✦ case study 02 · Spring 2024 Internship · competitive research

Mapping the
competitive
landscape for a
startup with no map.

At Bosmos an early-stage B2C community platform the brief was vague, the direction was unclear, and the product was still being figured out. My job was to make sense of the competitive landscape and tell the team what to build towards.

⏱ 16 weeks 🔍 Competitive Analysis 📋 User Surveys 🧪 Usability Testing 👥 Team of 5

✦ what this project actually delivered

Bosmos had no research foundation. No competitive map. No clear direction. I built all three.

major platforms analysed in depth Reddit, LinkedIn, Dribbble, Behance none of which had been mapped for Bosmos before

clear market gap identified the strong community + career growth quadrant that none of the competitors owned

existing research brief to start from. The scope, the questions, and the framework were all defined from scratch

🗺 the tangible output

A research report and deck the team could actually use.

Before this project, Bosmos had no structured view of where they sat in the market. The deliverable was a full competitive analysis, opportunity matrix, synthesis board and 3 strategic directions packaged into a report that gave the team a map when they had none.

💡 the harder skill on display

Defining the right questions before answering them.

The brief was vague on purpose the product was still being figured out. The real work wasn't running the research. It was deciding what to research, why, and in what order. That kind of structured thinking in ambiguous environments is what separates junior researchers from senior ones.

The context

what we were working with ✦

🌱

the company

Bosmos LLC early stage startup

A B2C community platform aiming to connect individuals with job opportunities, upskilling resources, and professional growth support.

🤷

the challenge

No clear brief. No defined scope.

The product was still being defined. We had to figure out what questions to ask before we could start answering them.

🎯

my role

UX Researcher 1 of 5

Competitive analysis, user surveys, and usability testing on an early prototype. Jan–Apr 2024.

✦ a note on this case study

This was my first real-world research internship. The project was ambiguous by nature an early-stage startup figuring itself out in real time. Rather than pretend that ambiguity didn't exist, I want to show how I navigated it. Learning to define your own brief when no one hands you one is, I'd argue, one of the most valuable research skills there is.

The Questions

what we needed to understand ✦

✦ guiding research questions

What features do competitors excel at that create a positive user experience?

How do users perceive these platforms in terms of usability and engagement?

What gaps exist in the market that Bosmos could address?

platforms analysed

Reddit LinkedIn Dribbble Behance

tools used

Miro · SurveyMonkey · Google Trends · Notion

Competitive Analysis

reconstructed from research ✦

Platform	Community	Job/Opportunity Discovery	Skill Building	Onboarding	Key Gap
Reddit Community forum	Strong ✓ Highly engaged niche communities	Weak ✗ No formal job discovery	Partial ~ Informal knowledge sharing only	Weak ✗ Overwhelming for new users	No structured path from community → career growth
LinkedIn Professional network	Partial ~ Groups exist but feel hollow	Strong ✓ Industry-leading job board	Partial ~ LinkedIn Learning exists but feels separate	Partial ~ Profile setup is lengthy	Community feels transactional, not supportive
Dribbble Creative community	Strong ✓ Strong creative identity	Partial ~ Freelance & job board, niche	Weak ✗ No formal upskilling	Strong ✓ Visually intuitive	Too niche limited to designers only
Behance Portfolio platform	Partial ~ Passive community	Partial ~ Adobe Jobs integration	Weak ✗ No upskilling features	Partial ~ Portfolio-first, intimidating	Showcasing over supporting growth

✦ visualisation reconstructed for illustrative purposes

Opportunity Matrix

where does bosmos fit? ✦

← Weak Community · Strong Community →

← Low Career Focus · High Career Focus →

Community, no career

Sweet spot 🎯

Neither

Career, no community

Dribbble

Behance

Bosmos ✦

✦ Bosmos has a clear opportunity in the top-right quadrant strong community AND high career focus. Nobody owns this space yet.

Synthesis Board

making sense of the mess ✦

📌 Competitive Insights Synthesis · Spring 2024

🟡 Onboarding Pain

"Reddit is overwhelming when you first join"

"LinkedIn profile setup takes forever"

"No clear starting point on Behance"

🟣 Community Quality

"Reddit communities feel organic and real"

"LinkedIn feels transactional not genuine"

"Dribbble has strong creative identity"

🩷 Career Growth

"LinkedIn good for jobs, not for growth"

"Nobody connects community to career path"

"Upskilling always feels like an add-on"

🟢 Opportunities

"Guided onboarding = instant differentiator"

"Mentorship through community = untapped"

"Integrate learning into community feed"

✦ board recreated for illustrative purposes

What We Found

the patterns that emerged ✦

✦ the big gap

No platform does community AND career growth well at the same time.

Reddit has community but no career path. LinkedIn has jobs but no real community. Dribbble and Behance are niche and passive. The gap Bosmos could fill was clear: a platform where professional growth happens through community, not despite it.

"the gap was obvious
once we mapped it out.
nobody had filled it yet." ✦

😤

pain point · found across all platforms

Onboarding was overwhelming or intimidating

Users didn't know where to start. Platforms assumed too much prior knowledge.

🤝

opportunity · consistent signal

Users wanted support, not just exposure

LinkedIn shows jobs but doesn't help you get them. Users wanted mentorship, feedback, and community support not just a job board.

📚

gap · nobody owns this

Skill-building is always an afterthought

Every platform we analysed had learning features that felt bolted on. Integrating upskilling into community was a clear opportunity.

How Might We...

turning findings into directions ✦

🚪

from: overwhelming onboarding

How might we design an onboarding experience that meets users where they are not where we assume they are?

🤝

from: transactional community feeling

How might we build a community where professional support feels natural not performative?

📈

from: career features feel bolted on

How might we make career growth feel like a natural outcome of being part of the community?

🎓

from: upskilling as an afterthought

How might we weave skill-building into daily community interactions rather than isolating it as a separate feature?

So What?

what we told the team ✦

🚀

recommendation 01

Prioritise guided onboarding

Every competitor failed here. A warm, goal-oriented onboarding flow would immediately differentiate Bosmos.

💬

recommendation 02

Build community around growth, not just networking

Users don't want another LinkedIn. They want a place where people actively help each other grow not just connect.

🎓

recommendation 03

Integrate skills natively, not as a feature

Upskilling should be woven into the community experience not a separate tab you visit once.

✦ what I actually learned

The hardest brief is no brief. But it's also where the most important research decisions get made.

This internship taught me that defining the right questions is often harder and more valuable than answering them. In ambiguous environments, a researcher who can create structure from chaos is an asset. I want to keep being that researcher.

Mapping the competitive landscape for a startup with no map.