Before a discovery workshop, it’s important to have a clear goal in mind. This will help you know what to expect from the workshop and how to take the right steps to achieve it. You could define your goal as having a clear understanding of X or finding out what people want from Y. The goal you set for the discovery workshop will help you stay focused during the session and make sure the information you gather from the attendees is useful for your project.
You can't have an effective discovery workshop without a diverse mix of visions and ideas. The number of participants depends on the scope of the project, but there should always be people who participate in project implementation. The discovery workshop should include:
Project manager - leads a discovery workshop and sets the workshop agenda.
Clients/company leaders - discuss their ideas with the project manager and project team, and outline their expectations for the project.
Project team members - developers, UI & UX designers, QA testers, and business analysts.
Stakeholders (optional) - from a business and customer perspective.
As we mentioned, the project manager is responsible for planning the workshop agenda. Their task is to prepare all the activities and things that need to be discussed during the workshop. The type of workshop plan will vary depending on the type of project and business goals. You can organize workshop activities within these sections:
Introduction - Introduce the workshop and participants.
Overview - Define project objectives, requirements, and outcomes.
Client Understanding - Understand the client's business and goals.
Risk Assessment - Assess product feasibility and viability.
MVP Definition - Determine basic features for initial release.
The discovery meeting should flow naturally and should not be rushed. During the discovery meeting, you should spend enough time covering all the topics and make sure the information gathered is useful for your project. If you don’t have enough time to cover all the topics, you can shorten the meeting. However, you should only do so if there is a clear need for it. If not, the information should be expanded.
At the end of the discovery workshop, make sure to wrap up the meeting. This is where you can summarize the meeting and highlight all the important information and conclusions.
You should also make sure to thank the attendees and send a message that closes the end of the meeting. This is also a good time to remind the attendees of the non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), so they can make sure to keep the information they have heard confidential. These tips will help you to avoid common mistakes during the discovery session. It can be challenging to run a successful discovery meeting, but with a little bit of preparation, it will be easier.
Developing a new project shouldn't be a journey that you need to face alone. This is why you should take part in the discovery workshops, which are a huge investment. There are so many benefits of it: reducing cost, minimizing the risk of failure of a product, defining the client's expectations, increasing the production speed, and so on. But, there is more. After the workshops, you'll receive some amazing stuff like:
- discovery report (so you can remind yourself of everything that we discussed during the workshops)
- road map of the project
- defined project timeline and budget
- an insight into wireframes & designs
For us, the discovery workshop is an integral part when starting a new project. However, you can build digital products without it, but considering all the mentioned benefits, it would be a shame to skip it.