---
name: competitor-analysis
description: "Competitive analysis skill based on Zhang Zaiwang's methodology. Provides systematic competitive analysis framework, tools and templates to help users conduct professional competitive analysis."
license: "MIT"
metadata:
  decimalai-skill-id: "94336c1a-442c-4e0b-be1d-3dceb0f9b601"
  decimalai-version-id: "d8b95ad1-b0e5-4a1b-8afb-2131f42cbacd"
  decimalai-version: "1"
  decimalai-body-sha256: "9936a0f705946101926b5e09db01bfecd3d6f98ea8bb9be8996e8cd60e6027a7"
  decimalai-name: "competitor-analysis"
  decimalai-format: "1"
  decimalai-invocation: "model"
  decimalai-category: "research"
  decimalai-source: "https://app.decimal.ai/s/competitor-analysis@1/SKILL.md"
---
# Competitive Analysis Skill (Zhang Zaiwang Methodology)

Based on Zhang Zaiwang's "Effective Competitive Analysis" methodology, providing a complete competitive analysis framework, tools and templates.

## Core Principles

1. **Know yourself and know your enemy, and you can fight a hundred battles without defeat** - Competitive analysis is the foundation of product competition
2. **Co-opetition mindset** - A new perspective that combines competition and cooperation
3. **Right intention, taking advantage, clear approach, excellent techniques, united people, practice** - Complete analysis philosophy
4. **6-step competitive analysis** - Systematic operation process

## 🎯 Skill Usage Guide

### **Key Principle: Start with the end in mind, goal-driven**

**Before using this skill, you must first clarify the analysis goal.** Without a clear goal, competitive analysis will lose direction and become meaningless information stacking.

### **Interactive Startup Process**

When users request competitive analysis, if the following key information is not clear, **you must first ask the user**:

#### **6 Key Questions (Competitive Analysis Starting Point):**
1. **For which product is the competitive analysis being done?** - Clarify the analysis object
2. **Which stage is the product currently in?** - Confirm the development stage (planning/development/operation)
3. **What are the main problems and challenges facing the current product?** - Diagnose core issues
4. **What is the purpose of doing competitive analysis?** - Determine analysis intent (decision support/learning reference/market early warning)
5. **What are the specific goals of competitive analysis?** - Set measurable goals
6. **What is the output deliverable?** - Clarify expected deliverables

### **Why is goal clarity so important?**

| Goal Clarity | Analysis Effect | Resource Efficiency | Decision Value |
|-------------|----------------|---------------------|----------------|
| **Clear Goal** | Precise analysis, hitting the key points | Efficient use of resources | Sufficient decision basis |
| **Ambiguous Goal** | General analysis, unclear focus | Partial resource waste | Limited decision reference |
| **Missing Goal** | Disorganized analysis, wrong direction | Significant resource waste | Low decision value |

### **Quick Start Suggestions**

1. **For simple needs**: Directly ask the 6 key questions
2. **For complex projects**: Use `goal-clarification-template.md` for systematic sorting
3. **For team collaboration**: Organize goal alignment meetings to reach consensus

**Remember:** The time spent on goal clarification will be doubled in subsequent analysis.

## Knowledge System Architecture

```
Tao (Philosophy)
├── Know yourself and know your enemy
├── Co-opetition mindset
└── Right intention, taking advantage, clear approach, excellent techniques, united people, practice

Fa (Process)
└── 6-step competitive analysis

Shu (Methods)
├── Comparison method, matrix analysis, competitive tracking matrix
├── Function decomposition, demand exploration
├── PEST analysis, Porter's Five Forces model
├── SWOT analysis
└── Add-subtract-multiply-divide

Qi (Tools)
├── Lean Canvas
├── Competitive Canvas
└── Strategy Canvas

Li (Cases)
└── Complete case analysis

Jian (Practice)
└── Practice session
```

## 6-Step Competitive Analysis (Core Process)

### Step 1: Clarify Goals - Start with the end in mind (Most critical step)

**Core concept:** Start with the end in mind, goal-driven. Without a clear goal, competitive analysis will lose direction and become meaningless information stacking.

#### **Interactive Goal Clarification Process**

**When users request competitive analysis, if the following information is not clear, you must first ask:**

**1. Analysis Object Clarification**
- **Key question:** For which product/service/feature is the competitive analysis being done?
- **Follow-up points:** 
  - Product name and version
  - If it's a new idea, please describe the core concept
  - Who is the target user group?

