how to...
VISIT
and what to
?
What is the aim?
When we refer to a visit it is physically going to a location to either observe or document other findings through exploration. Anything that involves you going to different locations and researching in person rather than on the internet. Successful designers get out and about to understand their target market and this can be done in a variety of ways and will depend on the brief.
What to visit?
This will completely depend on your design brief but here are some ideas for you:
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Shops - to look at existing products or to talk to shop assistants who may now quite a lot about your category of product. eg a local bike shop would be a useful place to visit if you were designing a bike accessory.
Museums - to look at historical items or to learn more about the context of your product. This could be inspiring in a number of ways.
The site in which your activity takes place. It is important to understand the environment your product will be used and what might influence the design of it. You might also find that you want to take some measurements depending n your design brief.
eg. A swimming pool, a lake or the beach if you are designing an aid to help people swim
A tube carriage if you are trying to make people feel more comfortable when commuting on the tube
A professional kitchen if you are designing an object for a visually impaired chef
How to use it?
As always you will want good quality evidence that you have carried out this task so just saying you have done it is not enough. Take photos, write notes or sketch any details you need. You might even want to measure things - if so record these - sketching is a useful way to record these.
You will have discovered some new insight into the problem and hopefully begun to understand your context further. You may have discovered an extra element for consideration when it comes to designing that you will want to add to your design criteria later in the process.