Competitor Analysis and Databases Unit 5

Agenda

● Check-in: Share your prototype and collect feedback

● Competitor analysis ● Data and databases ● Transfer prototype to

App Inventor ● Wrap up, share challenges

Check-in: paper prototype ● Share out the paper

prototypes of your app idea

● Explain the key functionalities and features of the app

● Discuss why you chose to include or not to include certain features

Incorporating feedback: improving your app

● Potential customers can provide feedback on ○ whether or not your solution

(your app) to a problem is accurate

○ improvements that can be made in the design of the app

○ other features to add (now or in the future)

* Remember to focus on the Minimum Viable Product -- read this cautionary tale about the company Evernote, and think about patterns in the customer feedback you've received and what your core features are/will be.

http://venturebeat.com/2016/01/05/evernotes-5-problem-offers-a-cautionary-lesson-to-tech-companies/ http://venturebeat.com/2016/01/05/evernotes-5-problem-offers-a-cautionary-lesson-to-tech-companies/

Collecting feedback Use this form to collect feedback and record changes you would like to make to your app

Task list ● Collect feedback on

your app prototype

● Update your app design based on this feedback ○ Consider dividing the

work by assigning each team member responsibility for specific prototype screens

Competitor Analysis Do some competitor research. This will help you answer the question: What makes your app better? Look at other apps on the market and rank them on the following factors: ● Branding/name recognition ● Market share ● Revenue ● Growth rate ● How advanced the technology is ● Pricing scheme ● Reputation for quality, customer

service, etc. Source:https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/competitive- analysis-primer-tech-startups-considering-robert-kuller

Find competitor data ●

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One example of how to use Google Trends to compare different topics -- here, "internet of things" vs. "mobile apps"

http://time.com/3581399/google-search/ http://time.com/3581399/google-search/ http://time.com/3581399/google-search/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WhatsApp https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WhatsApp http://www.alexa.com/ https://www.google.com/trends/ https://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=mobile%20apps https://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=internet%20of%20things https://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=internet%20of%20things

Competitor data resources ● From the company

itself: Study the competitor’s website, social media, blogs, articles, sales material, white papers, advertising, etc. to get a full picture of their success and strategy

● Learn from analysts: Study data and trends from industry analysts such as the Gartner Group, Forrester and Mary Meeker’s internet trends

https://www.gartner.com https://www.gartner.com https://www.forrester.com/ http://www.kpcb.com/internet-trends http://www.kpcb.com/internet-trends http://www.kpcb.com/internet-trends http://www.kpcb.com/internet-trends http://www.kpcb.com/internet-trends

What is Data?

For data to be useful, it needs to be organized. Data is organized in databases through keys and values: ● Key – label for what’s inside ● Value – data that’s inside We use the Key to look up the Value in the database Example:

A contacts list, which is a database of contact information ○ Key = name ○ Value = phone number

Data is information in raw or unorganized form (such as alphabets, numbers, or symbols) that refer to, or represent, conditions, ideas, or objects. Read more: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/data.html#ixzz3xED1ZxrX

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/information.html http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/form.html http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/symbol.html http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/represent.html http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/condition.html http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/idea.html http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/object.html http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/data.html#ixzz3xED1ZxrX

Databases: The magic behind your app!

● Databases organize the collection and retrieval of data

● They're intended to organize, store, and retrieve large amounts of data easily

Examples: ○ iTunes is a database for all

your music ○ Google has a database of

websites which is used for Google Search

○ Facebook is a database of people

Further reading on how you can use databases to improve your app

http://codingvc.com/the-value-of-data-part-1-using-data-as-a-competitive-advantage http://codingvc.com/the-value-of-data-part-1-using-data-as-a-competitive-advantage

Databases in App Inventor

Remember the Colored Dots tutorial from last session that introduced databases? ● If you want to save data after

the application is closed you must use a database

Two types of databases: ● TinyDB stores data directly on

the phone and will only be used by that phone (hand-set)

● TinyWebDB stores data on a web database that can be shared among phones

Additional resources on working with databases

http://appinventor.mit.edu/explore/ai2/colored-dots.html http://appinventor.mit.edu/explore/ai2/colored-dots.html http://appinventor.mit.edu/explore/ai2/colored-dots.html http://ai2.appinventor.mit.edu/reference/components/storage.html#TinyDB http://appinventor.mit.edu/explore/ai2/custom-tinywebdb.html http://www.appinventor.org/assets/pdf/ch22Databases.pdf

Data and usage for your App

Think of how you can use a database in your App.

● What information will your app collect?

● What data will your app provide?

● Will your app connect to other information sources (such as instagram?)

Task: Transfer paper prototype to App Inventor

Use your paper prototype to develop a skeleton of screens in App Inventor.

● Make and name a screen in App Inventor for each screen your app will have.

● "Screen1" must be your home screen.

● Add all the components that you will need for each screen first.

● Start on the blocks after the components have been added.

Wrap-Up & Share ● Share photos on

Facebook and twitter

● Don’t forget to do the project planning and competitive analysis exercises in your workbook

● Post any questions or difficulties you may be encountering on the Technovation Facebook page, and we will help you!

https://www.facebook.com/TechChal/ https://twitter.com/technovation https://www.facebook.com/TechChal/ https://www.facebook.com/TechChal/