What is discovery, and why does my product need it?
Perhaps you’ve got a great idea for a new product that’s going to change the world. Or maybe you have an established product that needs a refresh. So… now what? Before you start building your ideas with a development team, the first step is product discovery. This is the critical first stage focusing on planning and goal alignment, and it can increase the likelihood of your project’s success.
What is discovery?
Discovery is the first phase of successful product development. This is where you define and refine the problem you’re solving, and gather information about solutions to better understand the product vision, goals, and scope. The process reduces uncertainty so that you can confidently move forward with a plan that will lead to success.
During discovery, you’ll become acutely familiar with your uses and their needs. You’ll develop precision around the problem you’re solving and who you’re solving it for. This process allows you to build the right product for the right audience. It creates a solid plan for delivering the highest business value and achieving your core objectives.
What are the benefits?
Just like you wouldn’t build a house without a blueprint, you shouldn’t start a project without proper planning. Great product discovery means that you can:
- Improve communication and team alignment – Ensure everyone is working towards the same goals, with a shared understanding. Everyone on the team has a clear picture of what needs to be done and why.
- Create a solid development plan and budget – Understand how many people you need on your team, and set a realistic budget and deadline for the work that needs to be done.
- Identify and manage risk factors – Prepare from the beginning to mitigate any risks that would impede project success. Prevent ugly surprises later on that could cause your project to go over budget or past the deadline.
- Improve project outcomes – Build the RIGHT project from the beginning; a product that will delight end users and meet their specific needs.
If you’re a startup entrepreneur, discovery is your secret weapon: it can be the basis for a killer pitch deck. Investing in solid product discovery will result in deliverables that will help you nail meetings with VCs, partners, clients, or investors.
What happens during discovery?
Most companies do discovery a little bit differently, but the basic ingredients are understanding the problem, setting the product vision, understanding the users, refining the scope, and creating design concepts.
At LunarLab, our special flavor of product discovery includes:
- Highly collaborative, interactive workshops to discuss and understand the product
- User research
- Well-defined, robust project scope
- Prioritized product roadmap so that you build within your budget, in the right order
- Wireframes of all user flows
- High fidelity designs (or even clickable prototypes)
According to the Nielsen Norman Group, product discovery can take between 2 – 8 weeks. We’ve found that the length of your discovery process depends on your availability, and how complex the project is. Your involvement is one of the most important ways you can ensure that your discovery sessions are successful. If you’re working with LunarLab, expect to spend a few hours each week in workshops or providing feedback.
Can I skip discovery to save time and money?
As the saying goes, “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.” Running a project is difficult work, and neglecting to do proper project discovery could mean turn into costly failures down the road.
The data backs it up: according to Harvard Business Review, projects go over budget by 27% on average, and one in six projects has a cost overrun of 200%. Geneca published fascinating survey results indicating that without proper discovery, 75% of respondents felt projects were “doomed from the start”, 80% of dev teams spend half their time on rework, and only 55% feel that business objectives of the projects are clear.
That sounds scary, but product discovery can give you the tools that you need to maximize your likelihood of success. The Nielsen Norman Group reports that performing a discovery cuts the risk of failure by 75%. Throughout my career I’ve seen projects succeed and I’ve seen projects fail, but one of the biggest risk factors is always inadequate planning. Starting with discovery can set you up for success and give you a real competitive advantage right from the beginning.
Ready to start your discovery journey? We’d love to help you succeed! Contact us for a free consultation.
