OUGD503 - Studio Brief 1/Individual Practice
Research: Focus Group
Creating a focus group allowed me to collate more focused information that could inform future design decisions. I picked a number of students who were self confessed coffee lovers as this would lead to the most informed responses and these students would be the closest to the target audience being the most educated about coffee. The structure of the focus group was informal asking the 4 students in an open conversation, generating questions that could then be developed into conversation to ensure the most true to life responses.
I began by asking a warm up question of how much the aesthetic of coffee branding affects their decision making. One student began by saying that the aesthetic is very important, as this is the first sign of the quality before you can taste it, this was contradicted by another student offering their thoughts of how it was probably subconscious as they don't intentionally place value on the aesthetic and it relies on taste, through discussion it was concluded aesthetic must affect their decision making as looking at different coffee brands students all said they would be more inclined to choose particular brands, of which these were the brands with high-quality design directions. This question could be suggested to be too subjective as all the students asked are studying on a Graphic Design course so they are trained to notice the aesthetic even if this is on a subconscious level.
The most important question was then asked, having given participants chance to warm up and get into the conversations I asked if an environmental source would affect their choice when ordering coffee? This was subject to some questioning before the students started to respond, one student said 'if it was the same price as regular coffee id probably pick it' another student said 'it all depends on the taste, if its better tasting then yes sure' when questioned further I found that taste was paramount and having certified blends was an additional benefit, this was concluded by a student saying 'it probably wouldn't affect what I order however it'd be a nice little additional feature, that if it tasted good would probably make me order it again'.
Due to the focus group being held in our lunch hour there was only time for one more question, I asked what type of aesthetic they would look for in coffee branding? Students were very vocal about what they liked and didn't like with regards the the aesthetic of coffee brands, 'I think avoiding quite corporate aesthetics would work well, if it looks really corporate it feels like its mass produced shit that won't be that great' another student added too this 'yes I agree an independent looking brand makes me feel it would be better quality, smaller batches more care and attention taken to make it etc' this was echoed by other students saying 'even if you look at uni, id rather go out to opposite (local coffee shop) and get one there because its independent and so much better than the uni crap.
To conclude this focus group it was determined that the aesthetic of the coffee does have an impact on decision making even if this is subconscious. It was stated that environmentally certified coffee was not a huge impacting factor however would be a good additional benefit to taste. Finally it was concluded that an independent aesthetic connotes quality and would be the preferred aesthetic for the participants of the focus group. A small sample was used therefore is not representative of the general public however one could begin to generalise these conclusions and apply them into the design treatment to ensure a successful resolution to the brief.
Creating a focus group allowed me to collate more focused information that could inform future design decisions. I picked a number of students who were self confessed coffee lovers as this would lead to the most informed responses and these students would be the closest to the target audience being the most educated about coffee. The structure of the focus group was informal asking the 4 students in an open conversation, generating questions that could then be developed into conversation to ensure the most true to life responses.
I began by asking a warm up question of how much the aesthetic of coffee branding affects their decision making. One student began by saying that the aesthetic is very important, as this is the first sign of the quality before you can taste it, this was contradicted by another student offering their thoughts of how it was probably subconscious as they don't intentionally place value on the aesthetic and it relies on taste, through discussion it was concluded aesthetic must affect their decision making as looking at different coffee brands students all said they would be more inclined to choose particular brands, of which these were the brands with high-quality design directions. This question could be suggested to be too subjective as all the students asked are studying on a Graphic Design course so they are trained to notice the aesthetic even if this is on a subconscious level.
The most important question was then asked, having given participants chance to warm up and get into the conversations I asked if an environmental source would affect their choice when ordering coffee? This was subject to some questioning before the students started to respond, one student said 'if it was the same price as regular coffee id probably pick it' another student said 'it all depends on the taste, if its better tasting then yes sure' when questioned further I found that taste was paramount and having certified blends was an additional benefit, this was concluded by a student saying 'it probably wouldn't affect what I order however it'd be a nice little additional feature, that if it tasted good would probably make me order it again'.
Due to the focus group being held in our lunch hour there was only time for one more question, I asked what type of aesthetic they would look for in coffee branding? Students were very vocal about what they liked and didn't like with regards the the aesthetic of coffee brands, 'I think avoiding quite corporate aesthetics would work well, if it looks really corporate it feels like its mass produced shit that won't be that great' another student added too this 'yes I agree an independent looking brand makes me feel it would be better quality, smaller batches more care and attention taken to make it etc' this was echoed by other students saying 'even if you look at uni, id rather go out to opposite (local coffee shop) and get one there because its independent and so much better than the uni crap.
To conclude this focus group it was determined that the aesthetic of the coffee does have an impact on decision making even if this is subconscious. It was stated that environmentally certified coffee was not a huge impacting factor however would be a good additional benefit to taste. Finally it was concluded that an independent aesthetic connotes quality and would be the preferred aesthetic for the participants of the focus group. A small sample was used therefore is not representative of the general public however one could begin to generalise these conclusions and apply them into the design treatment to ensure a successful resolution to the brief.
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