Indoor Planting Machine Study

A home appliance manufacturer planned to launch a new machine which would enable consumers to easily grow vegetables at home. The client wanted to verify consumer acceptance of indoor planting, to be clear about target users and to design and refine the product.

This phase consisted of three parts: FGD, home visit and gang survey. Participants who are interested in planting were recruited from two cities.

FGD: to investigate into consumer attitude towards healthy eating and indoor planting, and to collect qualitative feedback about the initial product design.

Home visit (participants selected from FGD): to understand the lifestyle of target users and deep dive into the fundamental reasons that trigger the consumers to purchase an indoor planting product.

Gang survey: to collect quantitative feedback about the design, features, price and marketing concepts for the mockup.

[Field Work Photo]

Based on the previous findings, the client had refined the product substantially, bringing three designs which differ in shape, color, material and more details. They wanted to know which design consumers would prefer.

A gang survey was conducted in this phase. We built the mockups of actual size using steel frames and posters. The three mockups were placed in home environment for evaluation. We also re-invited some participants from phase one to evaluate the new designs to make sure that the refinement was active and effective.

[Field Work Photo]

The product design was finalized before this phase. Before the launch of this product, the client wanted to validate the product design and target users, including the acceptance, preference and willingness to purchase.

We conducted a shop test to simulate the real purchase environment. Two products were placed in the prominent position of the store. We interviewed the consumers who stopped and observed the product as if we were shop assistants. In addition to answering the questions from consumers, we collected extensive feedback about the product and possibility for further improvement.