Hello!!
Alright let's go, back into ideas mode (I hope).
1. Basic Market Analysis
a. Who are your main competitors?
Instagram
The photo and video sharing app everyone knows about, with over a billion users.
LinkedIn
The largest professional networking site on the market- over 575 million users.
Facebook
The largest social platform on the planet- photo and video sharing, business uses, messaging and communication and entertainment
Snapchat
A communications app- mainly used for text, video and photo communications
Skout
A location based social app. It uses generalised user location to create connections and discover new people
Shapr
'Tinder for business relationships'- this app is sorta like Tinder in that it has a swipe left or right type function. The app uses algorithms to suggest people for you based on your location, interests and other work related content. You can then direct message once there has been a connection of mutual interest.
LetsLunch
An app that creates networking opportunities by matching and creating lunch dates during lunch hour. This app uses your LinkedIn data as well as personalised preferences to bring you matches from your industry. By setting your location and availability as well, the app will suggest local restaurants and meeting spots that might be great places to meet your potential professional friend.
Common Connect
Another professional networking app that allows you to enter multiple data points such as age, job titles you are looking to connect with, gender, the distance you are looking to connect with someone in, non work related interests. The app then shows people closest to you that you may be interested in.
b. What is your point of differentiation?
My technology is aiming to mix networking and social connection into one application aimed specifically at university students. It isn't really networking in the professional sense- instead aimed at identifying opportunities for social connection or connection in interests in the immediate environment around students. It'll be a creative, fun and easy to use LinkedIn. It will be along the lines to the Common Connect app^ but targeted to university students rather than professionals.
Really, it's an app that aims to provide skill-sharing, collaboration and social connection opportunities specifically for university students in their local and surrounding area. Each users profile will provide a creative portfolio of things like their skills, past work, amount of engagement and connections they have.
c. Is there any key aspect / feature of your competitor's product/ service that you believe is key to their success?
Apps such as Instagram have such easy usability and are extremely fast and well designed. Instagram has also built such an established position in the market as being modern, fun and creative. It's extremely easy to create a personal brand and to visually display the things that you are interested in or that make you different.
LinkedIn provides a easy way to connect with many professionals as well as providing a comprehensive list of your own qualifications and skills.
Big social applications such as Snapchat, Instagram and LinkedIn have been able to identify their target market's needs so well and apply features to meet the demand- and they were all unique and innovative when they launched.
It could draw on information from Instagram/Facebook/LinkedIn as well and present it all through this University platform so people can find people in their Uni.
D. Are there any features from other products/ services you believe could be implemented in your product/ service?
Something similar to the section on LinkedIn where you can display your past experience and qualifications, but the option to do it more creatively e.g. for a musician or photographer or writer rather than just a list of job titles.
The personalisation that Shapr offers, not in a Tinder way but being able to set all the things you're interested in, open towards (in a social event way), about you attitudes, skills etc, and being able to see that on others profiles and have suggestions for people to connect with or events or places to attend be made for you.
The occasional suggestion of a nice place to eat would be pretty cool as well. In the city this would be best as there are so many little hidden away restaurants and cafes and places to eat or explore.
e. What aspects would I be able to do myself?
Story boards and the customers journey and experience
Features and applications descriptions
Most of the market research
Creating presentations/ pitches
Narrowing it down into a final product with specific applications, features and uses
Marketing
f. What will I have to outsource?
The actual app development and creation
g. Barriers to my project?
Cost of development
University student attitudes
Lack of knowledge about the technology space and potentially about the product if I don't put enough work in
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