**2. Development Stage Confirmation**
- **Key question:** Which stage is the product currently in?
- **Option explanations:**
  - **Planning stage:** The product is still in the concept stage, need to verify market feasibility
  - **Development stage:** The product is being developed, need design references and function借鉴
  - **Operation stage:** The product has been launched, need optimization and competitive strategy

**3. Problem Diagnosis**
- **Key question:** What are the main problems and challenges facing the current product?
- **Question directions:**
  - User growth issues? Retention issues? Payment conversion issues?
  - Market competition pressure? Technical bottlenecks? Resource constraints?
  - Brand awareness? User experience issues?

**4. Analysis Purpose Determination**
- **Key question:** What is the purpose of doing competitive analysis?
- **Purpose types:**
  - **Decision support:** Provide basis for product decisions (market entry, feature priority, investment decisions, etc.)
  - **Learning reference:** Learn from competitors' advantages, avoid pitfalls (function design, user experience, operation strategy, etc.)
  - **Market early warning:** Monitor market changes, warn of competitive threats (new competitors, policy changes, technical trends, etc.)

**5. Specific Goal Setting**
- **Key question:** What are the specific goals of competitive analysis?
- **Goal examples:**
  - "Find product differentiated positioning, increase market share by 5%"
  - "Optimize core function experience, reduce user churn rate by 10%"
  - "Evaluate market entry feasibility, develop product roadmap"
  - "Learn from competitor operation strategies, improve user activity"

**6. Output Deliverable Clarification**
- **Key question:** What is the expected output deliverable?
- **Deliverable types:**
  - Complete competitive analysis report
  - Key findings summary (1-2 pages)
  - Function comparison matrix
  - Strategic recommendation list
  - Implementation roadmap

#### **Importance of Goal Clarity**

**How goals affect subsequent analysis:**

| Analysis Goal | Competitor Selection Focus | Analysis Dimension Focus | Tool Selection |
|--------------|---------------------------|-------------------------|---------------|
| **Market entry decision** | Market leaders + potential competitors | Market size + competitive landscape + business model | Porter's Five Forces + Lean Canvas |
| **Function design reference** | Excellent products with similar functions | Function details + user experience + technical implementation | Function decomposition + user experience evaluation |
| **Competitive strategy formulation** | Direct competitors | Advantage/disadvantage comparison + user feedback | SWOT analysis + Strategy Canvas |
| **Learning reference** | Industry benchmarks + innovators | Best practices + innovation points | Case study + model analysis |

#### **Common Mistakes to Avoid**

❌ **Mistake:** Skip goal clarification, start analysis directly
✅ **Correct:** Spend 30% of time clarifying goals to ensure correct analysis direction

❌ **Mistake:** Goals are too broad (e.g., "understand the market")
✅ **Correct:** Goals are specific and measurable (e.g., "find 3 differentiated opportunity points")

❌ **Mistake:** Do not distinguish analysis purposes, use the same method
✅ **Correct:** Customize analysis methods and depth based on purpose

#### **Goal Clarity Checklist**

Before starting analysis, confirm the following issues are clear:
- [ ] Analysis object is clear and specific
- [ ] Development stage has been confirmed
- [ ] Core issues have been identified
- [ ] Analysis purpose has been determined
- [ ] Specific goals are measurable
- [ ] Output deliverables are expected

**Tool:** First part of Competitive Canvas + Goal Clarification Template (see templates/)

### Step 2: Select Competitors - Careful Selection
**Competitor classification:**
- Brand competitors: Same product form and target user group, different brands
- Category competitors: Different product forms, similar target user groups
- Substitutes: Different products that meet the same needs
- Reference products: Products worth learning from

**Selection principles:**
1. Initial selection: Preliminary selection based on analysis purpose
2. Refined selection: Focus on 3 or so key competitors for in-depth analysis
3. Dynamic adjustment: Regular review, pay attention to market changes

**Tool:** Second part of Competitive Canvas

### Step 3: Determine Analysis Dimensions - Multi-dimensional Perspective
**Product perspective (factors affecting product success):**
1. Function
2. User experience design
3. Team background
4. Technology
5. Market promotion
6. Strategic positioning
7. User situation
8. Profit model
9. Layout planning

**User perspective ($APPEALS framework):**
1. $-Price
2. A-Availability
3. P-Packaging
4. P-Performance
5. E-Easy to Use
6. A-Assurances
7. L-Life Cycle of Cost
8. S-Social Acceptance

**Selection principles:**
- Select based on competitive analysis goals
- Adjust focus based on product type
- Focus based on key success factors

