Why spending time developing your digital product before going into build is vital.

Why spending time developing your digital product before going into build is vital.

An introduction to our discovery phase.

Many of our initial conversations with prospective clients who are looking to develop digital products whether it be a web platform or a mobile app include talking about our discovery phase. 

Discovery is all about getting to the bottom of our clients’ business problems and under the skin of their customers to develop apps and digital products that delight both. 

Some clients find it quite daunting to unpick every aspect of their project. Others just want us to get to the build stage, and quick. 

Here, we’ll give you the highlights of what to expect during the discovery phase and why we feel it’s an essential part of digital product development. You can read the full article here. 

What is discovery?

Discovery is the first step on the ladder to developing top-quality digital products from web platforms to mobile apps. 

It’s followed by build – but we don’t do anything until we fully understand your business problem, your marketplace and your customers. 

Discovery is where we really get to know you, your business and your goals for the project. 

We’re aiming to validate your idea, ensuring it’s fit for your customers, will work in your market and is going to solve the business problem you want to fix. 

What does discovery cover?

Discovery is led by one of our experienced product managers with input from a designer, user researcher and systems architect. Typically, we look at six key areas during discovery: 

Strategy – your key goals and messaging
Scoping – defining what we are actually going to build
User experience – defining and understanding your audience and looking at their user journey in the app. You can learn more about that here. 
Creative – the look and feel, assets, brand guidelines and design systems of your app
Technical – the technical requirements of the app plus any third-party integrations, security and analytics
Project management – everything we need to complete your project on time and on budget

What you’ll get from discovery

We do a lot of talking in discovery. But we turn it into tangible insights that validate your idea and set it up for successful development.

We start with collaborative workshops then move into technical feasibility, product ideation and prototype validation before formalising the outcomes. 

You’ll end the discovery phase with a clickable design prototype that addresses your business problem and meets your customers’ needs. 

You’ll also have an amazing relationship with our product managers who’ll really understand your business and champion your needs through the build phase and to product launch and beyond. 

Find out more

If you would like to get in touch with hedgehog lab and find out how we can support your digital product development then click here. 

This is an edited version of the published article. The full article can be read here.