What is the Problem?

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I need a way to stop my pet from messing with my keyboard while I’m looking at a video/document/on a virtual video call because it will make me less worried about my pets’ unwanted interaction with the keyboard being disruptive to my activity.

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Who is the Customer?

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My target market is centered around Mac laptop owners, who use their laptops to stream videos, and who own cats (or other pets).

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How big is the market?

 

Based on evaluating TAM, SAM, and SOM, I estimated that the market size is ~600,000 people.

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What alternatives are out there?

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My main competitors will Foil, KeyboardLocker, and krub. Foil is my biggest competitor since they are attempting to offer the application I am creating. However, they only have 1.9 stars out of 5 on the Apple App Store and the reviews vary from "love it" to "doesn't work." KeyboardLocker and krub have a similar function, but not similar outcomes. The former simply locks the keyboard on whichever desktop you are on while krub makes the screen go black since it is geared towards cleaning.

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How is the solution differentiated from those of competitors?

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My main differentiator is creating a way to still engage with your computer without the risk of a pet pressing keys, or other unwanted interactions. None of my competitors offer the combination of features that I do. My app will give you the ability to lock the keyboard after entering into full-screen mode, have audible and visual cues for locking and unlocking, and will stay locked until you want to unlock it.

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Why now?

 

Timing is particularly good for a few reasons:

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• Industry: there is low risk from competitors to meet this specific need

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• Technology: Currently there’s not an app that does exactly what mine will

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• Social/Economic: During this COVID pandemic, more people are on their computers while being at home with their pets and other potential disruptions. People are more likely to look for a solution due to this increase.

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How will I get this product to market?

 

When complete, this app will be available through the Apple App Store on Mac computers.

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How will I measure success?

 

I will base success off of of few metrics: ratings in the app store, # of downloads, # of deletions, and average time app was on the device (if available).

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What factors are critical to success?

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I need to create a plan for if/when Apple adopts this feature into their native iOS. As well, if app doesn’t function the way it was promised, I will lose credibility and potentially users

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Given the above, what’s your recommendation?

 

Based on the above, I have decided to move forward with this project.