After researching more about my competitor the Forest app, I realized my app is lacking a strong incentive. Initially, I thought that if I were to just offer coupons for every hour our users lower their screen time, they would be motivated enough to work harder and procrastinate less. But after doing a competitive analysis on the Forest app, I realized that not everyone will be motivated just by offering coupons. Some people look at the bigger picture; for instance, the Forest app creates an incentive for their customers to be more productive by planting virtual trees. Each tree planted represents the amount of effort you put into being productive, so it makes the user want to work hard and see how their tree grows over time. Not only that, but users can earn coins that can be used toward growing real trees in real life as well. When users know that they can help the environment by being productive, they will definitely be willing to put in that effort, because they feel as if they can help the earth by investing time into this app. Whereas for my app, it is only for personal gain and does not help the environment or any other aspect at all. The Forest app kills two birds with one stone, which is something I want to achieve with my app. I am probably still going to make an app that creates an incentive for people to be more productive, but possibly with a similar approach to the Forest app, where their incentive is for the greater good, not just for personal gain.
2 thoughts on “Competitive Analysis Reflection”
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Hi Wendy, I found your observation really interesting. I’ve been drawn to Forest for the visual aspect of incentive but never bought into it because I rarely pay for apps. With students though I feel like there are both sides of the coin here. Those that want the financial incentive, and others who care less about that and more on how they can impact larger efforts to improve our world. How do you think you’d narrow down which focus you’ll lean towards?
Hi Sunrise! I also rarely pay for apps, but I did not know that there were so many users that were willing to pay for apps to try to solve their problem of procrastination.
As for how I will narrow down which focus I will lean towards, I am not so sure myself! Like you said, there are two sides of the coin here where some lean more towards the financial incentive and where some lean towards improving the condition of the world. They are both great incentives, but maybe I am leaning more towards the wellbeing of the world because global warming has been an issue for awhile now. Unfortunately not many people take it seriously, so I want to be able to bring awareness to this issue with my app.