We’re going to do something called social media mining and we’re going to take your top competitors and map out their journeys, find some feedback and identity some issues they have

This means taking each of those user profiles and mapping out some of those swim lanes.

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Remember, this doesn’t need to be perfect. This is about progress.

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You’ll start to notice a pattern with these activities. But we wanna keep them short and sweet. There’s a little bit of a myth that reflecting on a user experience slows down development. That’s not true!

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This is an activity you can continue and run at intervals throughout the year.

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Step 1: Pick your competitor app
Choose 1 app to start (don’t over-scope). Write down why you picked it and what user profile you’re mapping this against.

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Step 2: Capture how you found it
Note the discovery path (search term, category, ad, referral, etc.). This helps you understand the competitor’s acquisition funnel and what expectations users arrive with.

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Step 3: Download the app + set your test context
Install the app and decide your test device + persona mindset (e.g., “new user, low patience”). Keep it consistent so your observations are comparable across competitors.

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Step 4: Pull the last 30 days of reviews
Open App Store / Google reviews and collect the most recent 30 days (or the latest ~50–100 reviews). Recent feedback is usually the most actionable because it reflects the current product.

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Step 5:Run a quick thematic analysis
Scan reviews and group comments into themes (e.g., onboarding friction, pricing confusion, bugs, trust). Aim for “good enough” clusters—this is about patterns, not perfection.

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Step 6: Record the sign-up journey
Open the app and go through onboarding/sign-up while screen recording. Speak aloud what you’re thinking so you capture expectations, confusion, and decision points.

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Step 7: Turn the recording into user steps
Transcribe the key moments (or summarise them) and rewrite them as simple “user steps” (e.g., “Choose goal → Enter email → Verify code”). Keep them short and in the order they happened.

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Step 8: Split steps into journey stages
Group steps into clear stages (Discover → Download → Onboard → Sign up → First value moment). Stages make the map readable and help you spot where friction concentrates.

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Step 9: Quantify review themes into simple percentages
Count how many review comments fit each theme and calculate quick percentages (e.g., “11% mention sign-up issues”). Add these percentages to the relevant stage in the journey map to make it evidence-led.

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Step 10: Write hygiene notes + insights, then upload
Create a short “UX hygiene” list (UI clarity, accessibility, bugs, trust cues) and write 3–5 insights/recommendations tied to the map. Upload everything into your journey map template so it’s shareable and reusable.

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