Talk to five people
You do not need a research budget. Five short conversations with people who match your brief will surface most of the big misunderstandings. Ask about what they did last time, not what they would do in theory — memories are more honest than predictions.
Build a competitor wall
Collect screenshots, packaging, adverts and signage from everyone in the space and put them side by side. Patterns jump out: every brand uses blue, every site leads with a discount, every box is matt black. That tells you what is expected — and where there is room to be different.
A mood board with a point of view
A good mood board is not a pile of nice pictures. It makes choices. Limit it to 12–20 images and label each one with why it is there: "this texture", "this colour temperature", "this amount of white space".
- Group images by idea, not by source.
- Include one or two things you do NOT want, clearly marked.
- Pull a five-colour palette from the board before you move on.
Only use images you have the right to use in anything you publish. A private mood board is fine; a public one built from other people's photos may not be.