A competitor's feature can reveal a gap in your product. Before you add your own version, work backward from what you see to the problem it solves. That reasoning is more useful than the feature's appearance.
In this Designli Academy lesson, Carlos explains how founders can use competitors and industry trends as sources of inspiration. The aim is to understand a solution well enough to develop a response that makes sense for your own product.
What you'll learn.
- Study the customer problem behind a competitor's feature before deciding to build it.
- Understand why the competitor chose that solution, rather than copying what appears on the surface.
- Use that understanding to find your own way of serving the same need.
Start with the gap in your product.
The starting point is a gap you have noticed: a competitor addresses something your product does not. That observation gives you a question to investigate. What issue are they solving for customers, and is it an issue you also need to address?
Treating the feature as evidence of a customer need changes the task. You are now examining what the feature accomplishes, rather than deciding how to reproduce its visible details.
Work backward from the solution.
Carlos refers to Steal Like an Artist as a way to think about this process. His emphasis is on understanding the thinking behind a solution. Look at how the competitor addressed the issue and what their response allows a customer to do.
For your own review, write down the problem you think the feature solves and the reasoning you can identify behind it. If you can only describe what the feature looks like, you still have work to do before using it to shape your roadmap.
Develop a response that fits your product.
Understanding the problem leaves room for a different implementation. You may be able to offer a competing solution while addressing the customer's need in another way.
A reactive copy does not give you that understanding. You can reproduce a feature without knowing why it was built or which outcome it was meant to create. That makes it harder to judge whether it belongs in your product at all.
Use industry trends as a source of ideas.
The lesson closes by encouraging founders to learn from what others are doing. Look for useful developments across your industry and ask what they could help you improve.
A practical way to apply this is to separate an observation from a decision: first record what another product does, then explain the customer problem and your proposed response. The observation starts the investigation; the reasoning supports the decision.
When you study a competitor, aim to leave with a better understanding of the customer's problem. That gives you something useful to build on, whether your eventual solution resembles theirs or takes a different form.
