User Experience Innovation: User Centered Design that Works

Step 2: Categorize Competitor Solutions

The first thing you want to do with the solutions you have found in the competitor product(s) is to categorize them. You can, for example, try to identify which solutions solve a core task, whether the competitor solutions have pain points, and so on. I chose to distinguish between the following four categories of competitor solutions:

• Solutions that cover core tasks but are hidden
• Solutions that cover core tasks but have moderate or serious pain points
• Solutions that aren't part of a core task but have nice visual design
• Solutions that aren't part of a core task but have some interesting interaction elements

Depending on the nature of your product, you may need more categories, but determining whether ...