While we let our surveys marinate, I thought it might be nice to take a step back and see what kind of outside factors may give us issues should we choose to pursue Share My Spots. A PESTLE Analysis quantifies those factors from several angles and is a really great tool for brain-storming sessions.
Quick Background on The PESTLE
PESTLE is an acronym and stands for:
Political. Economic. Social. Technological. Legal. Environmental.
Each factor, as Daniel Feiman of Build It Backwards says, could be measured against the following components:
- Potential impact (low, medium, high)
- Time Frame (immediate, short-term, long-term)
- Type (positive, negative)
- Direction of Impact (increasing, decreasing)
- Relative Importance (low, medium, high)
This second step is important because although a factor may be changing it may not be important to your business / app – or it might be important, but not for five or six years from now.
Some say a PESTLE should be done at least once a year – especially in technology. Outside factors are constantly changing.
PESTLE Thoughts On Share My Spots
Political
Data Privacy
As data privacy continues to grow in importance, the use of APIs created by companies like Google that share and store user information will likely have more hoops to jump through when utilizing their services (See GDPR).
- Time frame: short-term
- Type: neutral
- Direction: increasing
- Potential impact: medium
- Relative Importance: medium
New Internets & Standards
Countries like China and Russia ideally would like to control what type of information gets shared within its grid. Therefore, if we were to want to sell our product to users in those countries, we would need to abide by their standards.
- Time-frame: short-term
- Type: negative (potentially)
- Direction: increasing
- Potential Impact: high (Duh… our app is for world-travelers)
- Relative importance: high
Economic
Recessions
Am I the only one composedly absorbing podcasts about this US recession that may or may not come in 2020?
- Time-frame: short-term
- Type: negative
- Direction: uuuhhhmmm… depends who you talk to
- Potential Impact: high
- Relative importance: low (for the moment)
Low-Budget Airlines and Restricted Seating Options
The introduction of low-budget airlines like Spirit, Frontier and WOW Airlines have been popular among consumers. To compete, other airlines, like United for example, now offer “no frills” options that don’t include any extras like carry-ons or the ability to choose your seat. Lower-cost travel opens the market up to more consumers and encourages higher volume of travel.
- Time-frame: immediate
- Type: positive
- Direction: increasing
- Potential Impact: high
- Relative importance: high
Social
Emotions Regarding Travel
Specialized tourism and solo travel have been steadily on the rise. Low budget travel, travel-rewards credit cards, home-rentals, translation apps, travel review websites and many other services have made the world highly accessible. Although services and technologies rapidly evolve and disrupt by the season, the tourism industry is strong and not going anywhere.
- Time-frame: immediate
- Type: positive
- Direction: increasing
- Potential Impact: high
- Relative importance: hight
Technological
APIs
Let’s say we do piggy-back on the Google framework (no decisions yet). We are then at the mercy of Google. They change – we change. However, using an existing API (and a one as sophisticated as Google’s) you won’t be rebuilding the wheel and instead layering on existing, stable technology.
Fun fact: Google’s API recently made a change to their billing structure. What once was a free service, is now a pay-as-you-go service. Any details like this would need to be considered when creating a cost-structure.
- Time-frame: immediate
- Type: neutral
- Direction: neutral
- Potential Impact: high
- Relative importance: hight
PWA vs Apps
Progressive web apps are a newer technology promising responsive web applications that interact like native apps. One positive – not having to manage multiple application versions for different operating systems like Android and Apple. One negative – at the moment, the technology is only supported in Chrome. Are native mobile applications a thing of the past? Are PWAs a shiny waste of resources? Only time will tell.
- Time-frame: short-term
- Type: neutral
- Direction: increasing
- Potential Impact: high
- Relative importance: medium
Legal
API Guidelines / Legalities
If Share My Spots uses an existing API (like Google’s), then we likely will need to adhere to their guidelines. Not doing so will cause fun legal headaches and setbacks. Any API decision will need a thorough understanding of what we can or cannot build and what would be considered copyright infringement.
- Time-frame: immediate
- Type: neutral
- Direction: neutral
- Potential Impact: high
- Relative importance: high
Environmental
Climate Change
As the world’s climate continues to shift, these changes may permanently affect travel destinations making them less “tourist-friendly”. However, there’s also the chance that some areas may see a favorable change in climate which may increase travel to that particular destination. Increase in the amount and severity of storms may impact areas where travelers live – thus decreasing their likelihood to have funds for travel. This factor is highly volatile and unpredictable.
- Time-frame: long-term
- Type: generally negative
- Direction: increasing
- Potential Impact: high
- Relative importance: low for the moment