You've got a fantastic concept, and you're prepared to get started with it right away! You have a high level of confidence in the quality of your idea and can therefore safely bypass the discovery stage of the live development cycle. Does something like this ring a bell?
However, statistics show that 35% of startups fail because they cannot find the right target market, and more than 45% of large tech projects overestimate the final cost. The reason is simple: all of those projects skip the discovery phase. Let's talk about why you need this phase in the development process and how it will benefit your business or tech ideas.
What is the Discovery Phase?
In a nutshell, the discovery phase is the first step in research. It's where you figure out who your target audience is and what their needs and pain points are. You also look at your competitors and figure out the best technology stack for your future platform or app. It is a typical stage for any startup—you can only build a product once you know what kind of product you need. It appears to be simple, but many entrepreneurs skip this step. Also, the reason is simple: we used to think we already knew our target audience and didn't need to do any more research.
But what if we told you that you still require the discovery phase?
How to Make Your Project Better Through the Discovery Phase
What advantages come from investing more time and resources in the discovery phase? Here are some of the most typical for various business types:
1. Get a market-driven product
You will have a better understanding of your targets once you start the discovery phase, which will help you when it comes to business modeling.
If the concept is worthwhile, you will know it.
2. Get revenue faster
If you understand your audience early in this stage, you can save money and plan the launch more effectively.
3. Improve communication within the team
During the discovery phase, you can devote more time to learning the general context. You will not lose ideas due to miscommunication in your team if you define all tricky questions at this early stage.
4. Meet your business objectives more quickly
The next reason to follow discovery phase is the opportunity to clarify your business goals and understand how to achieve them early on.
The Main Steps of the Discovery Phase
When you realize you can't avoid the discovery phase, you can concentrate on the critical steps to making a good discovery. Most of the time, this phase needs a project manager, a business analyst, and a UX designer. You can also ask a tester or a software architect for help with this task.Next, look at the most efficient steps in the running discovery phase.
Step 1: Compile the data you'll need for a comprehensive viewpoint
Run stakeholder interviews, gather research information, create wireframes, and create project roadmaps in an effort to gather as much information as you can. You can use a business model canvas to gather the information.Step 2: User experience research
Try to put yourself in the shoes of a user to understand what they need and how they might use a product. Make a customer journey map at this point.Step 3: Look for the best design solution
Here, your team can come together to generate the best project design ideas. The entire process should be developed based on user needs and feedback.Step 4: Develop a clickable prototype
You will test the prototype with users once you have one. Analyze each response to help with the project's final solution.At the end of that journey, which began with a discovery phase, you will have a project roadmap, a product wireframe, a business model canvas, and software specializations. And at this point, you can begin creating your product.
Conclusion
Development teams and interpreters frequently skip the discovery phase. It happens because we used to believe that our ideas were clear-cut and that we didn't need to do any additional research before beginning the coding process. Nevertheless, you may avoid failure in the future by completing this stage!
If you already have a fantastic idea for a business but need to get started on the discovery phase, talk to the experts at DevPals. We at DevPals have a wealth of experience that can help with your upcoming project.