How do you analyse a design situation?

You break the situation apart to find the real problems worth solving. Ask what the problem actually is, who is affected (the people and their needs), what the constraints are (cost, size, safety), and what questions your research must answer. Doing this before you design means your ideas respond to a genuine need rather than to a guess, and it gives you a clear set of research questions to investigate.

What is product analysis and why is it useful?

Product analysis means studying an existing product, sometimes by taking it apart, to learn how it works and how it could be better. You examine its function, materials, construction, ergonomics, cost and appearance. It is useful because you learn from what already exists: you can copy what works well, avoid the weaknesses you find, and gather ideas and standards that feed straight into your own specification and designs.

What is the difference between primary and secondary research?

Primary research is information you gather yourself for the first time, such as a survey you run, an interview you carry out or an observation you make. Secondary research is information that already exists and was gathered by someone else, such as a website, a book or a manufacturer's data sheet. Good projects use both: secondary research is quick for background, while primary research gives evidence specific to your own users.

Which research methods suit user and market research?

Common methods are surveys (questionnaires that reach many people quickly), interviews (which give deeper, more detailed answers from a few people), and observation (watching how people really use a product or carry out a task). The best choice depends on what you need to know: surveys for numbers and trends, interviews for reasons and feelings, and observation for the gap between what people say and what they actually do.

How does research turn into design decisions?

Research only earns marks when you use it. After gathering findings you draw conclusions, for example 'most users found the handle too small', and turn each conclusion into a point in your specification or into a feature of your design. The chain is findings, then conclusion, then a design decision. Research that is collected but never used to change the design scores poorly.

SingaporeDesign and Technology

Research and Investigation: how N(A)-Level Design and Technology students analyse a design situation, study existing products and research users so that designs are based on evidence

A Singapore N(A)-Level Design and Technology (SEAB 7055) module overview of research and investigation. How to analyse a design situation into problems and people, carry out product analysis on existing products, and plan user and market research using surveys, interviews and observation, with links to every dot point.

Generated by Claude Opus 4.86 min readSEAB-7055Updated 2026-06-13

Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed

Jump to a section

What this module covers
Analysing the design situation
Product analysis
User and market research
How this module is examined
Check your knowledge

What this module covers

Research and Investigation is the stage where a design becomes evidence-based rather than a guess. Before generating ideas, an N(A)-Level Design and Technology (SEAB 7055) student must understand the problem, learn from products that already exist, and find out what real users need. This module has three dot points: analysing the design situation, product analysis, and user and market research. The marks come not just from collecting information but from using it, so every finding should lead to a conclusion and then to a design decision or a specification point.

See the full set of dot points for this module under /sg-n-level/design-and-technology/syllabus/research-and-investigation.

Analysing the design situation

The analysing the design situation dot point shows how to break a messy real-world situation into its parts: the problem to solve, the people affected and their needs, and the constraints such as cost, size and safety. From this you write the research questions that the rest of the stage will answer. This analysis stops you from designing for an imagined need.

Product analysis

Product analysis studies an existing product across function, materials, construction, ergonomics, cost and appearance, often by handling or dismantling it. The point is to learn: keep the features that work, avoid the weaknesses, and capture useful standards (such as a comfortable handle size) for your own specification.

User and market research

User and market research covers how to find out what users actually need using surveys, interviews and observation, and explains the difference between primary research (gathered by you) and secondary research (gathered by others). The key skill is choosing the right method for the question, then turning the findings into design decisions.

Turning survey findings into a design decision

You survey 20 students about a lunchbox. The results: 16 want a separate compartment for fruit, 12 want a leak-proof seal, and 5 want it to be smaller. Decide what goes into the design.

Step 1: State each finding clearly

Finding 1: 16 of 20 students want a separate fruit compartment. Finding 2: 12 of 20 want a leak-proof seal. Finding 3: 5 of 20 want it smaller.

Step 2: Work out the proportion for each

A fruit compartment: $\dfrac{16}{20} = 0.8$ , that is 80 percent. A leak-proof seal: $\dfrac{12}{20} = 0.6$ , that is 60 percent. Smaller size: $\dfrac{5}{20} = 0.25$ , that is 25 percent.

Step 3: Draw a conclusion from each finding

A clear majority (80 percent) want a fruit compartment and most (60 percent) want a leak-proof seal, so both are needed. Only a quarter want it smaller, so size is a low priority and need not change.

Step 4: Turn the conclusions into design decisions

Add to the specification: the lunchbox must have a separate fruit compartment, and it must have a leak-proof seal. Do not reduce the size, as only 25 percent asked for it. Each decision is justified by the survey proportion, closing the loop from finding to conclusion to decision.

How this module is examined

Analyse, do not just describe. Break a situation into problem, people and constraints, then state the research questions.
Cover the angles in product analysis. Function, materials, construction, ergonomics, cost and appearance.
Match method to question. Surveys for trends, interviews for reasons, observation for real behaviour.
Use the research. Every finding should lead to a conclusion and a design decision, never sit unused.

Check your knowledge

Short and calculation questions across the module. Attempt them, then check the worked solutions.

State three things you should break a design situation into when analysing it. (3 marks)
Name three angles you examine in product analysis. (3 marks)
State the difference between primary and secondary research, with one example of each. (2 marks)
In a survey of 20 users, 15 wanted a carry handle. Calculate this as a percentage. (2 marks)
State the chain that turns research into a design change. (1 mark)

Sources & how we know this

Singapore-Cambridge GCE N(A)-Level Design and Technology (Syllabus 7055) — Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (2026)