Discovery workshops: a solid foundation for any digital project

I know what I want... I think...?

Deciding to start a new web project or campaign can be difficult. It involves coordinating different people often with competing priorities.

A Discovery or Requirements Workshop is less about the technology and more about your business.

We've started working with many of our clients with a workshop - a day where all people who have a vested interest in your website's success get together to explore opportunities, air concerns and understand each other's priorities.

The outcome, once we've collected a variety of information, is that you receive a report which defines project goals along with a proposal on how we can help you build a focused and effective website.

A typical Requirements Workshop

Requirements workshops are a great way for us to help tease out what you're trying to achieve, and help you get there.

Whilst this might seem all a bit heavy, our experience has shown that this additional questioning (and listening!) means we drill down to the underlying purpose of what we're doing. By doing this (by way of tools such as personas, user stories, and taking time to understand your business plans and strategies, which we can then 'check in' against) we get much closer to what you need - and importantly, what your audience needs.

In short, the purpose of this process is to ensure:

• We build the most effective solution first time around
• A plan for return on investment is defined
• All key stakeholders can provide input on what success means for them - i.e. their needs and expectations
• Everybody understands their role so we can collaborate effectively

The discovery process consists of 3 parts:>

• Business requirements workshop
• Technical research
• Recommendations report

We also provide a technical specification which outlines the solution's data architecture, user types, contact segments etc.

This helps us derive some ballpark estimates (budget and time) for a phased delivery of the project and suggestions about how you could proceed in a way which addresses prioritised items first.

Why is this important?

Instead of 'build it and they will come', we like to ensure we're building the right 'it' to start with, using prototyping techniques, looking at all your 'anchors and engines' and discussing your project parameters such as timing, budget and scope. Efficiency and cost-effectiveness are important to you and therefore important to us too - we want to help you achieve a great return on your investment.

Last minute reworks of the entire project are not in anybody's interests.

Around half of all product launches fail on average - but organisations who have a more mature and well-structured approach to creating new products stand a 50% better chance of success than those that don't. So getting the 'it' right, before then 'building it right' gives our customers the edge over their competition. Let's get you into the right 50%!