What Do Home Buyers Really Want?

How about finding out what Home buyers want before we actually build their houses?

I have recently had a new bathroom fitted with a shower. The shower leaks. The plumber who installed it has been back 5 times to “patch it up”. It still leaks. It is so very annoying for the customer when this sort of thing happens, not to mention the cost and the time wasted. It must also be very annoying, time consuming and costly for the plumber and ultimately not good for his reputation or business.

Getting it right the first time would make most of his customers happy, be cost effective, save time and be great for business.

One of our clients recently commissioned Bluepencil Designs to create a collection of Standard House Templates and had the foresight to engage a research consultant to test the designs prior to actually building the houses as a commitment to get it right first time. 

Jo Simpson Research, led by Dr Jo Simpson, carried out a series of discussion and feedback sessions with members of the public, selected from a range of different backgrounds and ages, all buyers of brand new homes.

They assessed each of the house designs in both plan and elevation and returned some very interesting observations, sharing experiences of how they used their homes and what worked and what didn’t. These were then discussed with us and the client and several changes and often quite minor adaptations were then made to the designs. They were then re-tested and further feedback was given. 

We now have a collection of house designs that people really like, would definitely buy and would enjoy living in; these are spaces that work for them.  The client is delighted and can now go ahead with a planning application knowing that he is providing what people actually want rather than what he (or we) think they want.

This enlightened approach to design development is so simple. It is far more likely to make customers happy, be cost effective, save time and be great for business.

So if you would like to find out more about product testing, customer feedback or general market research get in touch with Dr Jo Simpson on josimpsonresearch@live.co.uk or 07411 131166.