What are you designing?
Almost anything that is being designed, remodeled, or reinvented can benefit from a better understanding of those who will use it and what they need to get out of it.
Whether it is a product, a service, a website, or a facility, survey research can identify the elements that are most needed for a particular audience or market. This kind of information does not replace the work of designers, but may provide them with elements that should be incorporated into the design.
Consider what an interior designer does when creating a new interior for a home. He or she interviews the homeowner; collecting data with which to create a successful design that pleases the customer. In situations where many people will be using what is being designed, it is more practical to conduct a survey than to interview each “customer”. If, for example, the designer were to create a new interior for a restaurant, just interviewing the owner might not be sufficient. After all, customers and potential customers are the ones the design is meant to attract.
There are many situations where listening to the market, be it a segment of the population or a segment of the membership, is key to creating a design intended for that market. For example, when designing programs to educate or inform, a survey can measure knowledge level, beliefs, and behaviors that will tell you where to focus your message and who you need to reach.
If designing a facility, a product, or a service, a survey can tell you who is most likely to use what you are designing and which features and amenities will encourage use.
Instead of asking your audience to review something after it has been designed, doesn't it make more sense to conduct surveys first so potential concerns can be identified and addressed in the initial design? This doesn't dictate the design, it just provides input that designers can use to make their design more successful.
