The discovery phase is a crucial bridge between a product's conceptualization and its technical realization. Launch Your Discovery Phase

Product Discovery Phase-as-a-service

Clients’ testimonials

Lars Dybdahl photo

Lars Dybdahl

Principal Architect at Cambio Healthcare Systems Denmark

IntelliSoft is a great partner. These engineers are up-to-date on the latest technology, they know what they are doing, and want to deliver high quality code. IntelliSoft allowed me as a CTO to focus on further developing our products.

Transform your concept into a plan for implementing your project

The Discovery Phase marks the beginning of a development project. This stage involves validating the market, analyzing competitors, identifying strengths, and comprehensively understanding the target audience. Through a structured analysis, we can uncover legal constraints, identify potential project risks, and take proactive measures to mitigate them.

45%

of software development projects experience cost overruns.

42%

of startups fail to meet market needs.

56%

of software projects deliver less value than anticipated.

Why do you need the Discovery Phase?

The IT discovery is a vital step in software development because it provides a detailed analysis by a team of experts that can transform your idea into a clear product vision or give new life to your existing project. This phase involves researching, gathering data, and analyzing the market to gain valuable insights into design preferences, features, and services that will attract your target users.
Finalizing your product vision, validating your idea, and ensuring market fit.
Identifying your business strategy and determining how to position your product in the market.
Predicting and reducing risks and roadblocks that could hinder your project's success.
Careful budget planning to avoid financial losses and ensure the project stays within its allocated resources.
Defining goals and scope for the minimum viable product (MVP) and developing a well-designed user experience (UX) prototype.
Building the groundwork for securing extra funding for your project.

The Advantages of the Discovery Phase

With Project Discovery Phase services for product development, you can save money and attract more customers by creating a successful project vision, defining your goals, and identifying potential risks for your product launch.

Reduces Uncertainty

The Discovery Phase is a critical project component that can eliminate significant uncertainty and mitigate risks early in development.

Aligns Team Members with a Shared Vision

The Discovery Phase provides project goals and direction to the engineering team, ensuring all members are aligned around a shared vision and understand the key drivers and the big picture.

Leads to Superior Solutions

The Discovery Phase facilitates identifying the optimal technical and business solutions for achieving the project’s objectives, resulting in better solutions that meet your needs.

The Planning Phase Of A Project Includes

  1. Defining Business Goals

    We conduct research and analysis to understand the project’s fundamental goals, general scope, and aspirational targets.

  1. Clarifying Success Criteria

    During the project plan phases, we define measurable success criteria for the client, end-users, and all other stakeholders to ensure everyone is aligned around the project’s objectives.

  1. Mapping User Journeys

    To improve the end-user experience, we visualize how a person uses the product to achieve their desired goals through user journey mapping.

  1. Conducting Technical Analysis

    We provide functional and technical analyses of the product and recommend relevant technologies and tools for development. Additionally, we select appropriate services that can help secure future price reductions.

  1. Finalizing Deliverables

    We create a set of documents with finalized deliverables that define the next steps for product implementation. These deliverables serve as a roadmap for the project and help ensure that everyone involved understands the project’s scope and objectives.

Who is involved in the Discovery Phase

It’s crucial for you, as a customer, to comprehend the individuals involved in the process required to bring your project to a successful completion. Here are the roles and responsibilities of each team member:

Tech Lead

The Tech Lead is responsible for converting the business requirements into a technical solution.

BA

The primary aim of a Business Analyst is to ensure that the final result aligns with the business and customer requirements.

UX Designer

The Designer is responsible for designing the product’s form to match its purpose.

PM

The project manager manages the budget, risk, schedule, and contracts. The PM also ensures that the team performs at satisfactory levels.

You

As the customer, you have the final say in the product’s design, including which features are included and how feedback is incorporated.

Target Audience

The End Users play a vital role in identifying and eliminating project risks, including the lack of market demand.

Reasons To Hire IntelliSoft For Discovery Phase

With Project Discovery Phase services for product development, you can save money and attract more customers by creating a successful project vision, defining your goals, and identifying potential risks for your product launch.

Streamlined communication

IntelliSoft prioritizes clear and effective communication with its clients. They develop a communication plan that outlines daily, weekly, and monthly calls and meetings between clients and teams, which ensures that all stakeholders are well-informed about your business objectives and comprehensively understand them.

Top-notch project management

IntelliSoft has established a robust Project Management Office to prevent budget overruns and schedule delays and mitigate project risks. Their project managers take full responsibility for managing the scope, schedule, budget, and team to ensure the seamless delivery of your product.

