Chapter 6

Design and market influences: investigating design opportunities

Investigating design opportunities

Learning objectivesTo develop a knowledge and understanding of how to:○ find out customer views and preferences for a range of

different products○ identify physical, nutritional and sensory characteristics

in existing products in order to develop design criteria and generate your own ideas

○ use product analysis to compare a range of existing products to determine how the types, proportions and functions of ingredients have contributed to a product’s overall characteristics and its ability to meet a specific need.

You must identify your user group

Products should be developed according to what people want.

A group of people will become your target market. Food products are developed specifically for markets, e.g.:

○ people on a special diet○ weight watchers○ people living on their own○ single-portion products○ specific age group, such as children.

Your first step is to carry out market research to identify a need for a new product.

Factors affecting people’s choice of food

Current dietary trends – low in fat, sugar and salt, high in fibre.

Social issues – cost remains the top priority. Some people have more money to spend on luxury products, others have very little.

Environmental issues – using locally grown ingredients, using recycled materials for packaging.

Ethical issues – deciding whether to use genetically modified foods, organic foods.

Cultural issues – religious beliefs prevent some people eating certain products.

Media influence – advertising is very powerful in encouraging consumers to try new products.

Initial research

○ You will need to carry out some initial market research to gain as much information as possible to help you to develop your design criteria.

○ Primary research material is your own information which you have obtained from interviews, questionnaires and observations or from sensory testing.

○ Secondary research material is information which has been collected by other people, for instance in books or newspapers.

Mind map example

Range of equipment Time of year/season

Storage: temperature control;

health and safetySweet or savoury

Type of product

Choose a target group

CelebrationsSkills;

finishing techniques/appearance

Sensory qualities

Portion size

Hot or cold?

Which celebration will you choose?

If possible link to own circumstance e.g. Mum’s

40th birthday

Use of ingredients/components

Questionnaires and interviews

A questionnaire and/or interview should be designed so that it helps you to extract specific information from people about the qualities they would like to see in a new product.

○ Start with an introduction.○ The questions need to be clear and easy to understand

and answer.○ It should be easy for you to collate the results using

graphs, tables, tally charts, pie charts etc, before analysing the results and coming to your conclusions.

○ The questionnaire/interview must not be too long.

Example of a questionnaire

Different types of questions

Closed – can be a very quick way of finding out specific information, e.g.

○ Do you like the flavour of chocolate? Yes □ No □Multiple choice – offers a range of responses to choose

from, e.g.○ Which flavour do you prefer?○ Chocolate □ Lemon □ Coffee □ Ginger □Ordered choice – ranking a set of options by numbering

them in order, e.g.○ Place in order of preference the following flavourings.

Indicate by numbering from 1–4 in order, where 1 is the most preferred.

○ Chocolate □ Lemon □ Coffee □ Ginger □

Different types of questions

Open-ended questions – these produce a wide variety of responses that take a long time to interpret and put into categories. They are useful for finding out about attitudes and opinions, e.g.

○ 1. What do you like about __________________________?

○ 2 What flavour would you like the biscuit to be and why? _______________________

Recording results

Evaluation of existing products

○ Evaluating existing products allows you to see what products are already available and to identify how these meet identified needs, i.e. the qualities identified from the analysis of results from your questionnaire/interview.

○ You could taste some products and carry out sensory analysis in order to evaluate how existing products meet identified sensory qualities, such as texture, taste and appearance. Sensory analysis is part of product analysis.

○ The products you choose to evaluate should be relevant to your consumer group.

Sensory analysis

Sensory analysis is used to gather information on food products to establish their most important characteristics; it allows the qualities to be monitored and recorded during the design and production of a new product. This:

○ enables modifications (changes) to be made at each stage of the development of the product so that the end result is successful

○ prevents money from being wasted○ allows a food manufacturer to check that the product

matches the specification and has the required shelf life○ means checks can be made throughout production to

maintain consistently high standards○ Means products can be compared with those of

competitors.

Carrying out sensory analysis

Ratings test – Testers give their opinion of one or more samples of food from ‘extreme like’ to ‘extreme dislike’.

Difference testing – These tests are used to see whether people can tell the difference between samples, for instance when an ingredient or quantity of ingredient is changed and when manufacturers are copying another brand, e.g. brands of cheese and onion crisps or a vegeburger and a beefburger.

Carrying out sensory analysis

Triangle test – Three samples are given to the tester. Two samples are the same and the tester is asked to identify the ‘odd one out’. This test is useful if you have made small changes to a product, for instance made a lasagne low in fat or used more economical ingredients.

Ranking test – This is used to sort a variety of foods into order (e.g. different flavoured crisps made by one manufacturer). A set of coded samples is presented to the tester. The tester has to rank the samples in order of either a specific attribute, e.g. sweetness, saltiness etc, or a preference on a hedonic scale or ranking.

Profiling tests

○ These kinds of tests can be used to find out what people particularly like about a food product to help build up a profile of it according to a range of sensory qualities, such as saltiness, smoothness, crispness, flavour.

○ Star profile – This typeof test gets testers todescribe the appearance,taste and texture of a foodproduct on a star chart.

Carrying out sensory analysis

This will involve you:○ looking at the product, e.g. appearance○ smelling the product, e.g. aroma○ tasting the product, e.g. saltiness○ feeling the product, e.g. mouth feel○ hearing the sound it makes, e.g. crunchiness.

Correct procedures for sensory analysis testing

○ Set up a quiet area where people will not be disturbed.○ Give the testers a drink of water to clear the palate.○ Use small quantities of food on plain plates/dishes.○ Serve at the correct temperature for the product.○ Use clean spoons or forks each time.○ Use codes for the products.○ Have any charts ready before you begin.○ Make sure the testers know how to fill in the charts you

are using.

Product analysis

Guidelines for carrying out product analysis

○ Who is the product aimed at and why?

○ When, where, why and how will it be eaten?

○ What ingredients, components, additives have been used?

○ What processes have been used in making it?

○ How has it been made safe to eat?

Product analysis

○ How does it fit into the Eatwell Plate?

○ Does it meet the nutritional needs of the target group?

○ Does it meet the identified needs of the target group?

○ How does the product compare with similar ones available?

○ Has the manufacturer considered the environment?

○ Are there any moral, cultural and sustainability issues related to the product?

Remember!

○ You need to have a target group and know their needs to be able to decide on a product’s suitability.

○ Product analysis is examining a food product to find out the ingredients, packaging characteristics and properties. This will help you to develop design criteria.