- Learn who your target market is
- Interview your target market to learn more about them
- Use target market research findings to improve your idea
- Research your competitors to learn how to stand out from them
- Improve your idea based on competitor research
These are the activities for this lesson:
TALK TO YOUR USERS
Now that you have an idea for your project, you probably want to get started building it right away. But wait! Before you get started you have a little more work to do. Just because you think something is a great idea, it doesn’t necessarily mean that other people will think it is or that they will want to use it.
Before you spend a lot of time and effort building your app, you should make sure that people will actually use it once it is ready
GATHER INFORMATION
About what or whom?
- your target market, also known as your users
- your competitors, the people or companies making similar apps
Why?
- to help adjust your final solution
- so more people will use it
- make it more successful
Here are some questions you should be able to answer positively:
- Will people use my product if I build it?
- Are there enough people who will use my product to justify building it?
- Will my product solve the problem I think it will?
- What can I change about my idea to better meet my target market’s needs?
TARGET MARKET
So how do you figure out who your target market is? Start by thinking about who is affected by the problem you are solving.
Maybe you are solving a problem for teenage girls, elderly people, parents or someone else in your community.
If you get stuck, review your work from Week 1, Understanding your Community to recall who your users will be.
Can you identify the target market for these products? Click on the ? to reveal.
Target Market
Children aged 3-12
Target Market
People who own cats
Target Market
People who own smartphones
START YOUR USER RESEARCH
One excellent method for user research is to interview people who you think will use your product.
Best option – in person. It helps to hear their voice and see their reaction to your questions.
Better option – by phone or video call
Good option – email
To perform an interview, ask a series of questions.
There are 2 different types of questions that you should ask:
- About the problem you want to solve
– does the target market have the problem you think they have? - About the product you want to build
– will they use your product?
– does your product solve the problem you are trying to address?
EXAMPLE QUESTIONS
Questions about the problem
- Do you currently have this problem?
- What do you do now to alleviate the problem?
- Are you looking for a better or easier solution?
Questions about the product
- Would you use this product if I made it?
- Which features are the most important?
- Would you pay for this product? How much? Or if “No”, why?
- Does this remind you of something else that already exists?
INTERVIEW EXPERTS
In addition to your target market, you should also reach out to experts on the problem to help you understand the problem better. For example, if your project is about clean water, you could interview a local environment official or a non-governmental organization (NGO) who studies this issue.
After each interview you should ask yourself, “How can I change my ideas based on what I just learned?”
SURVEYS
Surveys are a way to get answers from a lot of people quickly. In addition to your user interviews, you should also use surveys to get information.
There are 2 types of surveys you can use:
Give it out to a large group, like to a classroom, or to students entering your school library.
easy to use, you can create your own questions, but limited types of questions
very popular, some features you’ll need to pay for
So, what do you ask in a survey?
Just like your interviews, you should ask questions about both the problem and the solution.
But, you want to make the results easy to interpret. Instead of open-ended questions, use multiple-choice or scale questions.
This saves time for the people taking the survey and will be easier for you to analyze.
Try to get AT LEAST 15 responses to your survey.
Here are some examples for each type of question.
Multiple choice questions have a set of answers that a person can pick from.
How often do you find yourself stressed out?
☐ Always
☐ Sometimes
☐ Never
Have you ever taken a selfie?
☐ Yes
☐ No
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
very unhappy ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ very happy
1 2 3 4 5
Never ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ Every day
Mentor Tip
Best practices: Use examples that illustrate the process of gathering and analyzing information about a market. For example, “Think about how companies research their target audience before launching a new product. Market research involves understanding customer needs, preferences, and trends to make informed decisions.” Relating market research to familiar scenarios makes the concept more accessible.
Analogy for students: Alright, imagine you’re organizing a huge school dance. You want to make sure it’s great, right? So, you start by doing some market research. This is like asking your classmates what kind of music they like, what snacks they prefer, and what themes they’re excited about. You might even survey different groups to get a broad perspective.
Once you gather this information, you analyze it to see common trends. Maybe you discover that everyone loves pop music and wants a glow-in-the-dark theme. Based on this research, you decide to hire a DJ who plays pop music, get some glow sticks, and decorate the venue with neon colors. This way, you’re making decisions that cater to what your classmates actually want, making the dance more enjoyable and successful.
In the business world, market research works the same way. Companies collect data about what customers want, what they like, and what they need. This helps them make informed decisions about their products, services, and marketing strategies. Just like your dance is more likely to be a hit when you cater to your friends’ preferences, businesses succeed when they align their offerings with customer desires.
Guiding Questions to ask students:
What methods do you think companies use to gather information about their customers and competitors?
How can understanding customer needs and preferences help a business succeed?
What kind of information from your users do you think will help in the building of your app?
Why is it important to analyze market trends before making business decisions?
Mentor tips are provided by support from AmeriCorps.
TECHNOVATION EXAMPLES
Below are examples of survey questions from past Technovation teams. Click the blue triangles on the left to read them.
