Existing products
It is important for designers to know what is currently available on the market from their Another producer who sells similar products.. It is valuable for them to know what is already out there, the varying functions, differing prices and customer opinions.
Questions to consider:
- Who are the competitors and what products do they already sell?
- What are the current trends?
- What are the price variations? Are they value for money?
- Which products are good and which are bad? What could be done to make a new product different and better?
- What are the responses from customer reviews?
- What other products could influence the prototype? Designers may take inspiration from the mechanisms of one product and introduce it into the product that they are designing.
- What materials, components and fixings have been used? A Taking a product apart to see the components, fixings and parts used to make it. could be beneficial to explore the components inside.
- What have designers done in the past that was successful or unsuccessful?
Existing products can be viewed online; however, looking and physically handling products enables designers to experience the products as users would, which is valuable for the A cyclic design process of modelling and testing to achieve gradual improvements to the design. process. These findings can be used to inform the design specification.
Designers and design companies
It can sometimes be helpful to look wider than direct competitors. There are a variety of past and present designers and design companies who have become known for a particular style or approach to design.