Discovery & Design

Discovery

During the Discovery phase we define project objectives, stakeholders expectations and identify risks. After 2-3 daily workshops you will receive Project Brief documenting your solution in a professional way.

Why is this phase important?

Information gathered during this phase has an impact on product design, architecture, and development & management style. From your perspective (as a product owner) it’s beneficial to have this information written down to acquire realistic project costs from potential technology providers.

Form

A series of 2-3 meetings (at least on in person) with key project stakeholders, focused on building a high-level 360 view of the project context.

It usually takes a few days to 2-3 weeks to complete (depending on the project scope and domain complexity). We provide estimates of the process.

Results

The gathered information is documented in the form of a short high-level specification of the product. After this step, you will receive a document called Project Brief with the specified:

• high-level business goals
• product/system actors description
• system boundaries and responsibilities
• risk factors
• project size assessment (cost category)
• crew composition models for various scenarios

Recommended next steps:

• start Product Design - conduct detailed system analysis and design to make the estimation more accurate
• start the Product Development in parallel with the Product Design phase
• do a POC first to see if the risky areas are a threat
• limit the scope of the product to adjust the cost to meet budget expectations

DESIGN

The goal of the design phase is to create a specification, a blueprint for the product so that the development team has clear guidelines for the product’s look and behavior.

At the completion of the design phase, you will receive a document with the specified:

• user stories
• user flows and key business processes
• low-fi UI design / UI wireframes
• system architecture (physical/logical / technologies)
• risk analysis
• roadmap with MVP and milestones set
• cost estimation on user stories level
• project costs forecasts
• development team composition proposal

Form

Series of interviews and refinements organized in weekly sprints, engaging people with the greatest knowledge about the product domain.

The agenda usually covers story mapping, live UI/UX wireframe design, problem-solving discussions, and tech department consultations.