10 Reasons to Start Development with a Discovery Workshop

So you’re starting a development or design project—maybe both! Perhaps you are used to regularly working closely with a consultant who knows your every want or need preemptively; or you regularly employ a large team at an agency to drive your project. Whether large or small, internal or external—a discovery workshop get everyone on track for project success! If not for the developers who will be working on the project, then for yourself—so that you can rest assured this team of individuals who are working with you share the same vision for a complete and feature-rich product solution, website, or application.

1: Narrow the cone of uncertainty

Cone of Uncertainty (n.):

Working with a solutions architect is a sure-fire way to narrow the cone of uncertainty around your project. When undertaking any sized web development project, it is important to spend time ensuring the solution you want to build is achievable. We must take into consideration your budget, and align the developer resources and the solution towards a strong ROI, instead of simply development delivery.

2: Share product vision with a solutions architect

Whether you are a small business or a large enterprise, sharing your product vision with a solutions architect is a great opportunity for reflection on your product’s features and cohesion. The solutions architect’s job is to make sure that the proposed solutions are aligned to real problems you’re trying to solve.

Building a website ≠ building a sales-generation engine.

Working with a solutions architect can help you align the features on your site to your actual goals, like generating more sales leads.

3: Solutions Architect envisions the solution

When working with a solutions architect, it is paramount that they have a vision you can verify. By having the solutions architect walk you through a proposed solution, you are affirming that this architect will effectively drive a development team towards your shared vision.

If you imagine all of your features as a beautiful forrest, I'm sure you can picture that right away:

But it will be the solutions architect that helps you see the trees for the forest, and decide which trees will be more costly to grow (due to the terrain and type of tree).

If at the end of a discovery workshop there are still unanswered questions or large gaps in the vision, you know you have some more work to do.

The discovery workshop exists to ensure the product delivered is aligned with your needs as a business and key stakeholder.

4: Define business-related terms that developers need to understand

You are an expert in talking about your business—

Developers are not.

By working with a solutions architect in a discovery workshop, you uncover all of the business-specific terminology of your company. The solutions architect can help you to properly define the product and share that knowledge with developers.

5: Engage around proofs of concept (POCs) to validate solution

Discovery workshops can sometimes be used for POCs, or even client-education. Don’t you want to know how it looks behind the wheel before you buy the car? Working with a solutions architect who can quickly build a POC during discussions can drive more effective discussion around the intended solution, workflow, and also allow you to raise questions or concerns with training, usability, and more.

6: Identify areas of risk with requirements

There are a number of key phrases to look out for in your discovery workshop that will help you identify areas of risk. You shouldn’t be alarmed if these come out of your own mouth during discovery:

• “I don’t know, but Bob G. manages that and he’s not here today.”

• “You can learn about what this needs to do by looking at our old application/site.”

• & more

Often times, risks are masked by assumptions. By working with a solutions architect, you can lock down these risk factors early in the project. If you can't lock it down, at least the solutions architect will remove the feature in question from scope until more discussions and discovery uncover the details.

Uncovering risks early is paramount to ensuring a well-scoped and within budget project. 

7: Collaborate on priorities based on cost-value

As the product owner and stakeholder, you have a strong vision for the website, application, or project that is going to be delivered. However, sharing your vision with a seasoned solutions architect can help you navigate costly dreams.

Once the reality of costs, timeline, and complexity start to become vocalized by the solutions architect you are working with—you may have different priorities by the end of the discovery workshop.

By giving yourself the time to hear how costly some solutions may be, you give yourself time to make sure what you’re building in the first 6 months is the most valuable for yourself and your customers.

8: Get to a “Rough Estimate”

If you’re grooming an agile backlog, a discovery workshop may be the first time that you can really get a feel for how much work the development team can get done within your budget.

Sizing at this early stage is very, very difficult. Especially for projects with larger complexity.

A workshop allows you to identify costly solutions, which in my experience are areas that you can focus on requirements even further in order to mitigate costs.

9: Create a Foundation to Stand On with your Solutions Partner

Whomever your development partner may be, this initial discovery workshop will create a foundation for you both to have actionable conversations during the course of your project.

Additionally, without properly identifying the original intended scope of the project, you won't have a solid shared foundation for future changes. Without reviewing the blueprints for your house, arguments about which way the front-door was supposed to face can seem awfully backwards down the road.

Do not get into a project without reviewing your blueprints with your architect.

10: Invest in your Technology Partnership

Whether you’re a small business or a large enterprise, it behooves you to take a close look at the working dynamic of this partnership in a discovery workshop setting. By actively collaborating around issues—and verifying that your partner has a shared understanding of your vision—you can greatly benefit by selecting a partner who will carry your project to fruition and beyond!

In our next blog post in this series, find out how you can supercharge your product delivery with Agile Discovery. I will discuss how our solutions architects at Facet Interactive deliver ongoing architecture solutions through Product Owner-as-a-Service and other continuous agile team roles.