Consistent delivery

IntelliSoft leverages a range of software development methodologies and techniques, such as Scrum, Scrumban, and the Scaled Agile Framework, depending on the size and type of the project. By adopting an agile and proactive approach, they can ensure the timely delivery of your project while minimizing the risk of emergency work, rework, and schedule delays.

Scaling on demand

In the event of changing conditions and the need to scale up your team, IntelliSoft ensures that they provide the necessary resources to meet project timelines. They collaborate with the top multi-skilled specialists to achieve this goal.

Fast onboarding

IntelliSoft has a diverse client base from around the world, which has enabled them to develop expertise in facilitating effective communication and collaboration. Their team consists of highly proficient English speakers who actively work on improving their language skills, ensuring that differences in time zones, cultural backgrounds, and geographical locations are sufficient to deliver exceptional service.

Relevant data for grounded decisions

IntelliSoft conducts comprehensive business and market research to bring your business goals to fruition and develop an application with significant market appeal. Their findings enable them to create a list of features that cater to the requirements of your end users.

Discovery Phase Deliverables

When working with IntelliSoft, you can expect to receive the following deliverables:

Team composition plan

A team composition plan lists the experts required to turn your idea into a functional product, considering your project requirements and budget.

Clickable UX/UI prototype

With an interactive UX/UI prototype, you'll be able to examine the look and feel of your future solution and provide a visualization of the product concept to stakeholders.

Technical proposal

A technical proposal recommends a tech stack that IntelliSoft believes best fits your project's needs.

Cost proposal with estimates

IntelliSoft will estimate your costs based on information available to them so that you can plan your budget accordingly.

Vision and scope document

This document outlines the scope of your project and the business context for its implementation.

High-level project plan

A high-level project plan gives you a birds’-eye view of the product development process, including the key milestones, deadlines, and resources needed at each stage.

Industries we serve

Healthcare
EdTech
MarTech
Transportation
IoT

Healthcare

We develop and enhance Healthcare projects that meet legal regulations for user data security, have a simple user interface, and achieve the business goals of healthcare organizations. 

  • Electronic Medical Record Systems
  • Electronic Prescription and Administration Software
  • Patient Data Management Platforms
  • Data Capture Solutions
  • Business Intelligence Modules

EdTech

We create education SaaS platforms from the ground up, re-build the architecture to handle high loads, fix performance and usability issues of existing projects, and develop educational projects’ MVP for start-ups.

  • Custom Educational Apps
  • Skill Management Solutions 
  • E-Learning SaaS Platforms 
  • Corporate Education Solutions
  • User onboarding Tools

MarTech

We develop custom Marketing platforms tailored to business needs. We also can select third-party Marketing platforms and integrate them into the existing business environment.

  • User Behavior Analytics Platforms
  • User Retention Solutions
  • Multi-step User Nurturing Tools
  • User Engagement Integrations 
  • Abandoned Cart Recovery Solutions

Transportation

We build flexible logistics platforms, optimize legacy systems of ready-made solutions, and integrate advanced functionality to optimize the logistics processes, improve fleet management and processes visibility.

  • Route Planning Software 
  • IoT Real-time Fleet Monitoring Functionality
  • Fleet and Warehouse Data Management Systems 
  • Automated Order Distribution Platforms 
  • Shipment Tracking Tools

Internet of Things (IoT)

Our teams provide software development services for businesses who wish to take full advantage of data. Our productive, long-lasting collaboration with hardware vendors assisted us with honing the engineering skills of our developers, allowing our developers to understand industry-related issues.

  • IoT Consulting
  • IoT Data Management & Evaluation
  • IoT Integration
  • IoT Software Enhancement
  • User Software Development
  • Secure Device Connectivity
  • Middleware IoT Platforms Integration
  • Precision Navigation Tech

Download our portfolio with previous projects

The best proof of our work is the portfolio with our past projects. You can see what IntelliSoft’s clients think about our cooperation. Check out projects for various industries.

    Our Tech Stack

    During the discovery phase development, IntelliSoft uses various tools to ensure that your app idea has the potential to succeed. Two essential tools that we use are Data Analysis and UX Design tools.
    UXPin
    Statista
    Miro
    Figma

    Related Services

    IntelliSoft’s range of related services is tailored to your business goals and delivered by vetted experts from our global talent network.

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      Reviews 5 – Rating 4.8/5

      Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

      Yes, the discovery project Phase is often considered a part of the project initiation phase. The project Discovery Phase is the step of the project management life cycle, where the project team defines the project’s objective to determine whether the project is worth pursuing and, if it is, to create a project charter or an initial project plan.

