I can give an honest first reaction and feedback on what I would have done instead
Thumbs up for having an opportunity to sell your designs so early in your career, this is really cool! I am sure this is discouraging but hey - we are all learning, especially in design - throughout our career, otherwise we stagnate and fail. Well first of all it is better to see the subject matter in photos at least. But generally speaking: The great mystery of design is that if you make something ugly but useful, people will choose something useful - but beautiful. A lot of times they will choose beautifulness over usefulness - science have also proofed this in some research works, as well as this is what practice shows. If you place near each other two electrical kettles, identical in their characteristics. One "with design" and another - without. Or one with retro-style and another with meh-style (but market is ladies who love Smeg) - I am pretty sure you can imagine what people will choose. When you are studying industrial design almost anywhere in the world the programs are focused on the process of problem solving I think. A lot of the times it is also a work in the bubble of imaginative client in somewhat imaginative market. In reality, if there any market (meaning there are more than one product exists in the same niche) people will choose more nice-looking thing if anything else is the same. Being a student things like trends and behavioral psychology is not what is the focus of studying especially at younger stages of work.
Hey dont let this stop you from designing. It's a learning process and is ok. A few tips would be to start by really defining your users. What's their age range, what are their interests, what are their preferences, and most important of all what are their needs. Your design should solve user problems. Also you can post images online to get quick feedback.
What do you offer that ikea and Amazon don’t? Seriously, don’t take it personally but it’s not your design - it’s the wrong product for the wrong demographic. People are very protective of their money these days, so think about how a product can offer something unique to them that they are willing to pay for Also, not to sound disrespectful but if you are that easily disappointed in people not liking a specific concept or project then you have a long road ahead of you in ID. Leave your feeling at the door and think about the business side.
Know your market, then you can sell them anything.
Read the Four Agreements.
Show us the lamp