Discovery

Purpose

Discovery is used to understand the problem before committing to a solution. The goal is to learn enough to decide whether to stop, proceed, reshape the opportunity or move into alpha.

When to Use This Phase

Use discovery when the problem is unclear, the users are not well understood, the customer is asking for a solution before the need has been validated, significant constraints may exist, or a commercial commitment would be risky without more evidence.

Primary Decision

At the end of this phase, we should be able to answer:

Is there a real problem worth solving, and do we know enough to define a credible alpha or next phase?

Core Questions

• Who are the users?

• What are they trying to achieve?

• What problem are we solving?

• What evidence shows the problem exists?

• What policy, operational, legal, security or technical constraints apply?

• What has already been tried?

• What data exists?

• What risks are most important?

• What options should be explored next?

• Is there enough value to justify further investment?

Key Activities

• stakeholder interviews

• user research

• current-state mapping

• journey mapping

• service blueprinting

• technical discovery

• data discovery

• security discovery

• policy and process review

• supplier and dependency mapping

• risk assessment

• opportunity sizing

• initial roadmap development

Expected Outputs

• problem statement

• user needs summary

• stakeholder map

• current-state assessment

• journey maps

• constraints log

• risks and assumptions log

• options assessment

• alpha recommendation

• initial roadmap

• commercial recommendation

• draft scope for next phase

Entry Criteria

• sponsor identified

• initial opportunity or problem described

• access to stakeholders agreed

• discovery timebox agreed

• commercial authority in place

• security and confidentiality requirements understood

Exit Criteria

• problem is clearly described

• priority users and needs are identified

• constraints and dependencies are visible

• major risks are recorded

• options for alpha or next step are defined

• recommendation is evidence-based

• customer decision is recorded

Evidence to Capture

• research plan

• interview notes

• research synthesis

• journey maps

• technical discovery notes

• data assessment

• risk log

• decision log

• recommendation report

• show and tell outputs

Commercial and Statement of Work Considerations

• keep discovery scope tightly timeboxed

• avoid committing to build outputs during discovery

• record assumptions for the next Statement of Work

• identify customer dependencies early

• separate discovery recommendations from contractual commitments

IP and Accelerator Considerations

• use discovery templates and interview guides as Background IP

• do not place customer confidential content into reusable templates

• identify reusable patterns that may accelerate alpha

• record any customer-specific materials separately

Security, Data and Assurance Considerations

• classify information before collection

• confirm whether personal or sensitive data is involved

• limit access to research and customer materials

• identify likely assurance requirements for later phases

Common Risks

• solution bias

• insufficient user access

• stakeholder assumptions treated as evidence

• unclear sponsor

• discovery turning into build

• hidden technical constraints

• unrecorded customer dependencies

Practical Checklist

• Agree discovery goal and timebox

• Confirm stakeholders and user groups

• Prepare research and workshop plan

• Set up evidence repository

• Run research and analysis

• Map constraints and dependencies

• Review risks and assumptions

• Develop options and recommendation

• Run discovery playback

• Record decision on next step