      During the initiation phase, the project team conducts a feasibility study to evaluate the project’s viability and potential success. The Discovery Stage is essential to this study, gathering information about the project’s objectives, requirements, stakeholders, and risks. The data collected during the Discovery Phase helps the project team to make informed decisions about the project’s feasibility, scope, and budget.

      Therefore, the Discovery Phase is often considered a part of the project initiation phase, as it helps to define the project’s objectives, scope, and feasibility and lays the groundwork for the subsequent stages of the project management life cycle.

      The length of the Discovery Phase can vary depending on the complexity of the project and the amount of information that needs to be gathered. Depending on the project’s scope, a Discovery Phase can generally take a few weeks to a few months.

      The Discovery Phase can be completed in a few weeks for smaller projects with well-defined requirements. In contrast, larger and more complex projects may require a more extended Discovery Phase to ensure that all aspects of the project are thoroughly analyzed and understood. The duration of the steps in discovery process also depends on factors such as the number of stakeholders involved, the availability of resources, and the level of collaboration between the project team and the client.

      The length of the Discovery Phase is determined by the goals and objectives of the project, the amount of research and analysis required to define these goals and objectives, and the amount of time needed to gather and analyze data. It is important to remember that the Discovery Phase is a crucial part of the project development process. Taking the time to complete it thoroughly can help avoid problems and delays later in the project.

      IntelliSoft prioritizes clear and effective communication between our development team and clients throughout the project development process, including during the Discovery Phase. Effective communication is essential to ensure the project meets the client’s needs and is delivered on time and within budget.

      We use various channels such as email, instant messaging, video conferencing, and phone calls to facilitate communication. We also establish a communication plan that outlines daily, weekly, and monthly calls and meetings between clients and teams. This plan ensures that all stakeholders are well-informed and comprehensively understand the project objectives.

      During the Discovery Phase, our developers communicate with clients to gather requirements, understand business objectives, and clarify any questions or concerns. Our team is proficient in English, and we actively improve our language skills to ensure that cultural and language differences do not impede communication.

      We also provide regular updates on the project’s progress, including any challenges we may encounter and how we plan to overcome them. Our project managers take full responsibility for managing the scope, schedule, budget, and team to ensure the seamless delivery of your product.

      Yes, you can use the Discovery Phase service even if you’re not planning to continue with the project development with IntelliSoft. The Discovery Phase is an essential step for any software development project. It can provide valuable insights into the feasibility of your project, help you identify potential risks and challenges, and allow you to create a roadmap for your project’s development.

      During the Discovery Phase, our team of experts will work with you to understand your business requirements and objectives, evaluate the feasibility of your project, and provide you with a detailed plan of action. We will also thoroughly analyze your target market and competitors, helping you better understand the market landscape.

      At the end of the UX Discovery Phase, you will receive deliverables such as a team composition plan, clickable UX/UI prototype, vision and scope document, high-level project plan, technical proposal, and cost proposal with estimates. These deliverables can be used to make informed decisions about your project, whether you continue with IntelliSoft.

      By using the Discovery Phase service, you can minimize the risk of investing in a project that may not be feasible or may not meet your business requirements. It’s a great way to test your ideas, assess your options, and create a solid foundation for your project’s development.

      The Discovery Phase is the stage of the software development process where a team of experts gathers information about the project’s goals, requirements, and constraints. The Discovery Phase aims to ensure that everyone involved in the project understands what is expected of them, what the project entails, and how the team will achieve its goals. During the Discovery Phase, the team conducts market research, competitor analysis, user research, and analysis of the client’s requirements to develop a clear understanding of the project’s scope and potential challenges. Based on these findings, the team creates a product roadmap, a project plan, and other documentation necessary to guide the project’s development. The outcome of the Discovery Phase is a set of documents that outline the project’s vision, goals, and requirements, along with a plan for how to move forward.

      A Discovery Phase typically includes the following components:

      1. Project initiation: This includes an assessment of the project’s feasibility, budget, timeline, and goals, as well as identifying the project team.
      2. Business analysis involves gathering information about the project requirements, user needs, and business goals.
      3. Market research includes analyzing the market and competitors to identify trends, opportunities, and potential challenges.
      4. User research involves gathering feedback from potential users to understand their needs and preferences.
      5. UX/UI design includes creating wireframes and prototypes to visualize the project’s user interface and user experience.
      6. Technical analysis: This involves assessing the project’s technical requirements, including the choice of the technology stack and any third-party integrations.
      7. Project planning includes defining the project scope, creating a timeline and budget, and identifying potential risks.

      The outcome of the Discovery Phase should be a set of comprehensive documents outlining the project’s vision, goals, requirements, and constraints, along with a detailed plan for moving forward with the project’s development.

