Figure 4-9. Lists of competitors going down Y-axis Okay, now take a deep breath, because we are about to jump into the labor- intensive process of conducting research and capturing results. Pace yourself so that you can capture data as quickly and thoroughly as possible. Try to also keep an open mind because the only bias you should have is whether or not the product is actually a competitor. However, research can be time-consuming, so when you go down the rabbit hole, be sure to come up for air. For your first pass, spend up to an hour filling out as many cells as possible in each row. Set a timer for 30 minutes to give yourself a reality check at the halfway point. Less is more! Keep your documented research brief and to the point. This way, if you or anybody needs to refer back to the spreadsheet, it won’t require scanning excess or unrelated information. If you look at our cloud example, you’ll see how rows represent competitors, whereas columns represent competitor attributes (see Figure 4-10). The rightmost column is the analysis column, which you can ignore for now until Chapter 5, after you collect all your research. Figure 4-10. Horizontal (X-axis) attributes go across the columns We’re going to attack each row, evaluating each competitor based on a range of market and UX attributes. I will explain the attributes that need to be captured in each column. Not all of the attributes are applicable or relevant to all digital products. Just skip or delete the ones that don’t apply to your product. There also might be attributes that need to be considered that are not in this spreadsheet; feel free to add anything relevant by adding a new column or replacing one that you don’t need to use. What is crucial is that the pros and cons of the UX are clearly evaluated. URL of website or app store location This is where you put the primary online location that customers use to access the product. For desktop-only products, it will be the website address (URL), as