New product management template: Competitive analysis

Editor's note: Aha! Notebooks has been split into Aha! Knowledge and Aha! Whiteboards.

Market research can feel a bit like playing detective. Just as detectives search for clues to solve mysteries, product managers sift through data and insights to understand the market you operate in and the competitive landscape. Analyzing alternative solutions that are available can help you clarify what sets you apart and how you can better meet customer needs.

Competitive analysis is a core component of market research. The more you understand alternative solutions, the better you can provide unique value to your customers.

Much like customer research, competitive analysis is an ongoing exercise. It requires evaluating what competitors — both direct and indirect — offer and occasionally reviewing their strategies and direction.

This does not mean monitoring competitors around the clock or constantly pivoting to replicate what you see in market. Instead, it is about uncovering insights to help inform your own product strategy and understanding the market forces that may influence your customers.

The new competitive analysis template in Aha! software gives you a central place to capture and share high-level observations about competitors in your space.

The competitive analysis template is built on an interactive whiteboard — making it easy to add details as sticky notes, invite collaborators from other teams, and have threaded discussions within the board. Be sure to share what you learn widely — it is important for everyone in the organization to be aware of and bought into your value proposition.

This template is just one of nearly 100 in all Aha! Notebooks plans. (Templates are also available in Aha! Roadmaps, Aha! Ideas, and Aha! Develop.) Each template was created by product development experts, is fully customizable, and ready to use right now.

Sign up for a free 30-day trial or log into your Aha! account — then follow the best practices below:

1. Focus your research

Center your analysis around direct competitors who offer a product similar to yours within the same market. Later, you can branch out to include indirect competitors — those who offer different types of products that serve a similar need. This will help you get a complete picture of all the alternative solutions available to customers.

2. Capture and organize information

Cover a range of different areas in your research. The template is built with six columns to capture mission statements, pricing, top features, strengths, weaknesses, and differentiators.

Summarize your findings on sticky notes and consider ranking the strength of each area (see the sliding bars below). You can also add columns to include other details that matter to your product strategy (e.g., company size or revenue).

3. Share with the team

Share what you have gathered and invite others to collaborate. Bring in groups such as sales, marketing, and leadership to discuss what you have learned — so you can consider how your product can outshine the rest. As you move forward, make time to revisit and refresh your competitive analysis biannually.

Try out this new template to highlight opportunities to differentiate your product — in a format that is easy to share and update.

Your primary focus is on continuously delivering value to customers. Competitive analysis is an effective and helpful way to keep your product efforts moving forward.

Start a free trial today

Guided templates are available to all Aha! customers. Our suite of product development tools works seamlessly together to help teams turn raw concepts into valuable new capabilities — for customers and the business. Set strategy, crowdsource ideas, spark creativity, prioritize features, share roadmaps, manage releases, and plan development. Sign up for a free 30-day trial or join a live demo to see why more than 700,000 product builders trust our software to build lovable products and be happy doing it.