Questionnaire: Secondary research

After my primary research on the lamp designs, I also had to include some secondary research based on further research. This will help me back up or go against the conclusions made in the previous post. 

In order to keep everything well organised, I will research each question in the same order that I did in the questionnaire.

The first question that I wanted to further research was, in my opinion, the most important one. This one is regarding the lamp design. These were the results:

 

It is evident that the most popular one amongst my questionnaire was the night bedside lamp, then the desk lamp, then the ceiling and wall lamp, following by the floor lamp.

I decided to do some research to see what most people prefer:

The most popular design I found was the buffet lamp which is a tall version of a desk lamp. The desk lamp was the second most popular lamp type in my questionnaire so this seems to be supporting evidence that people tend to like them

The second most popular was an arc lamp which is a floor lamp. This does not really support my questionnaire as it seems that the floor lamp was the least favourite one. 

I also found out that swing arm lamps are in style which are usually desk, floor or table lamp. The night bedside lamp is considered a table lamp, therefore, this validates that the most popular in style designs, correlate to the outcome of my questionnaire. 

(Flowers, n.d)

This was the next question I wanted to look into:

This was another question that made me curious to see if research would back up the answers in the questionnaire. I decided to research some of the most important factors when purchasing a lamp and these were the results I found from different websites:

According to Interior Guide (n.d.) the most important factors are: 

1) Where you want to put the lamp 

2) What do you want to illuminate.

3) The power connections 

4) The height and size

5) Light intensity 

6) What style of lamp

7) What the budget is

This research shows that there are more factors to consider when purchasing a lamp. Obviously, the main one would be what the user is looking for/ the function of it. However, there are more answers such as light intensity and the power connections that were not mentioned in the questionnaire, which seem to be rather important. 

However, it is also evident that budget, aesthetics and the function play a very important role too.

I wanted to look for more supporting evidence to back up my findings.  

Looking at Lamps point (n.d.), this is what I found:

1) Purpose of the lamp/ Function

2) How much light do you need

3) where will you place it

4) power source

5) lamp type 

6) Material

7) bulb type

8) lighting adjustments

9) lamp size

10) designs 

11) price

It is evident in both websites that function is key in lamp designs. Surprisingly, function was voted as the fourth most important element in my questionnaire. This shows that the people in my questionnaire consider aesthetics more important than it, whereas the websites say that aesthetics are much lower. Personally, I believe that form and function should be equal.

Regardless, it is also evident that all factors in my questionnaire are also part of the most important factors in the website. This shows that I need to carefully consider everything when designing it. 

The website I looked at before also mentions that bad lighting can affect your long term vision. 

'This can be avoided by having the right amount of illumination evenly spread across your work area.The measurement of illumination is the light distribution on a flat work area called foot-candles. The most acceptable range for most home and work office desk lamp lighting should be between 30 and 50 foot-candles.' (Lamps point, n.d.)

It is evident that in the previous research for the lamp purchase factors, light intensity was 2nd and 5th in one website and 2nd and 8th in the other website. Therefore, this shows that the intensity plays a vital role when a lamp purchase is considered. This is supporting evidence for my questionnaire as it also shows that 78.8% of people in the questionnaire want adjustable lighting as it can satisfy personal preferences.

This is another question that intrigued me. Most people voted that they would pay around 50 pounds. I wanted to look into the price people would usually pay for lamps.

One website said the following:

'If you really want a stylish lamp that is made from higher quality materials you are looking at $150 or more per lamp retail at minimum… Unless you’re regularly cruising through Home Goods and stumble on a great deal!' (Julie, 2019)

This shows that people should be expecting to pay much more than 50 pounds if they want high quality lamps with modern twists. However, this number was quite shocking to me and I was not expecting the average price to be so much higher. I will not be aiming for 150 pounds in my designs as I want them to be very accessible. 

