"Fitted" Market Analysis

Do a quick market analysis for your product using Porter's Five Forces, a "back of the napkin" market sizing, and trend analysis.

Market analysis:

1. Degree of rivalry
There are 3 other exercise apps out there that also have exercises based on body areas / muscles: Fitness Point, JEFIT, and Fitness Buddy. Fitted will differentiate itself with a more simple UI and aesthetically pleasing design.

2. Bargaining power of suppliers
Since "Fitted" is an app, the "supplier" is the developer who codes the app. Since there is plenty of developers in the Bay Area, and the app's first versions are quite basic (will not require advanced coding skills), the supplier will not have much bargaining power.

3. Threat of new entrants
Threat of new entrants is high. Fitness is currently a cultural trend so it is likely an area of attention for many. A large company in the sports industry (ESPN, etc.) could easily clone the app.

4. Bargaining power of buyers
App users will not have any bargaining power as they will download the app through the app store.

5. Threat of substitutes
Users could always switch to looking up very targeted fitness tips online or in fitness books. However, since the overall trend is consumers increasing share of time on mobile, the threat of substitutes on other platforms is low to medium.

Market size:
Limit to US for near-term
318M people in the US
52% smartphone penetration
= 165M people with smartphones
94% Android & iPhone share of US smartphone market
= 155M people with Android or iPhone
50% of population that exercise regularly (source: http://www.statisticbrain.com/percent-of-americans-who-exercise-regularly/)
--> Market size of ~80M people

Trends Analysis: what are potential opportunities or risks within the four trend areas below?
-Technology / Societal: health monitoring devices (fitbit, etc.) are becoming very popular and more affordable. In turn, demand for Fitted could increase in sync with the rise in health monitoring devices as there is more awareness on health and fitness. On the other hand, once consumers start moving on from the devices trend, there is a risk that Fitted could face retention issues.
-Regulatory: a potential regulatory risk is if the government restricts non-certified parties from providing physical exercise recommendations to diminish consumer injury.
-Socialeconomic: since the product is a smartphone mobile app, one potential risk is if demand for smartphones for some reason decrease (on the other hand, the market increases if access to smartphones around the globe increases). 

"Fitted" Mobile Fitness App - Business Model

Outline your product company's business model using the business model canvas.

My product "Fitted" is a mobile fitness application allowing users to select exact areas of the body to work out and shows users best exercises (most results in least amount of time) based on the target areas.

Business Model Canvas

Product Life Cycle and Product Development Cycle of "Fitted" Mobile Fitness App

Outline the product life cycle and product development cycle for your final project company.

When we were asked to brainstorm an idea for our final project company, I had a plethora of ideas. It was challenging to identify the most compelling idea. Vivek suggested that we think from the perspective of a potential customer: our friends, family, coworkers, etc.--what are their biggest problems? As I surveyed multiple individuals, "healthy living" and "fitness" were common themes. Within those categories, the largest issue for many was figuring out a way to tone very targeted parts of the body (ex: triceps because that area of arms is jiggy). From there, "Fitted" was born.

Problem: people want to tone targeted parts of their bodies but do not know the best exercises for specific areas.
Solution: "Fitted" app allows users to select exact areas of the body to work out and shows users best exercises (most results in least amount of time) based on the target areas.

Product Life Cycle

The graph above depicts a product's typical life cycle. The product life cycle for "Fitted" would look like the following:

1. Development: stage in which PM identifies needs, works with developers and designers to build features that address valid needs (validation through market research) and test beta versions with select testing groups. For "Fitted," I would survey more people with varied demographics to validate the need for a targeted exercise application. I would work with iOS and Android software engineers as well as UX designers to build a MVP mobile application. We would get feedback from everyday users as well as fitness experts, then iterate. 

2. Introduction: once product has gone through first few iterations and is fully functional, app will be launched in iOS App Store and Android Play Store. Given the complexity of Android, iOS launch will be prioritized.

3. Growth: in its growth stage, "Fitted" will experience revenue growth through marketing (user acquisition and advertising). Growth hacking techniques will be deployed, including building features that incentivizes friend referrals.

4. Maturity: "Fitted" will reach a mature stage when many have heard / downloaded app. Product growth slows down. By this point there will have been numerous iterations of the app. App will likely have complex features, many of which drive monetization. Marketing spend decreases given rapidly diminishing returns / cost ratio.

5. Decline: in time, competitors will likely have incorporated similar features to those in "Fitted." Once sales start as well as user retention / activity drop, "Fitted" is in its decline phase.

Product Development Cycle

1. Identify: 

• Problem: people want to tone targeted parts of their bodies but do not know the best exercises for specific areas.
• Solution: "Fitted" app allows users to select exact areas of the body to work out and shows users best exercises (most results in least amount of time) based on the target areas.

2. Plan:

• Market Research
• Competitive Analysis
• Business Case Development
• Customer Interviews
• Roadmapping
• Strategic Product Plan

3. Develop: 

• Timeline
• Features
• Story / Specs
• Resource Management
• Develop

4. Evaluate: 

• Early Feedback
• Test Assumptions
• Multiple Releases
• Tweak and Evaluate (Iterative)

5. Launch:

• Press Announcement and Interviews
• Revenue
• Post Mortem
• Public Launch

6. Assess:

• Collect Metrics
• Analyze and Optimize ROI
• Support Marketing & Sales Efforts
• Assess Continued Efforts

7. Maintain or Kill:

• Major Upgrade
• Begin Cycle All Over
• Freeze Feature Set and Manage Revenue Levels
• Transition to End of Life
• Message Users
• Establish EOL Plan

Given the ease of iteration, Agile process will be used to develop the product.

General Assembly Product Management - Features vs. Benefits

Write a blog entry about the concept of Features vs. Benefits and how your favorite product fits specific needs that you have.

During the first General Assembly Product Management class, I learned about the concepts of features versus benefits. When talking to users / customers, Product Managers often hear about desired features instead of pain points. By asking the question "why do you need that feature?," a Product Manager can identify actual user needs. From there, features can be developed within the product in a way to best solve the needs, which may or may not be similar to the feature originally proposed by the customer.

Each feature should directly lessen if not mitigate one (or more) of the user's pain points, bringing benefits to the user.

To illustrate the two concepts:

Let's take one of my favorite products, Square Cash, as an example.

As someone who frequently splits bills, I need a simple product that allows me to pay and get paid.

Square built send and receive features that address such needs. A user simply links a Debit account, enters the amount to pay or be paid, and 1) sends the amount to recipient email or 2) requests via email the amount to be paid.

The benefit of the products are fairly self explanatory:

1) If I owe money, I can quickly and easily pay on the spot so that I don't forget to do so later. Since Square Cash simplifies to process to only requiring an email address and Debit card, there is no excuse to not sign up for the service vs other P2P applications that require multiple sign up inputs.

2) If I am owed money, I want my money back and because there is now no excuse for the payer to sign up for the service since almost everyone has an email and a Debit card, I get paid back more often and in a faster manner.

The simplicity of the app along with solving the common pain point of paying and getting paid in a cashless manner provides a compelling value proposition. It is no surprise that Square Cash adoption continues to grow at an impressive rate. I highly recommend signing up and trying out the product!