Competitive Analysis
I conducted a competitive analysis for Surfline and Magic Seaweed. Below are the insights that I gathered from each application.
Surfline:
I will be analyzing a surf forecast application called Surfline. They have been providing accurate surf reports since 1985 and is used by a million surfers and ocean lovers world wide.
Overview
Key Objective-
Surfline offers an online service that provides surf reports, forecasts, and weather conditions. Surfline has a trusted team of weather and ocean experts to give users the most accurate reports and forecasts.
Overall Strategy-
Surfline has two different membership options, free and premium. They attract their customers by being the most trusted in the business and collaborating with famous surfers. They also collaborate with businesses and place ads on their website and mobile app.
Market Advantage-
Surfline is the most trusted across all of the surf report applications. They have also been around the longest and have a great team of ocean experts creating reports and forecasts. They also provide travel guides to certain surf locations. They have top of the line buoys that provide accurate water temperature and swell height readings. They also have a news section with helpful tips and tricks. They have an article written by a surf expert for select surf spots. They offer over 500 live cams worldwide that provide 24/7 live feedback. They have recently introduced a new feature that allows you to track your surf session via live camera by using an apple watch while surfing. They price their premium membership at $7.99 a month and 95.88 per year.
SWOT Profile
Strengths-
Surfline has a great team of meteorologists, forecasters, and surfing experts. They also have accurate and trusted buoy systems that have been proven to give accurate predictions. They now offer a tracking feature that allows users to record themselves surfing if their surf location has a camera. They have also been around since 1985 and are trusted in the surf community.
Weaknesses-
Surfline cameras are not that great of quality and aren’t placed in the best spots. They sometimes don’t show much of the surf breaks and it is hard to see what it going on in the surfers desired area. It is also very easy to get distracted on the website and app.
Opportunities-
Surfline has potential with this new tracking feature. I think they could really grow if they invest in better cameras and feedback quality. I also think they have a great potential with the news features, they can advertise for companies and provide a space for writers to publish different articles.
Threats-
There are a few competitor websites that have been growing a lot recently. There is also the recent release of man made wave pools that have been extremely popular. There is also a concern with the fact that surfing is a participant sport, not a spectator sport. So the only people that will use Surfline are the surfers themselves. Also the fact that some surf spots are becoming very territorial which leads to people being afraid to surf. These are all reasons that could lead to the decline of users in the future.
UX Analysis
Usability-
The overall design and user flow is easy to use and understand. However, they are lacking in the onboarding process. The app and the website do not include much instruction on the different features and what the different components mean. This is great for surfers who know what they’re looking for, but not for the newbies that are still learning the different terms.
Layout-
When first opening the app it is a little confusing to use. If the user wanted to simply search for a surf location, it is more difficult than it should be. The user can easily go into the “explore” feature, but cannot use a search engine to find a surf location, the user must zoom in and out of the map to find the spot they want. In order to use the search engine, this requires adding favorites, which demands the user to create an account AND have a minimum of three favorites. This is quite a long process for a user that is wanting to quickly get an update on a certain location.
Navigation Structure-
The navigation is laid out well, I don’t have too much trouble finding what I need. The only concern in the sessions feature is the middle of the menu, grabbing a lot of attention. This is great for advertising their new feature, but could cause a congested menu bar, I’m not sure if this feature is used by enough surfers to have it displayed on the menu.
Compatibility-
Surfline is compatible with iOS and Android. It is also available on the desktop. The desktop version does offer more features, like multi-cam streaming and different charts that the users can view.
Magicseaweed:
I will be analyzing a surf forecast application called Magic Seaweed, a popular surf forecast application that has over two million users ever month. They have been serving surfers and water sport connoisseurs since 2002, and they’re based in England.
Overview
Key Objective-
Magicseaweed offers an online service that provides surf reports, forecasts, and weather conditions. Magicseaweed offers live camera feed as well as different charts and maps to predict the water temperatures, air temperatures, and swell directions.
Overall Strategy-
Magicseaweed has two different membership options, free and pro. They offer ad free camera feeds, longer forecast predictions, and hourly forecasts for the pro version. They attract their users by collaborating with famous surfers and having affiliated ads with different companies.
Market Advantage-
Magicseaweed offers “spot details” on the surf location the user is viewing, as well as historic information about the surf locations. They also offer a magicseaweed star rating on the current surf conditions, providing a quick way to view the surf. They have live cameras, detailed maps, and long swell forecasts. They provide a lot of different data like air and water temperature, wind directions, and primary and secondary swell directions. With that being said, they are targeting users that are not only surfers, but for other water sports as well. They are very affordable offering a membership for $2.89 a month and $28.99 per year.
SWOT Profile
Strengths-
Magicseaweed offers very detailed information on the weather and the different components that users need to know for the surf. They also offer historic information on the surf locations and give their star rating on the different surf locations. They also allow users to upload their own surf photos, which is a cool and interactive way for the users to get involved. The premium version is also very affordable.
Weaknesses-
Magicseaweed doesn’t offer many webcams. They are known to not have the most accurate predictions. They could also expand their locations, there are several popular surf spots that are not available to view on the map.
Opportunities-
Magicseaweed has the opportunity to become more accurate with their predictions and acquiring more cameras. This could mean hiring new team members that can help provide more accurate predictions, and putting more cameras around at different locations.
Threats-
The fact that Surfline owns this company is a threat within itself. I think the merging of the two companies is bound to happen. If they combine the strengths of both, they could have the most popular site and not have as much competition. It also lacks in individuality, they look almost identical to Surfline. This may cause users to exit the site and just stick with Surfline. They are also known to have inaccurate surf height predictions, they could hire some experts to help them come up with more accurate predictions.
UX Analysis
Usability-
The overall design and user flow is easy to use and understand. They do lack in the onboarding process and they don’t have much explanation for the different features in the menu.
Layout-
I do like the layout of this app, although it is extremely similar with Surfline. They do give users the option to create favorites without signing up for a membership. They also have an easy way to search for a certain location in the explore feature on the dashboard. They don’t give much explanation for the features in the dashboard menu though, they just have different icons as the indications.
Navigation Structure-
The navigation is laid out nicely but there is not an explanation as to what the different features are. Users just have to play the guessing game and explore it on their own. The actual structure is very strong though, I like the features they chose to place in the dashboard.
Compatibility-
Magicseaweed is compatible with iOS and Android. It is also available on the desktop. The desktop version seems to offer the same features as the app, but the maps and graphs are easier to use on the desktop version.