**Tool:** Third part of Competitive Canvas

### Step 4: Collect Competitor Information - Comprehensive Collection
**Information source classification:**

1. **Competitor official public information**
   - Official website, official Weibo, official account
   - Media reports, CEO interviews
   - Product downloads, documents, FAQ, user forums
   - Product launch events, exhibitions
   - Company financial reports, recruitment advertisements

2. **Third-party channels**
   - Industry media, industry associations
   - Industry summits, trade shows
   - Internal company channels (sales, marketing, operations, etc.)
   - Third-party evaluation agencies, databases
   - Search engines, patent agencies

3. **First-hand information**
   - Personal experience
   - On-site inspection
   - User interviews, questionnaires
   - Reverse engineering (within legal scope)

**Information rating standards:**
- Level A: Completely reliable, authoritative source
- Level B: Usually reliable, occasional errors
- Level C: Not very reliable, needs verification
- Level D: Unreliable, for reference only
- Level E: Cannot evaluate reliability

**Tool:** Fourth part of Competitive Canvas

### Step 5: Information Organization and Analysis - Detailed Analysis
**Analysis method toolbox:**

1. **Comparison method**
   - Check comparison method (function comparison)
   - Rating comparison method (user experience evaluation)
   - Description comparison method (detailed comparison)

2. **Matrix analysis method**
   - Two-dimensional matrix analysis of product positioning
   - Discover market gap opportunities

3. **Competitive tracking matrix**
   - Track competitor historical versions
   - Predict competitor next moves

4. **Function decomposition**
   - Decompose by menu navigation
   - Decompose by usage process
   - Decompose by interactive operation

5. **Demand exploration (5Why analysis)**
   - Solution-level demand → Problem-level demand → Human nature-level demand
   - Explore the real needs behind functions

6. **PEST analysis (macro environment)**
   - Politics
   - Economy
   - Society
   - Technology

7. **Porter's Five Forces model (industry environment)**
   - Industry competitors
   - Threat of potential entrants
   - Threat of substitutes
   - Bargaining power of suppliers
   - Bargaining power of buyers

8. **SWOT analysis**
   - Strengths
   - Weaknesses
   - Opportunities
   - Threats

**Analysis framework: Sky·Rain·Umbrella**
- Sky = Facts (current situation)
- Rain = Explanation (interpretation of the situation)
- Umbrella = Action (conclusions drawn from the explanation)

**Tool:** Fifth to eighth parts of Competitive Canvas

### Step 6: Summary Report - Value-driven
**Competitive strategy types:**

1. **SWOT-based competitive strategy**
   - SO strategy: Leverage strengths, seize opportunities (growth type)
   - WO strategy: Utilize opportunities, overcome weaknesses (turnaround type)
   - ST strategy: Leverage strengths, avoid threats (diversification type)
   - WT strategy: Reduce weaknesses, avoid threats (defensive type)

2. **Porter's competitive strategy**
   - Focus strategy
   - Cost leadership strategy
   - Differentiation strategy

3. **"Copy-Surpass-Profit" methodology**
   - Copy: Learn and reference
   - Surpass: Surpass and innovate
   - Profit: Commercial success

4. **Judo strategy (small companies dealing with giants)**
   - Movement principle: Avoid direct conflict
   - Balance principle: Utilize opponent's scale
   - Leverage principle: Turn opponent's advantage into disadvantage

5. **Disruptive innovation**
   - New market disruption
   - Low-end disruption

**Report structure:**
1. Executive summary
2. Market overview
3. In-depth competitor analysis
4. Comparative analysis
5. Strategic recommendations

**Tool:** Ninth part of Competitive Canvas

## Three Core Tools

### 1. Lean Canvas (Business Model Analysis)
**9 modules:**
1. Problem
2. Customer segments
3. Unique value proposition
4. Solution
5. Channels
6. Key metrics
7. Competitive barriers
8. Cost analysis
9. Revenue analysis

**Function:** Establish product global view, analyze business model

### 2. Competitive Canvas (Competitive Analysis Template)
**9 parts:**
1. Competitive analysis goals
2. Select competitors
3. Determine analysis dimensions
4. Collect competitor information
5. Strengths
6. Weaknesses
7. Opportunities
8. Threats
9. Summary and recommendations

**Function:** Quick start for beginners, low-cost idea validation

### 3. Strategy Canvas (Differentiation Innovation)
**Usage steps:**
1. List main competitive elements
2. Draw competitor value curves
3. Apply "add-subtract-multiply-divide"
4. Draw differentiated value curves

