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Now that you have an idea for your project, you probably want to get started building it right away. But wait! Before you get started you have a little more work to do. Just because you think something is a great idea, it doesn’t necessarily mean that other people will think it is or that they will want to use it.
When creating a business, your goal is to get as many people as possible to use your product. Before you spend a lot of time and effort building your app or AI prototype, you will need to make sure that people will actually use it once it is ready.
This lesson will walk you through different ways of gathering information about your target market, or the people who will use your product. You will also gather information about your competitors, or the people or companies making things similar to your product. Using this information, you’ll be able to adjust your project idea so that more people will use it and you’ll be even more successful. Here are some of the questions that you will be able to answer by the end of this lesson:
Will people use my product if I build it?
Are there enough people who will use my product to justify building it?
Will my product solve the problem I think it will?
What can I change about my idea to better meet my target market’s needs?
TARGET MARKET
TARGET MARKET
The first thing you will do is figure out who your target market is. Your target market is the people who will use your product. So how do you figure out who your target market is? You can start by thinking about who is affected by the problem you identified. Maybe you are solving a problem for teenage girls, elderly people, parents or someone else in your community.
MARKET RESEARCH
MARKET RESEARCH
Next, you will do some research. Research is gathering information about something. In this lesson, you will learn about two types of research: user research and competitor analysis.
User research is learning from your target market, or the people who will use your product, to help you understand their wants and needs. A user is someone who will use your app or AI project. Figuring out this information will help you create a product that people want to use.
Competitor analysis is gathering information about your competitors. Competitors are people or companies making things similar to your product. By gathering information about your competitors, you can look for ways to stand out from them so that people will want to use your product instead of something else.
In order to do user research, you can interview people who you think will use your product. To perform an interview, you will ask a potential user a series of questions either in-person or over the phone. You can also ask them over email, but it helps to hear their voice and their reaction to your questions.
There are different types of questions that you should ask.
Questions about the problem you want to solve. This will help you figure out if your target market has the problem you think they have. You could also interview experts in your community to understand the problem. For example, if your project is about clean water, you could interview a local environment official or a Nonprofit Governmental Organization (NGO) who studies this issue.
Questions about the product you want to build. These questions will help you understand if someone will use your product and if your product is able to solve the problem you are trying to address.
COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
Competitor Analysis will help you understand what type of companies already exist that are solving the same problem you are. You want your target market to use your product instead of using something else. In order to get them to use your app or AI invention, you will have to make sure that you are better than what already exists out there. Remember that your competitor might not be an app or it might not even use technology!
Here are some examples of products and their competitors:
Facebook, Snapchat
Kindle App
Books, Libraries, Other e-reading apps, Magazines
Uber
Regular cab service, Bus, public transport, bike sharing
Google Chat, Facebook Messenger, E-mails, Letters
By looking for these companies and studying them, you will be able to figure out how to make your product better. Here are some questions that you can answer with your competitor analysis:
How does your competitor’s product work?
What problem does it solve?
What is special about what your competitors offer?
How can you stand out from your competitors?
Who is the target market for this product?
What can you learn from this product?
What is your competitor missing that you could include in your product?
What isn't working for your competitor?
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