2.7: Why You Should Analyze Your Competition to Design Better Solutions and How to Do It Flashcards
Prior to starting a new UX design project, it makes sense to gain a sense of its scope by_______________________________________________________. (long ans.)
- looking at what others have done and critically analyzing the designs of others.
Analyzing the ____________________________ is one of the standard tools in UX practice.
“competition”
A __________________ report is one of the common UX deliverables in the industry.
UX competitive analysis
It’s important to know that any UX design project faces two types of ____________________________.
- competition
it’s important to know that any UX design project faces _________ types of competition.
- two
Learning means breaking down the _________________ and ___________________ to understand why they work well, and then applying this knowledge to your own designs.
- interaction
- visual elements
Competition analysis is often undertaken in the ____________ stages of a design project.
early
_____________________________________can be an excellent way of keeping up to speed with the latest industry trends and developments, getting inspiration for future designs or updates to current ones, and learning through breaking down the reasons that designs by others work well (or not so well).
- competition analyses
_____________ has lasting value and is a combination of aesthetics and inspiration, backed by scientific knowledge and research.
- good design
__________ just come and go, because they are supported by nothing but the designer’s view on aesthetics.
- Fads
When assessing other designs, it’s important that you don’t just stick to the ___________ element but also get to grips with the question of ________—namely, what is it that makes that particular design work so well?
- “wow”
- “why”
What are the 5 rules to help you form and maintain a comparative mindset?
1 - Identify the need
2 - Identify the real competitors
3 - Compare through criteria, not personal preference
4 - Blind imitation is the most certain path to failure
5 - There is no substitute for user testing
Every design is a solution to a particular ________.
need
Ask yourself how a particular bit of design helps your users achieve a goal better. If it doesn’t, ___________.
leave it out.
Google’s ____________ guidelines about search boxes state clearly that how you implement these should strongly depend on the focus of your application.
- Material Design
Google’s Material Design guidelines about search boxes state clearly that how you implement these should strongly depend on _____________.
the focus of your application.
Whether it’s a ________or _________ competitor, ask yourself exactly what you are making a comparison with.
- direct
- indirect
Users have goals they want to meet, and _________________ is a means for achieving these goals.
technology
For technology to succeed, it must __________________, or ________________________, that a low-tech solution can’t.
- do something better
- offer some other type of value
Every comparison implies _________ against a set of criteria or values.
- judgment
Every comparison implies judgment against a set of _________ or __________.
- criteria
- values
What are Heuristiucs?
- a form of cognitive strategy, have been studied in discplines such as cognitive psychology, social psychology and social cognition. Heuristics are rules of thumb for reasoning, a simplification, or educated guess that reduces or limits the search for solutions in domains that are difficult and poorly understood.
___________ are a form of cognitive strategy, have been studied in discplines such as cognitive psychology, social psychology and social cognition.
- Heuristics
Heuristics, a form of cognitive strategy, have been studied in discplines such as _______________, _______________ and _______________.
- cognitive psychology
- social psychology
- social cognition
_________________________ are rules of thumb for reasoning, a simplification, or educated guess that reduces or limits the search for solutions in domains that are difficult and poorly understood.
Heuristics
Unlike formal structures like algorithms, ________________ do not guarantee optimal, or even feasible, solutions and are often used with no theoretical guarantee.
heuristics
The use of heuristics is often contrasted with _________________, ____________________, or _____________________, according to which people use rationalistic and systematic ways to solve problems and generally seek the optimal results.
- probalistic
- statistical
- rationalistic reasoning
The use of ____________________ is often contrasted with probalistic, statistical, or rationalistic reasoning, according to which people use rationalistic and systematic ways to solve problems and generally seek the optimal results.
heuristics
The advantages of _________________________ is that it is cheap, intuitive (since you are applying a set of predefined rules/heuristics), it hardly requires any planning, and it can be used early in the design process (it does not require a nearly finished user interface). The disadvantage is that there is a focus on problems rather than solutions.
- heuristic evaluation
The advantages of heuristic evaluation is that it is ___________________, _______________ (since you are applying a set of predefined rules/heuristics), _________________________________, and it can be used early in the ________________________ (it does not require a nearly finished user interface). The disadvantage is that there is a focus on problems rather than solutions.
- cheap
- intuitive
- it hardly requires any planning
- design process
The advantages of heuristic evaluation is that it is cheap, intuitive (since you are applying a set of predefined rules/heuristics), it hardly requires any ___________________, and it can be used early in the design process (it does not require a nearly finished user interface). The disadvantage is that there is a focus on ____________________ rather than _______________________.
- planning
- problems
- solutions
They are called “heuristics” because they are _________________________ and not specific usability guidelines.
- broad rules of thumb
Blind imitation is the most certain path to___________.
failure
Every design solution is unique not just to the ______________________________ but also because of the _____________________________.
- problem at hand
- target audience.
Good design is the result of thorough ______________________, with considerable effort in _____________________ with users, framing _________________, and ___________________, _________________ and _______________________ solutions under context.
- process
- empathizing
- problems
- ideating
- prototyping
- evaluating
There is no substitute for ______________________.
- user testing
Only _____________ evaluation in the context of your project scope and target audience can prove whether a design really works.
- user-based
Only user-based evaluation in the context of your ______________________ and ______________________ can prove whether a design really works.
- project scope
- target audience
Comparing will only be useful if you look for the _________________behind the aesthetic value of a design.
“why”
Comparing will only be useful if you look for the “why” behind the _______________________________________.
- aesthetic value of a design
What is the purpose of a competitive analysis in UX? (3 points)
A) To find elements of design from other projects that you can copy directly for your own, speeding up development
B) To critically assess how others have solved design problems similar to yours and identify opportunities and weakness(es) so as to improve your design
C) To give customers a sense of confidence that you know what the latest design trends are
B
When you come across a great-looking bit of design, you should… (3 points)
A) Try to incorporate it into your next project to ensure that it is a “state-of-the-art” solution.
B) Never incorporate it into your own projects, because of potential copyright issues.
C) Examine why the design works and where it breaks down, based on your knowledge of usability heuristics and the intended problem/audience.
C
