New Media Final Project - Research Blog

Even though I am well underway with the development process on my app, it is also important to be aware of either new competitors to the market or even competing products that I might have only just discovered. In this case, I came across a company called Kineo . Kineo is an eLearning business who provides a variety of services, like Dynamic, making them a strong competitor. However, it is not this that challenges SmartByte. Kineo released a new and innovative responsive framework that can be used on multiple devices called Adapt. It is cost effective with only the production and maintenance of one version necessary. Being an industry revolution at the point of creation, Kineo decided to make Adapt open source so that other could take advantage of the product which also allows for custom design and not a fixed template. Adapt sounds like a really positive product to hit the market, but how does it compare to SmartByte? With Adapt being open source and therefore free, this would mak...

To gain an insight to the target market, I have decided to conduct some research into several competing companies. I will be specifically looking at what services they offer and how they compare to SmartByte. It is important to acquire this information to ensure that SmartByte differs in functionality (Unique Selling Point) and that it is able to challenge the market. Udemy Udemy is an online platform that allows 'experts' to create and upload courses for the public to buy or in some cases, acquire for free. Currently, there are over 65,000 courses available in which users can learn a new language, learn to build a website or learn how to run a business. Users would simply purchase the the course and follow the set tutorials. Udemy is available on both computer and mobile and therefore is easily accessible. With Udemy's highly rated reputation and with them utilising the app market, this makes them a strong competitor. The aspect that differentiates Udemy from SmartByt...

Being familiar with the eLearning industry, I chose to base my idea on an eLearning product. After researching into current trends and what is likely to be the 'next big thing', I decided to focus on collaborative learning and how this can be incorporated into a platform that would encourage team work. My initial idea was to design and develop an eLearning Social Platform that would allow users to log in and collaborate with others to complete specific eLearning content. The concept would have a very similar feel to a typical social network site such as Facebook and Twitter but customised to a more learning environment. Some features would include the capability to post on your feed (this could be about achievement, issues or general questions that target an individual or a specific audience), collect achievements after completing online courses, forums, contact industry experts and instant messaging for more private communication. All of these functions complement each other...