Assignment 2: Competitive analysis.
The first part of this assignment required a site map, which was not actually necessary for competitive analysis in particular, but important for familiarizing oneself with how the site is set up and works. I enjoyed creating my map, as odd as it may have been. It was interesting to make, but I wonder how the site map by one of the site’s creators would look.
Because Urbanspoon has been advertised via a commercial for its iPhone application and because its appearance looks professional and put-together, my first impression was that it is a decent site. I searched for equal competitors, but none of the sites I found looked as nice as Urbanspoon, and none seemed to have as many restaurants as it, either. However, I started to notice that, as I tried to look for my favorite restaurants, not only could I find them on the competitors’ sites, but they were absent from Urbanspoon, as well. At the time, I concluded that this is an issue that has little to do with site design, and much more to do with the fact that restaurants are so numerous that it is hard for any site to get users who know all the restaurants in any given city.
Essentially, I held Urbanspoon on a pedestal because of its pretty site design. The other sites I explored looked sparse in comparison, with too much white, ill-informed font choices, and bad ad placement. If I had taken more time, I would have realized that its searching options are also simpler and make more sense than competitors, and that user entry options are much more friendly and accessible.
Of course, the point of competitive analysis is about learning from others’ decisions, both good and bad. I did not, in my part of the assignment, go in to as much detail as I should have, and not about truly important things. Yes I mentioned the site’s appearance, which is important for first impressions, but other important things include the way the search bars in the competitive site I chose are prefaced in such a way that users do not try to search for the wrong things in them.
Competitive analysis requires attention to many, many points of usability, including ratings of aesthetics, navigation, and how intuitive features are. It can be used at most any point of the product design process, because it focuses on other, established products to gain insight which can be applied to ideas or to working sites. It’s great because the minimum number of people required for the whole process is just one, although it can be done with more people via survey or focus group. Unfortunately, the time required for the analysis can be hefty, depending on how comprehensive the analysis is supposed to be. The participant(s) must also have or gain in-depth knowledge of the competitor’s product and, if the development process is past the idea stage, knowledge of the product being worked on.
