Make Something

Inspiration & Lookalikes

What you have so far

- A name
- A short explanation of your app
- A list of the problems your users are trying to solve
- Your reason for doing this
- A list of users that we will target
- A persona (based on user needs) for our first set of users
- A user journey map for our first users
- A list of assumptions and ways to de-risk those assumptions
- A short description of your MRP
- Feature Sets (v1, v2, icebox)
- A list of your competitors
- A list of keywords and searches your customers might use
- A chart showing which problems your competitors solve and how well they solve them
- A list of table stakes jobs
- Your USP 
- A list of User Groups
- A list of User Stories for your first version, second version, and icebox

Objectives

  • Use inspiration and lookalike apps to give your app structure and design cues

Tasks

i. Who are your inspiration & lookalike apps?

ii. What do you like about each site/app?

Tasks (with Instructions)**

i. Who are your inspiration & lookalike apps?

(Note: If you’re making an IOS app, you’ll want to become very familiar with the Apple Human Interface Guidelines, and for Android. These are a great place to start.)

Inspiration apps or features are just that — ideas that you can use for inspiration when planning your solution. Lookalikes take it a step further; these are apps solving another problem that could be used easily to solve yours. This is good for your first project as it will give you a solid base to start from.

Take screenshots! This will be helpful later on during the design process, especially if we choose to hire a designer.

This is another process that could take infinite time. Instead, we’re going to limit it to 10-15 minutes. Another key is to keep track of these things as you use apps and browse the internet. I keep a list of examples of great UX and UI that I like, so I have easy access to it later when I need it.

Start with any apps that you use now; why do you use them? How do they make doing the task frictionless?

You might want to use some of the following sites for ideas:

Mobbin Pttrns Mobile Patterns Muzli Design Inspiration Dribbbl Behance

(know of another site that should be listed here? Let me know)

ii. What do you like about each site/app?

Go over what it is exactly that you like about each site or feature, and why you find it good or useful. This will help you bring clarity to the exact parts of the app or site that you may want to incorporate into your solution.

Outputs

- A list and screenshots of inspiration sites, screens and features
- Notes on what you like about each site or app