Identifying market gaps as opportunities

Market gaps are unmet needs that appear when existing products do not fully solve a problem. Teams can surface these gaps through competitive analysis that covers direct competitors with the same job and indirect competitors with alternative approaches. Mapping the landscape shows where others are strong, where they fall short, and where demand remains open.

Select a focused competitor set, then compare offerings across features, pricing, usability, and messaging. Public sources like websites, app stores, and support forums reveal complaints, workarounds, and ignored user groups. These signals point to opportunities grounded in evidence, not opinion.

This exercise fits flexibly into the product development process. If market gaps are unclear, it works best after market and competitor research, when insights are sharp and well supported. But if the team is working from a hunch or exploring broadly, it can also be used earlier to spark ideation and later refined through research.

Bring findings into ideation as prompts. Phrase each gap as a problem statement linking a user, a task, and a barrier. Use these statements to steer idea generation and avoid chasing concepts that lack market relevance. When ideas start from documented gaps, teams are more likely to craft solutions that feel valuable and testable next.^[1]