The Discovery Phase - Why It Matters, And What Its
Key Deliverables Are
Product discovery is a strategy for studying the feasibility of a given digital solution, which has
been used to identify the needs of future users.
The discovery stage makes it possible to verify whether a particular digital product will be really
effective and interesting for the final consumer even before such a product is developed,
preventing the company from spending resources developing uninteresting solutions for
customers.
The product discovery implementation process is agile, multidisciplinary, and goes beyond
traditional resources such as market research. It analyzes a series of quantitative and qualitative
data, integrated with the experience of real users.
But what is Product Discovery anyway?
Discovery is the first phase in the cycle of a digital product and one of the most decisive. It is a
methodology used to find out, before launch, whether a given product will have market
acceptance and whether the solutions it proposes are effective for future users.
In general, it can be said that Product Discovery is a study of the acceptance of a product even
before developing it, using empirical data and analysis of public behavior. And, so that the
desired information is obtained, research and tests are carried out for data collection and
benchmarking (market analysis), as well as the understanding of customer needs.
A successful discovery must always take the customer's needs first, value alignment with the
main stakeholders involved, and follow business guidelines.
The main goal is to mitigate any risks for the company, be they market, financial or strategic.
How to do a Discovery?
A Product Discovery process can be implemented following a series of steps. Experts tend to use
different nomenclatures for each of them. However, the central ideas will be basically the same:
1- Alignment/Definition of goals
In this phase, objectives are defined, with the alignment of expectations among all the teams that
are part of the project.
What will product discovery be for? What is the expected result? What are management
expectations? These are some questions that can be asked and thought about during this crucial
phase of product discovery.
2- Research
It is the phase of collecting data, identifying user problems, and mapping opportunities. One of
the most decisive tools at this stage of research is UX Research, which is the area responsible for
investigation and planning related to the behavior of the customer using quantitative and
qualitative data.
3- Ideation
Ideation is the act of ideating, linking ideas, and could be synonymous with conception. That
said, at this stage, a kind of Brainstorming takes place, when different hypotheses are created and
ideas are presented without pre-judgment.
4- Prototyping
It is the stage of effective application of the previously discussed and selected ideas, that is,
prototypes are made to test the solutions and hypotheses already discussed in the previous
phases. This step is considered by many experts as part of the research, because of the attentive
dialogue with the user and the collection of feedback with real users.
5- Refinement
This is the transition from prototype to product, where the company validates its hypotheses and
gains confidence in the chosen solution.