The Discovery Phase is the ultimate safety plan for digital products. As far as maths and science go.
Get a quoteDiscovery
Phase?
Discovery is a value packed service including UX and tech research & prototype creation and development roadmap — everything to make sure your future MVP has more chances for success.
- Discover tech challenges early on, and thoroughly prepare for development;
- Get the first prototype to quickly gather market feedback;
- Finalize product vision based on market insights and competitors research;
If you have a great business hunch you do not need the Discovery service. But in case you prefer making data-driven decisions and planning ahead, all while saving time and money for future development, it might be a great fit. Especially when you are looking into:
Research and testing at the onset of your project can tell if your brilliant idea is capable of living up to expectations. ‘Why is the Discovery phase beneficial?’ you may ask. Well, we made a list:
- Solve the real problem
- Before you go into development, find out whether your TA actually has the problem through in-depth user interviews.
- Clear vision & goals
- Thorough research and an internal vision workshop will help you crystallise your vision & align it with all the stakeholders.
- Optimised budget
- Save time and money before going into full-fledged development. Every $1 invested in UX brings $100 in return.
- Smarter launch strategy
- When you know your customers and their pains — you know where and how to better get them on board.
- On-point estimation
- By creating detailed requirements, we are able to give very precise development time estimations.
In the same way that software development is a complex and very project-specific process, each discovery project must be treated differently. But here's a general guide on our approach to the Discovery process:
Vision
Discoverers
It is possible for the Discovery team to change depending on the project. However, some key members are responsible for overseeing the entire Discovery phase.
Product Owner
Say hi to Svitlana, our Product Owner, her job is our tactical response to product management.
Svitlana translates the product vision into actionable tasks and works with cross-functional agile teams to execute those requirements.
Project Manager
Oleksandr can organise processes for any project, as passionately as he recites Ukrainian poetry. Oleksandr has worked on a healthcare product FlipMD, that was acquired by a Fortune 500 company!
As a project manager, Oleksandr makes sure everything runs smoothly and keeps track of what’s going on.
Tech Lead
Michael is known to some as Fulcrum’s CTO, to others as the god of programming, as he can solve anything development-related. He always comes up with tech solutions that suit best for each and every project.
Technical requirements analysis and suggestion of tools and methodologies are his specialities.
Lead Designer
Fedir has 30+ projects under his belt, and he’s worked on Buff, Mercedes-Benz Ukraine and many more.
Fedir lives in Troieshchyna, and we suspect that he has no fear in this life. As a UI/UX designer, he is responsible for both research and creating an intuitive user interface.
We will deliver the following items after completing the Discovery phase:
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01
Project roadmap & estimation
Project roadmaps serve as visual representations of the project’s goals, tasks, and assignments. A project roadmap usually includes the following components:
- Objectives or goals of a project
- Budgeting and resource allocation
- High-level deadlines and milestones
- Multi-person tasks and cross-functional tasks
- Responsibilities related to stakeholders and cross-functional teams
A roadmap needs to be perfected over time since it’s a collaborative and dynamic document. Thus, it will be revisited and updated as the project comes to life.
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02
Business model & goals overview
Essentially, a business model canvas describes how a business or product will get to market successfully. The categories contained in a canvas can be customized. But most will cover such key areas as:
- Defining the value propositions of a product (what it provides and what it promises)
- The target market (who it is for)
- The key goals (the steps the team must take to succeed)
- Marketing and sales channels (how the organisation will market and sell the product)
- Partnering with third parties (what role they will play in the plan)
- An overview of the cost structure (costs associated with building and selling a product)
- Monetization models (how the product will generate revenue)
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03
User personas & user flows
User personas represent the users who are likely to use your product. In order to create the potential user groups for your product, we conduct user research to learn about your users, their behaviour, characteristics, needs, and goals. Using this research, you define the user personas and reference them in the design process in order to make the correct decisions.
Once user personas are defined, the next step is to determine how the user will perform tasks in the product also known as user flows As part of the design process, steps and flow are described and shown in a visual representation.
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04
Product wireframes
Wireframes provide a basic blueprint for how your product’s layout and design structure. Using simple greyscale lines and boxes, wireframes specify the screens, layout, navigation, and functionality of the product and define its building blocks.
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05
Product Requirements document
PRDs outline the specific features, and functionality as they drive the development process of a product. A PRD is written to capture the product vision and requirements. Each subsequent document in the release is guided by the PRD. Originally, PRDs were used in the military sector, where complex product requirements needed to be captured. Later on, it made its way to the business world becoming an essential tool for product development.
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