Usability Testing: In-Depth Competitive Analysis Michael Hilario October 13, 2009 IMD445

Overview  What is In-Depth Competitive Analysis? Design Participants  Organizations/Businesses that might use it.

What is In-Depth Competitive Analysis?: Design  Basically answers the questions: How does your site compare to competitors? What can we learn from our competitors?

What is In-Depth Competitive Analysis?: Design (cont.)  Involves A Written Report List of Competitors (often provided) Analysis of items that might include:  Home page: How informative is it?  Navigation: Is it consistent?  Readability: Font easy to read? Evaluations must be consistent and unbiased Discuss Methodology  Criteria used  Shows thinking involved Discuss Findings  Summary  Recommendations

What is In-Depth Competitive Analysis?: Design (cont.)  Involves A Presentation Highlight findings and recommendations Present Methodology  Use visuals Distribute Hard Copy of Report Open up for Q&A

What is In-Depth Competitive Analysis?: Participants  Usually a single individual or you compares the sites.  You could use unbiased individuals to evaluate competitors sites using an evaluation form created by you.  Business executives that may know nothing about design, usability, or information architecture.

Organizations/Businesses That Might Find It Useful  Generally, any business that has competitors would find this test useful. For example:  A music store likes how its competitor distributes music sales online. How can the music store implement that same distribution, but better?  In-depth competitive analysis is an important tool that is useful for pushing the right decisions for the development of the web site.