- My child is overweight or obese. (Yes, No)
- I know families whose children are overweight or obese. (Yes, No)
- I have talked to my children about childhood obesity. (Yes, No)
- To your family, what is more difficult when it comes to healthy habits?
- Avoiding candies, fried foods and canned foods
- Having a selective taste for fruits and vegetables
- Understanding the nutritional table of products
- What importance would each of these features have for you and your child within our app? (1 – a little, 5 – a lot)
- Quizzes about nutrition
- A healthy habits checklist
- An exclusive section for parents to check their child’s progress
- Suggestions for parents to encourage their children’s healthy habits
MajiMaji is an app that links water suppliers to customers.
- How often per week don’t you have access to piped water?
- Unpredictable
- 3-4 times a week
- 1-2 times a week
- Daily
- When there is a water shortage in your area, what other means do you use to acquire the water?
- Buy water from carts/wheelbarrows
- Go to store water-access points (e.g. tank) and buy water physically
- Water delivery service
- Borehole
- Use stored water
- Stay with a friend who has water
- Would you pay for the services our app provides? (Yes, No)
- If a water delivery service existed, would you use it? (Yes, No, Maybe)
cultivAte raises user awareness about nutrition and environmental impact of ingredients in foods they buy.
- Do you read food labels when you shop?
- Yes, often
- No, never
- Yes, sometimes
- I don’t know
- I read food labels when I shop because:
- Allergies
- Trying to lose weight
- Young family members
- On a specific diet
- Religious restrictions
- Sustainability choices
- Do you think about how your diet affects the environment? (Yes, No)
- I am concerned about what goes into my body and daily nutrition. (0 – not at all, 10 – very much)
SURVEY ANALYSIS
Once you get your survey results, you need to analyze them.
Did a majority of respondents say they would use your product?
What was the most common answer to each question?
Below are examples of what each team found from their surveys. Click the blue triangles on the left to read what they found.
Nutrie is a mobile app focusing on the health of Brazilian children, ages 6-12.
- 43 of 110 respondents said the hardest part of maintaining a healthy diet for children was convincing them to avoid candy, fried food, and canned food.
- Another 25 of 100 said their kids have a selective taste for fruits and vegetables.
- 97.2% of respondents said they would download the app.
- The most popular feature was suggestions for parents to encourage their children to develop health habits, followed by a healthy habits checklist.
MajiMaji is an app that links water suppliers to customers.
- 54.9% of respondents are without access to piped water daily.
- 21.4% of respondents have unpredictable access to piped water.
- 82.5% of respondents would pay for the services the app provides.
- 61.9% of respondents would use a water delivery app.
- 26.9% would maybe use a water delivery app.
- So, a majority of people surveyed need the app and would use and pay for the app.
cultivAte raises user awareness about nutrition and environmental impact of ingredients in foods they buy.
- 92% of respondents reported they read food ingredients when shopping, for various reasons, with the top being weight loss, allergies, and sustainability concerns.
- More than 60% of respondents said their concern about what goes into their bodies was 5 or higher.
- 57.9% of respondents noted they think about how their diet affects the environment.
ACTIVITY 1: USER RESEARCH
(including interviews)
Learn about your target market
- Develop interview questions and then interview at least 2 people about your idea.
- Develop survey questions and a plan to distribute the surveys.
Thinking ahead to your business plan or user adoption plan, you can turn your survey information into an infographic (a visual representation of data).
Some online tools to explore:
- Canva
- Adobe Express
- Google Slides (linked to Google sheet)
COMPETITOR RESEARCH
Competitor research will help you understand what type of companies already exist that are solving the same problem as you. You want your target market to use your product instead of using something else. In order to get them to use your app, you will have to offer a unique, cheaper, or better alternative to what already exists.
Remember – your competitor might not be an app or it might not even use technology!
Can you guess the competitors for these products? Hover over each flip card to reveal some competitors.
Competitors
Kindle
Competitors
magazines
Uber
Competitors
public transport,
bike sharing
COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
Here are some questions that you can answer with your competitor analysis.
How does their solution work?
What problem does it solve?
Who is their target market?
What is special about their solution?
What can you learn from their solution?
What is missing from their solution that you can include in yours?
What isn’t working?
ACTIVITY 2: Competitor Research
Follow the instructions in the worksheet
- Find at least 3 other companies or organizations who are solving your problem.
- Find out more information and compare their features to your solution.
REFLECTION
Congratulations on doing your competitor and user research!
It is okay to change your idea based on what you’ve learned. As you develop your product, continue researching to ensure you are making the best product possible! Here are some questions to ask yourselves:
REVIEW OF KEY TERMS
- Target market – the people who will use your product
- Competitor Research – gathering information about the people or companies making things similar to your product
- Survey – asking a group of people questions either with paper or an online form
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Learn how other Technovation Girls did user research for their projects!
Technovation alumnae discuss how they connected with end users in this video clip(5:30 min).
