Who This Helps
This is for every Junior Analyst who has ever stared at a list of possible experiments and felt stuck. You know the data is there, but picking the one move that actually moves the needle? That's the hard part. The Strategy Basics: Competitive Map course is built exactly for this moment.
Mini Case
Meet Aisha. She's a Junior Analyst at a growing SaaS company. She has three experiment ideas on her desk: improve onboarding emails, add a new integration, and run a pricing test. Each one sounds good. But she only has capacity for one this sprint.
Aisha uses the Competitive Map from the course. She maps each idea against customer segment wedges and competitor moves. Turns out, the pricing test only affects 12% of her target segment. The integration? That one could unlock 7 new accounts in 7 days. That's her winner.
Do This Now (5 Steps)
- List your top 3 experiment ideas. Write them down. No filtering yet.
- Map each idea to a customer segment wedge. Which wedge does it serve? If it serves none, drop it.
- Check competitor moves. Is a competitor already doing this? If yes, how well? If they own it, deprioritize.
- Estimate impact with a simple number. For each idea, guess the percentage of your target segment that would benefit. Be honest.
- Pick the idea with the highest segment impact and lowest competitor overlap. That's your next experiment.
Avoid These Traps
- Falling in love with a shiny idea. Just because it's new doesn't mean it's impactful. Check the data.
- Ignoring the competitor set. If your biggest rival already owns that move, you're fighting uphill. Choose a different battle.
- Trying to serve every segment. Aisha learned this the hard way. Picking one wedge keeps your positioning clean.
- Overcomplicating the estimate. You don't need a perfect number. A rough 12% is better than zero analysis.
- Forgetting to write down your reasoning. If you can't explain your pick in one sentence, you haven't thought it through.
Your Win by Friday
By Friday, you will have shipped one clean analysis with a clear recommendation. Your team will know exactly why you chose that experiment. And you'll feel the relief of focusing your effort on the highest-impact move. Plus, you'll have a reusable framework for next time. That's a win worth celebrating with a coffee break.