Section 1: Market
1- End user current behavior and needs In Australia, there are many programs for new
students joining university to chat and people generally get to know each other at orientation
day also known as Freshers Week. This is a week full of activities designed to make new
university students feel comfortable. In terms of chatting programs, facebook groups are
often used for these new students to communicate. They have many different purposes,
information from the uni, making friends and describing different events. Another way
students get to know each other is through the accommodation they live in and many
welcome events. It is important for these events to happen as the week before Uni, students
can feel very anxious because it is a new phase of their life, and having a friend there
through a communication platform would definitely work. People who we have discussed
Differ with say that they would love to get a social app such as Differ to get to know other
people as it seems more personal than Facebook and is one the whole university could use.
We provided 5 students starting first year university with differ and they navigated the app
with ease. They felt comfortable and that they could ask any questions without shame. When
they were on differ they realised that it was a lot more interactive then facebook groups,
more students were active on it. They found it was easy to ask for help on it. They loved how
it matched them with similar people. When we asked people who have already used it they
said it made completing the course so much easier. Teachers using differ loved it too! The
value proposition was understood and they love the Chatbot. Personally, I would probably
use differ when starting university, the only reason I wouldn’t would be if no one else did.
2- Industry and competition analysis:Based on research, there are many well ranked apps in online industry for student
communication such as Student ID, facebook groups Live Chat, Campus Talk, are major
competitors of Differ chat.The implications of this study is that it has demonstrated the
efficacy of live chat as an online help-seeking tool in higher education between teacher and
student. At first, the tool Differ Chat should be well received by both online and blended
learners, particularly its ability to provide instant, real-time, and convenient help.The majority
of participants stated it was because Live Chat was urgent or they needed a quick response.
That's why relationships with accessibility of staff is also important to learners, particularly
online learners.
3- New Market selection and Analysis:It's very important to select a marketplace where there is no such competition for emerging
apps. Pakistan,Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Bangladesh and other South Asian countries
would be new marketplace for Differ Chat. Because these developing countries don't have
much technology access or any other platform specified for university students while in
Europe or America there is a lot of competition. First Differ should accomplish a good worth
in Online Industry then it should be launched in above mentioned continents. Pricing strategy
should be maintained at an affordable level according to the country and students should be
provided with stipends for easy online education access. Differ Chat should be different from
instant messenger services which provide a communication service between friends. This
platform should allow staff to talk one-on-one with multiple students at a time. The chat
should be private between teacher and student, such that the chat with one student is not
visible to any other student. The platform allows students and staff to share files, save
transcripts, and chat in real time. Students would be able locate Differ.
Differ has many strengths, ease of communication, shared interests and great
teacher-student communication but there certainly are weaknesses too. Differ is not
well known, so only some people in a university would choose it, labelling it ‘uncool’.
Also differ also is not available in all countries, and the app isn’t that aesthetic.
DIffer’s threats would certainly be facebook marketplace and the rise in learning from
home rather than in a physical university. Opportunities however are more people
going back and the increased technology in countries. I would put Differ 2nd out of all
the companies that do similar things, beaten only by Facebook as it is better known.