My Role
UX Researcher
Duration
7 weeks
Research Methods
Feature analysis
Competitive UI Flow
Usability Testing
Additional Team Members
Su Park
Goal and Study Overview
Understand strengths and weaknesses of competitors in order to improve the existing ClassPass product
Outputs & Results
We compiled hard data and analysis on over 20 competitors that could be used in so many different areas of the company such as pricing and inventory, in addition to product/design, as well as more qualitative results as insights for their current product.
Research Method & Our Process
Feature Analysis
Using the feature analysis above, we identified the following:
Which features are most and least common amongst the market landscape
Competitors that have the most and least features, out of all the total features found
Unique/common features that ClassPass does not have in their current product
Narrowing down our competition
In order to determine which key competitors we will subject to testing, we considered the following factors:
After our selection process, we conducted our user testings.
User Testing Limitations
Remote testing can result in incomplete thoughts and inability to follow up with participants
Likeability issue - users in a simulated setting are more compelled to impress testers by articulating reasons of their actions
UT.com participants are all first time users, do not necessarily represent true target users
User Testing Challenges
First time users
In order to gain insight on actual users’ thoughts and feelings, we supplemented our competitive teardowns with detailed App Store Reviews.
Competitor app in another language
One of the apps that we tested was completely in Mandarin. We found someone to help us with translating the test, then proceeded to write the research script. Once we had it in place, we used our networks to find multiple bilingual users to participate in our test on-site.
What would we have done differently?
Organize feature list by feature category, rather than navigation.
When we started our feature analysis, we determined it was reasonable to identify features page by page, so as not to miss any features on our list. However, once we got into double digits of competitors, it became difficult to keep track of what features were in each tab, and avoid duplicating features. In hindsight, we should have organized features by categories and kept a navigation section separate at the bottom.
Define and provide example for each feature along the way.
To avoid confusion around what we named a feature, we should have provided a definition and example for each feature as we went along, so that it was clear to any one else that used the document to understand what we were referring to.