I started conducting a competitor analysis in week 2, however this page is continually being added to as I find more platforms.
Competitor analysis is the process of identifying your competitors and evaluating their strategies to determine their strengths and weaknesses. It's important to explore the current landscape and understand what products already exist serving a similar purpose, so that we can identify ways to improve upon what they've done.
The Competitve Landscape - UX Design Masterclass
Earlier this year, I completed the UX Design Masterclass course created by Filament, as it looked very interesting and was offered for free for a limited period. I found it one of the most helpful online courses I've done as it offered plenty of in depth tutorials and downloadable content.
One of the takeaways from 'The Competitive Landscape' lesson, was the use of a tool called S.W.C.D.UX.O - Strengths, Weaknesses, Content, Design, UX, Opportunities. When carrying out a competitor analysis, I should follow these headings in order to collect some good research.
A direct competitor is a company selling the exact same thing to the exact same market in the exact same way. This would be the likes of LonelyPlanet who are providing online travel related inspiration to holiday planners.
Whereas an indirect competitor is a company who is selling something different but targeting the same market. An example would be Skyscanner, they focus on selling flights from a number of different destinations but this still targets the travel industry.
LonelyPlanet is a large travel guide book publisher but has since developed a number of websites and apps to keep up to date with the online generation. Such websites and apps include;