What is a product discovery workshop?
One of the most important steps in the initial phase of developing a new digital product is a product discovery workshop.
The purpose of the discovery workshop is to outline all the important elements of your product, the goals that need to be achieved, as well as to identify possible obstacles that might occur in the process.
It is also a perfect opportunity to set the right foundations for the partnership since the workshop brings together the client and the project team.
What is the purpose of the workshop?
Before we start developing your digital product, we need to understand all the aspects of the project in order to deliver you the desired solution.
Here’s why the discovery workshop is a must:
- Understanding: your business idea and your objectives
- Defining: from business goals, core functionalities, target audience to indicators of success
- Shared perspective: for the project to succeed, it is important that everyone is on the same page
- Estimation: of time needed to complete the project, as well as of the budget for the project
What do you get from it?
Taking part in a discovery workshop significantly benefits you and your future product. The following list will assure you why this type of consulting is something you should never skip:
1. Reducing the overall cost
Truth be told, it all comes down to money as the ultimate factor. One of the primary goals of a discovery workshop is creating a list of necessary features and functionalities which will be implemented and also discarding possible unnecessary items. You would be surprised to learn that during the workshop so many features that you initially thought are much-needed end up being totally unnecessary and that in turn saves you a lot of money! So, by the end of the workshop, both of the parties involved have a clear picture of what needs to be implemented and how and there is less space for unexpected changes or unplanned costs.
2. Speeding up the production process
Once you have a list of the needed features and functionalities, you can focus on the project timeline. A couple of days spent on the workshop and consulting can save you weeks in the long run because during the workshop you will:
– Identify possible rabbit holes
– Create a detailed plan that will prevent the project team from going in the wrong direction
– Fully understand the product requirements
...and all of that will save you time later in the process.
3. Minimizing product risks
Did you know that digital products have an alarming failure rate?
During the discovery workshop, the clients and the project team identify the potential problems and issues and also create solutions and alternatives. That way everyone makes sure that the potential risk of facing such problems is minimized, but also that there are alternative plans in case a problem arises.
4. Human touch
During the discovery workshop, you, as a client, get to meet the people from the project team. Those people are the ones that will make your product come to life, so a workshop is a great opportunity to connect and set good cooperation foundations. The project team will offer you their expertise concerning development, design and management and you will be able to share your expectations and all the necessary information about your business and the future product. Be it in an office or online, seeing and talking to each other contributes to a successful product delivery.
5. Detailed document aka blueprint of the whole project
This is probably the biggest benefit you will get from the workshop. At the end of the workshop, a document is made that contains the desired goals, key takeaways, a structured timeline, and the arranged budget - pretty much everything that you have agreed upon with the project team.
This document serves as a road map for the entire product development process - from start to finish. Also, since sometimes some terms mean different things in different organizations, this type of document ensures that all parties involved are on the same page.
To sum up in a sentence:
What - the discovery workshop is a service that helps you to understand all the aspects of the digital product you would like to build.
Purpose - defining goals, features, target audience, budget, timeline, minimizing the risk of failure
Benefits - a detailed plan with a structured timeline that contains the crucial info necessary for creating your digital product
And don’t forget why projects fail!
The reason projects fail or clients end up unhappy is that they don’t get what they thought they would get. Clients sometimes have a hard time defining what they would like to get from their product and software development agencies sometimes aren’t clear about what they are delivering, so misunderstandings occur.
And to make sure that doesn’t happen, a discovery workshop is an opportunity for all the parties involved to see the bigger picture and develop a detailed strategy covering all the important issues concerning the development of the digital product.
Discovery workshops and consulting are services we think all (good) software development agency should offer because they serve to better understand what kind of a product is going to be developed, and above all, to make the process of developing an IT solution run smoothly.
We got you interested and you want to know more? Feel free to reach out and we'll jump on a free call anytime.
30 June 2020