1.  Research involves-  Collecting and collating information  Analysing and reporting the findings  Research helps identify  Factors that affect consumer choices such as cost, colour  Consumer preferences within certain target groups.

2.  Primary research involves gathering the information yourself.  Such as  shows and exhibitions  Focus groups  Questionnaires and surveys

3.  Questionnaires and surveys are the most popular method of collecting and analysing consumer information. They can be face to face, telephone or postal.  You need a large sample for it to be reliable  Can be general or target certain groups  Questions should be clear and focused  Avoid leading questions or closed questions.  Focus groups bring together a small group of consumers so that designers can  ask questions about how products are used by consumers  Gain feedback on designs  Observe people using existing products to see how they function using them.

4.  Secondary research relies on information that has been collected by others.  Secondary sources include-  Statistics  Market reports  Websites  Trade publications  Newspapers  books

5.  Designers can gain inspiration from many different places  Art  Graphics and photographs  Materials and fabrics  Exhibitions, fairs and shows  Cinema  Travel  Architecture, furniture and interior design  Nature

6.  Analyse  The function  Style  Key design features  Construction methods  Fibres  Environmental issues  Assess  The ergonomics of the product  The size  Component parts  Method of manufacture  cost

7.  Identify  Colour application  Embellishments  Trimmings  Care label  Finishes  BSI standards  Fabric construction  sizes

8.  In industry designers spend relatively little time on research in comparison to developing ideas.  They will find out what consumers think of new designs before manufacture using surveys and focused groups.  Designers monitor high street fashion trends called intelligence gathering.

9.  Following any research exercises you need to analyse and evaluate the information gathered to establish  If there is a clear trend in the data  How it will impact on the design  Research findings can be displayed using  ICT such as tables, pie charts, star profiles, line graphs,  Mood boards