1. 100 Days of UX
  2. Competitive Testing

Competitive Testing

Competitive testing is the process of conducting research to evaluate the usability and learnability of your competitors' products.

Competitive testing is Day 15 of 100 Days of UX, an exploratory effort to survey the 100 methods of design outlined in Martin and Hannington's Universal Methods of Design. For 100 consecutive days, I learn one new method a day and write about it.

Competitive testing can reveal market opportunities, gaps in competitors' offerings, pricing strategies, among many other things. Competitive Usability Testing, which is focused on usability can help the team evaluate future features, examine similar features, and discover better ways to do things.

It can be quite tedious though, especially if there are many competitors and the breadth of their offerings is large.

In conducting a competitive usability testing session with users:

  • Use the think-aloud methodology to get them to say what they are thinking while using the competitors product
  • If testing against multiple competitors, in order to eliminate order effects, alternate the sequence with which the participants use the products
  • Test against products that you know are good and potentially interesting.
  • Try not to inadvertently bias your participants. It is sometimes helpful if they did not know what product or company you represent

References
  1. Martin, B., & Hanington, B. (2012). Universal Methods of Design: 100 ways to research complex problems, develop innovative ideas & Design effective solutions. Rockport
  2. Loranger, H. December 7, 2014. Redesigning Your Website? Don’t Ditch Your Old Design So Soon. Retrieved on June 17, 2017


Day 14 - Collage 100 Methods Day 16 - Concept Mapping