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What are 3C analysis and Cross 3C analysis?

A framework for organizing the situation around a business or activity from three perspectives: Customer, Company, and Competitor.

It applies just as well to an individual’s work or skills as it does to a company. In that case, read Company as “you,” and Competitor as “other people doing similar work.” A competitor isn’t only someone you’re up against — they can also be a point of comparison or a potential collaborator.

In a standard 3C analysis, you write out facts and characteristics under each of the three perspectives, then draw arrows to check how they relate. This article takes it a step further with Cross 3C analysis: overlapping two or three perspectives to work out an interpretation and a plan going forward.

Where this works well

• When you want to line up what customers want against what you can offer
• When you want to check your strengths and gaps by comparing yourself with others
• When you’re thinking through a new product or service, or where to focus your learning next
• When you want to find where you’re competing and where you could cooperate instead

About the sample diagrams

The “3C Analysis” folder in the demo above holds two diagrams.

• “3C Analysis” — splits information about the customer, you, and other developers into three frames, with arrows showing how they relate
• “Cross 3C Analysis” — keeps all of that information and overlaps the three frames, adding the interpretations and plans drawn from comparing them

The sample question is: “How can an independent IT developer build the technical skills the market wants?” It’s a hypothetical example for explanation purposes — when you run your own analysis, replace it with things like customer interviews, past requests, your own track record, and information other developers have made public.

Building a 3C analysis in ThinkTray

Step 1: Decide the question and the three perspectives

Start by writing the question your analysis is meant to answer. If the question is too broad, the scope of information you gather stays vague too, so make the target and purpose concrete.

In the sample, the three perspectives are read as follows.

Step 2: Write out information for each perspective

Place the three groups without overlapping them, and write out what you know from each perspective. Don’t rush to a conclusion at this stage — first get the information separated out where you can look it over.

For Customer, write what the other party wants: things like “wants us to understand their requirements correctly,” “wants it built quickly,” “wants it to run reliably,” and “wants continuous improvement after release.”

For You, write not just strengths like “good at server-side development,” “can build small prototypes quickly,” and “can work solo from design through release,” but also constraints like “not great at UI design,” “little experience running large-scale operations,” and “limited time for learning.”

For Other developers, write characteristics that are useful for comparison, like “deep expertise in a specific field,” “can handle UI design too,” “can take on large projects as a team,” and “publishes their track record clearly.”

Step 3: Connect the three with arrows

Connect the three groups with two-way arrows, and label each one with what relationship it’s comparing.

The arrows don’t represent a sequence of steps. Rather than just gathering three sets of information separately, use them as prompts for thinking about how those three sides relate to each other. The “3C Analysis” diagram shows this stage.

Taking 3C analysis to Cross 3C analysis

In Cross 3C analysis, you compare the information gathered in a standard 3C analysis and turn what you find into new cards. Just as in “Venn Diagram: visualize overlapping sets in ThinkTray,” a single card belongs to more than one group to create the overlap.

The key is to split roles: put the facts and characteristics you gathered in the single-perspective areas, and put what you learned by comparing them in the overlaps.

Step 4: Write what you learned from each pair

Overlap the three frames, and place what you interpreted from comparing each pair into its overlap.

Customer × You — the value you can deliver

Think about how your strengths can serve what the customer wants. In the sample, this is summarized as:

• Can turn a small prototype around quickly
• Can act as a single point of contact from design through release
• Can lead with a stable server-side setup

Customer × Other developers — where you fall short

Check what the customer wants that other developers can already provide. This reveals abilities you should build up, or areas better left to a collaborator.

• Can handle UI design as well
• Can offer reassurance by publishing a track record
• Can provide ongoing operations and support as a team

You × Other developers — points of comparison and potential cooperation

Think about the abilities you share with other developers, what’s hard to differentiate on, and where cooperation might be possible.

• Fast turnaround alone doesn’t differentiate you much
• Need to keep learning development skills
• Need to make your expertise clear and easy to see
• Some projects could turn into mutually beneficial partnerships

Put each of these cards into the two groups it relates to. Placing a card between the two frames makes the group outlines expand to overlap around it.

Step 5: Work out a plan from all three perspectives

At the center, place what you concluded by weighing all three perspectives together. In the sample, the resulting plan is summarized as:

• Keep leaning on strong server-side development and fast prototyping
• Learn and sharpen UI design and operations skills
• Look for companies to partner with, as needed

Put this card in all three groups. The center isn’t so much a fact shared by all three sides as it is a plan derived from thinking about the customer, you, and other developers together. The “Cross 3C Analysis” diagram shows this stage.

Tips

• Separate facts from interpretation — Put the information you gathered in the single-perspective areas, and the interpretation you drew from comparing it in the overlaps, so you can trace the reasoning behind it later.
• Write down constraints, not just strengths — Including what you’re not good at, and constraints like time and experience, helps you separate what to learn from what to hand off to someone else.
• Don’t think of competitors as only rivals — They’re also people you can learn from through comparison, and depending on the project, potential collaborators.
• Don’t force a conclusion at the center — If a plan isn’t coming together, check whether you’re missing customer information or material for comparison.
• Revisit it regularly — Customer needs, your abilities, and other developers’ situations all change. Update your cards and plan as things change.

3C analysis is a framework said to have been proposed by management consultant Kenichi Ohmae. Wikipedia