Findings Brief, Section 2: Direct Competitors In this section, you should highlight at least two or three of the top direct competitors and why their value propositions are relevant to yours. How you choose to showcase them depends on what showcase will best support your recommendations at the end of the brief (see Figure 5-9). Be sure to include screenshots of home pages or features that you want to point out, especially if they offer a visually appealing design, a solid UX, or insight into the viability of the business model. For example, there are many astrology sites. They all have a “Here’s your horoscope” feature, but some of them have better personalization or superior content, and therefore they deliver a more powerful experience. You can also discuss each direct competitor, mentioning specific things that give them a competitive advantage (see Figure 5-10 and Figure 5-11). You can use arrows to point to aspects of the UX that you want to call out to your team and stakeholders. Call out a competitor if it’s a serious threat — if it has a large market share, if it caters to your intended customers, if its product is solid, if it has copious financing to scale quickly. Point out features or layouts that you believe should be replicated. Also discuss any of the competitors’ weaknesses. What features should be avoided? Which competitor did something particularly badly? Or can this negative aspect of its UX be an opportunity for your product?