**Add-subtract-multiply-divide:**
- Add: Add new elements
- Subtract: Reduce unnecessary elements
- Multiply: Innovatively enhance
- Divide: Remove redundant elements

**Function:** Product differentiation innovation, find blue ocean market

## Network Engineering Special Perspective

For network engineering related products, additional attention to:

### Technical dimensions
- **Architecture analysis:** Distributed, cloud-native, microservices
- **Performance indicators:** Latency, throughput, availability, SLA
- **Security:** Encryption, authentication, access control, compliance
- **Integration capability:** API design, SDK quality, ecosystem
- **Operation and maintenance support:** Monitoring alerts, automation, document quality

### Market dimensions
- **Technical trends:** SDN/NFV, 5G, edge computing, zero trust
- **Standard compatibility:** Industry standards, protocol support, interoperability
- **Customer types:** Operators, enterprises, government, cloud service providers
- **Procurement process:** Bidding, POC testing, technical evaluation

## Execution Guide

### Quick Start Template
```
# Competitive Analysis Quick Start

1. Fill in Competitive Canvas (30 minutes)
   - Clarify analysis goals
   - Select 3 key competitors
   - Determine core analysis dimensions

2. Information collection (2-4 hours)
   - Official information collection
   - Personal product experience
   - User feedback research

3. Preliminary analysis (2 hours)
   - Function comparison table
   - Preliminary SWOT analysis
   - Key findings summary

4. In-depth analysis (as needed)
   - Lean Canvas analysis
   - Strategy Canvas differentiation
   - Complete report writing
```

### Common Mistakes to Avoid
1. ❌ Only analyze functions, ignore business model
2. ❌ Subjective bias, only collect favorable information
3. ❌ Information listing, lack of in-depth analysis
4. ❌ Vague recommendations, lack of operability
5. ❌ Static analysis, ignore dynamic changes
6. ❌ Homogeneous analysis, lack of differentiated perspective

### Success Keys
1. ✅ Start with the end in mind, clear goals
2. ✅ Multi-dimensional perspective, comprehensive analysis
3. ✅ Deep excavation, explore needs
4. ✅ Dynamic tracking, continuous update
5. ✅ Value-driven, actionable recommendations
6. ✅ Team collaboration, consensus building

## Output Templates

### Competitive Analysis Report Structure
```
1. Executive Summary
   - Analysis purpose and scope
   - Key findings
   - Key recommendations

2. Market Overview
   - Market size and growth
   - Market segmentation
   - Main player landscape

3. In-depth Competitor Analysis
   - Competitor A: Business model + product analysis
   - Competitor B: Business model + product analysis
   - Competitor C: Business model + product analysis

4. Comparative Analysis
   - Function comparison matrix
   - User experience rating
   - Business model comparison
   - Comprehensive SWOT analysis

5. Strategic Recommendations
   - Differentiated positioning suggestions
   - Competitive strategy selection
   - Product roadmap suggestions
   - Risks and countermeasures

Appendix:
- Raw data tables
- Detailed function decomposition
- User research questionnaire
- Reference list
```

## Skill Usage Scenarios

### When to use this skill
1. **Product planning stage:** Market entry decision, product positioning
2. **Product design stage:** Function design reference, user experience optimization
3. **Market competition stage:** Competitive strategy formulation, differentiated positioning
4. **Learning and improvement stage:** Industry research, product sense cultivation
5. **Investment decision stage:** Project evaluation, due diligence

### Suitable for
- Product managers, product planning personnel
- Marketing managers, operation personnel
- Entrepreneurs, investors
- Strategic planning personnel
- Relevant personnel who need to do competitive analysis

## Practical Exercises

### Practice session
1. **Select your product:** Select a product you are familiar with or working on
2. **Fill in Competitive Canvas:** Complete filling according to 6 steps
3. **Apply analysis tools:** Use at least 3 analysis methods
4. **Output analysis report:** Write a complete competitive analysis report
5. **Team discussion:** Communicate with colleagues and get feedback

### Continuous improvement
1. **Regular review:** Update competitive analysis quarterly
2. **Dynamic tracking:** Establish competitive tracking matrix
3. **Method iteration:** Optimize analysis methods based on practice
4. **Knowledge precipitation:** Establish competitive analysis knowledge base

---

**Remember:** Competitive analysis is not a one-time task, but a continuous process. Through systematic methodology and tools, turn competitive analysis into the core competitiveness of the product.

**Data source:** Zhang Zaiwang "Effective Competitive Analysis: Essential Methodology for Good Products", China Machine Press.