competitive audit
A competitive audit in the realm of UX design for a webapp involves a thorough assessment of competitors' products, strategies, and positioning. Information is gathered to inform your own UX design efforts.
Here's a comprehensive breakdown of the process and its benefits:
Competitive Audit Goals (Benefit: Focus and Direction)
To start, clearly outline the objectives of the competitive audit.
Your aim should be to understand your competitors'' strengths and weaknesses. With reflection, this will help you identify opportunities for differentiation. Your research will also result in a clearer understanding of what user could typically expect as the state-of-the-art webapp in the given problem domain.
Key Competitors (Benefit: Targeted Analysis)
List competitors in your industry. Start with a set of 4 or 5 competitors, try to include a variety. Stay focused on how customer problems are being solved and little by little a competitive landscape will emerge in your mind such that you can document it.
Description of Competitors' Products (Benefit: Comparative Analysis)
Now provide a detailed overview of each competitor's web application. Include features that they highlight and a few of the design elements that stand out.
Competitors' Market Positioning (Benefit: Strategy Alignment)
Analyze how each competitor positions their product in the market—whether they focus on affordability, premium features, a unique value proposition, etc.
How Competitors Talk About Themselves (Benefit: Messaging Insights)
Explore competitors branding, marketing messages, and user testimonials. Try to understand how competitors communicate their product benefits.
Competitor Strengths (Benefit: Learn Best Practices)
Identify and evaluate the strengths of each competitor's product.
Competitor Weaknesses (Benefit: Opportunity Identification)
Pinpoint the areas where competitors fall short, helping you identify opportunities to outperform them in your web application's design and user experience.
Gaps (Benefit: Identifying Niche Opportunities)
Determine the missing features or functionalities in competitors' products. This insight allows you to identify potential niches or areas where your web application can stand out.
Opportunities (Benefit: Strategic Planning)
Highlight potential areas for improvement and innovation based on competitor analysis. These are opportunities.
A well-executed competitive audit offers a robust understanding of the market, competitor landscape, and user expectations.
A competitor audit may guide design decisions, help to prioritize features, and ultimately leads to a more user-centric application.
information to capture about each competitor
Location
Headquarters location and any other significant operational locations.
Product Offering and Price
Overview of pricing models, packages, or subscription options for their web application.
Website
Competitor's official website URL.
Business Size
Information about the size of the company in terms of employees, annual revenue, or user base.
Target Audience
Detailed description of the specific user demographics and segments the competitor targets.
Unique Value Proposition (UVP)
A concise statement or description of what sets the competitor apart from others and the value they offer to users.
First Impressions of Mobile Website Experience
Initial observations and feedback on the competitor's mobile website, considering factors like design, responsiveness, usability, and loading speed. What are the successes? What are the drawbacks?
First Impressions of Desktop Website Experience
Initial observations and feedback on the competitor's desktop website, considering factors like design, navigation, layout, and overall user experience. What are the successes? What are the drawbacks?
Features
Rate the features.
Accessibility
Rate the accessibility features.
User Flow
Rate the user flow.
Navigation
Rate the navigation.
Visual Design
Rate the visual design
Tone
Rate the tone.
Descriptiveness
Rate the descriptiveness.
summary diagram
It is helpful to show several screenprints of the landing pages displayed side by side, where one is the landing page of the project and the others are the landing pages of each competitor.
Competitive Analysis
Competitive analysis is a crucial UX design concept that involves evaluating and understanding how your competitors' products or websites perform. A cost-effective way to perform competitive analysis is by utilizing online tools and resources. Here's a brief overview:
History
Competitive analysis has evolved with the digital age. In the past, it involved physical market research and surveys. Today, it relies heavily on digital tools and internet research.
Cost-effective Approach
Start by identifying your main competitors. Use search engines to explore their websites thoroughly. Take note of their design, content, navigation, and user experience. Look for patterns and trends in their approaches.
Utilize Free Tools
Leverage free tools like Google Analytics, SimilarWeb, or MozBar to gather data on your competitors' website traffic, keywords, and backlinks.
User Testing
If possible, engage in user testing or employ usability testing platforms like UserTesting.com to gain insights into your competitors' user experiences.
Compile Findings
Organize your findings into a report or document, highlighting strengths and weaknesses. Identify opportunities for improvement in your own UX design based on what you've learned.
Competitive analysis doesn't have to be expensive. By utilizing freely available digital tools and conducting thorough online research, you can gain valuable insights to enhance your UX design strategy effectively and affordably.