I decided to look into the most popular materials for lamps and this is what I found:

Brass, glass, wood, ceramics, marble, resin. (pooky, 2016) It is clear that wood is considered one of the most popular materials for lamps. However, stone did not appear in the list. Therefore, I decided to research and see if stone is appropriate for lamps. This is what I found: 

'These lamps and other stone lamps are a great way to bring a natural, earthy feeling into your home. For example, onyx can be used as a material for lamps, creating a moodier, darker ambiance. With so many different kinds of stones, there are plenty of options that easily fit into any kind of decor. Another option to consider is to get a lamp with a stone base. These lamps will have glass domes or fabric shades, but the base will be made from materials like stone. Either way, these stone lamps can bring an earthy appeal to any interior. These are some of the best stone lamps to buy online.' (Zavaleta, 2021)

This shows that stone is not only considered suitable for lamps, but can also look very modern and minimalistic. This is another supporting evidence for my questionnaire which shows that both wood and material can be interesting. Most people voted for both which is ideal as it helps me broaden the amount of materials I will be using. 

I will be combining these two questions together as they seem to be connected according to a website I found in my research. The majority said elegant and neutral in this questionnaire.

To make these questions more directed to my research, I will be grouping up the type of lamps.

Elegant will fall under the modern category, simple will fall under the minimalistic, bulky will fall under farmhouse, abstract will fall under Bohemian and complex will fall under retro and mid-century modern. I grouped these together to make my research make more sense. 

According to lampshade solution (2018), modern lamps (elegant) tend to have dark and black colours will white or gold accents. Elegant design in my questionnaire was the most popular one, however, the dark colour in the second question in the questionnaire was the least popular one. This does not support the answers in my questionnaire as people do not want dark colours on elegant designs.

For minimalistic styles (simple), there is a combination of white and grey (more neutral colours). Simple designs in my research were the second most popular design and neutral colours were the most popular. This supports the idea that people asking for simple designs, may also be seeking a neutral colour palette. 

Farmhouse designs (bulky) tend to have beige and natural colour schemes. 

Retro and mid-century modern (complex) tend to have bright colour schemes. This may be supporting evidence in my questionnaire as the complex was the least popular design and bright colours were also not very favourable in the audience. This may suggest that people that wanted complex, were also seeking for a brighter colour scheme. 

Lastly, the bohemian style is again, neutral colours. 

This shows that amongst all lamp types, neutrals are definitely the most popular. I looked at 5 different styles and 3 of them favoured the neutral colour scheme. This supports my questionnaire as it shows how popular neutral colours are in lamp designs. 

Conclusion: It was a good exercise to research more into my targeted audience and see if my results agree with sources on the internet. I also liked the fact that most questions were similar to the answers that were given in my questionnaire. 

It was very time consuming and difficult to find sources that have answers to my questions as my questionnaire had very specific and targeted questions. However, I managed to find some for the questions. 

References:

Flowers, J. (n.d.) 9 popular styles of lamps (and where to use them). Available at: https://www.build.com/lamp-styles/a21766 [Accessed: 15/05/21]

Interior Guide (n.d.) 7 point checklist for buying a lamp. Available at: http://hqdesigns.de/en/interior-guide/checklist-for-buying-a-lamp/ [Accessed: 15/05/21]

Lamps point (n.d.) 11 things to consider before buying a desk lamp. Available at:    https://lampspoint.com/desk-lamp-buying-guide/  [Accessed: 15/05/21]

Paradigm interiors (2019) Lamps: How much should I spend. Available at: https://paradigmfl.com/2019/03/03/lamps-how-much-should-i-spend/ [Accessed: 15/05/21]

Pooky (2016) Designer table lamps- which material works for you. Available at: https://www.pooky.com/2016/08/22/designer-table-lamps-which-material-works [Accessed: 15/05/21]

Zavaleta, J. (2021) The 12 Best stone lamps add an earthy appeal to any space. Available at: https://spy.com/articles/hacks/home-hacks/best-stone-lamps-1202719832/ [Accessed: 15/05/21]

Lampshade solution (2018) What colour lamp shade to choose? 5 things to consider. Available at: https://www.lampshadesolution.com/blogs/news/choosing-the-right-color-of-shade-for-your-lamp [Accessed: 15/05/21]