2Es Study Introduction

Survey on the 2Es of Interior Design in Hong Kong—Education and Experience is the first comprehensive survey of the interior design profession in Hong Kong and the most thorough study out of all the design disciplines ever attempted. This survey is sponsored by the Hong Kong Interior Design Association with funding by the government’s DesignSmart Initiative, and is administered by the School of Design at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The survey took place between December, 2010 and September, 2011.

This survey is divided into two parts, education and experience (industry). In the first part, information on the number of institutions offering courses on interior design, their level of study, and the scope and level of their curriculum is gathered. Questionnaires were also distributed to the teachers and students at these institutions and interviews were conducted with their administrators in order to obtain qualitative information on the present conditions as well as hopes and aspirations of educators and students. The second part of this survey deals with the interior design industry, and aims to find out the number of interior design firms and practitioners, scope of business and education level of practitioners. In order to ensure the professionalism and impartiality of the study, a reputable market research company, Acorn Marketing and Research Consultants, was contracted to conduct field research. In addition to phone interviews and questionnaires that were filled out by company owners and practitioners, Acorn also held several focus groups with company heads and practitioners working in different sized companies and with various education levels in order to gauge their views on how to make interior design more professional, and how to improve the industry in general. The conclusions from the education and experience surveys were presented to an Interior Design Roundtable consisting of prominent professionals, educators and other stake-holders. Subsequently Roundtable members made a series of suggestions regarding future plans for the industry.