      Skipping the Discovery Phase can lead to several negative consequences, such as:

      1. Incomplete or unclear understanding of the project requirements: If the project requirements are not correctly understood, it can lead to delivering a product that doesn’t meet the client’s expectations, resulting in dissatisfaction, rework, or even project failure.
      2. Increased project risk: Skipping the Discovery Phase can lead to unidentified project risks, resulting in schedule delays, budget overruns, and scope creep.
      3. Poor project planning: With a thorough understanding of the project requirements and constraints, project planning can be successful, leading to realistic timelines and budgets.
      4. Lack of alignment with business goals: The Discovery Phase helps align the project goals with the business goals, ensuring that the final product aligns with the client’s objectives.
      5. Inefficient use of resources: Skipping the Discovery Phase can lead to inefficient use of resources, including time and money, as the project team may have to spend more time correcting mistakes and addressing issues that could have been prevented through proper planning and requirements gathering.

      In service design, the Discovery Phase refers to the initial stage of the design process, where designers conduct research and gather information to comprehensively understand the service they are designing. During this phase, designers engage with stakeholders, including customers, employees, and other relevant parties, to identify their needs and pain points. They also examine the service’s existing processes, infrastructure, and policies to identify areas for improvement. The insights gained during the Discovery Phase provide the foundation for developing and designing a new or improved service.

      • A Discovery Phase session is a collaborative workshop or meeting that brings together stakeholders, including clients, designers, developers, and other relevant parties, to gain a shared understanding of the project’s goals and requirements. The session aims to identify the project’s key objectives, constraints, and success criteria and explore possible solutions and approaches to achieving them.
      • During the Discovery Phase session, stakeholders typically engage in activities such as brainstorming, user research, requirements gathering, and idea generation. The session may also involve using various tools, such as user personas, user journey maps, and wireframes, to help visualize and communicate ideas.
      • Overall, the Discovery Phase session is a critical design process component. It helps establish a shared vision and understanding of the project among all stakeholders and provides a solid foundation for the subsequent design and development phases.

      The duration and price of the Discovery Phase can vary depending on the complexity and scope of your project. Typically, the duration can range from a few weeks to a few months.

      The cost can also vary based on several factors, such as the number of team members involved, the type of expertise required, the duration of the Discovery Phase, and the level of detail and documentation required.

      At IntelliSoft, we offer customized Discovery Phase services tailored to your specific needs and budget. Please contact us for a consultation to discuss your project and receive a quote for our services.

      A discovery session is a collaborative process between the client and the development team to explore and define the project requirements and goals. Here’s what typically happens during a discovery session:

      1. Introduction: The session starts with introductions and an overview of the project, including the client’s business objectives, vision, and desired outcomes.
      2. Gathering Requirements: The team works with the client to gather and document the project requirements, including features, functionality, and technical specifications.
      3. Market Analysis: The team comprehensively analyzes the market and the competition to identify opportunities, challenges, and risks.
      4. User Research: The team researches the target audience’s needs, preferences, and behavior patterns.
      5. Ideation and Concept Development: The team works with the client to brainstorm ideas, develop concepts, and explore different approaches to meet the project requirements.
      6. Design and Prototyping: Based on the requirements and concepts, the team creates a clickable prototype or wireframes to visualize and test the product concept with users.
      7. Technical Feasibility: The team evaluates the feasibility from a technical perspective, identifying potential roadblocks or limitations.
      8. Scope and Budget: The team defines the project scope, timeline, and budget based on the requirements, technical feasibility, and market analysis.
      9. Deliverables: The team summarizes the findings and outputs from the Discovery Phase, including a team composition plan, clickable UX/UI prototype, vision, scope document, high-level project plan, technical proposal, and cost proposal with estimates.

      Overall, the discovery session aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the project requirements, user needs, and technical feasibility to ensure the project’s success.

      The 3 stages of Discovery can vary depending on the context and approach, but generally, they are:

      1. Problem Definition: This stage involves identifying the problem or opportunity that needs to be addressed. It includes researching and understanding the context and stakeholders involved, as well as defining the goals and objectives of the project.
      2. Ideation: In this stage, ideas are generated and explored to find potential solutions to the problem., which includes brainstorming, sketching, prototyping, and testing to determine the feasibility and desirability of the ideas.
      3. Validation: This stage involves testing and validating the ideas generated in the ideation stage. It includes user research, testing, and refining the ideas to ensure they meet the users’ needs and achieve their goals and objectives.

      The cost of a Discovery Phase can vary depending on several factors, such as the project’s complexity, the duration of the Discovery Phase, the size of the team involved, and the deliverables required. Generally, a Discovery Phase can cost anywhere from a few thousand to tens of thousands of dollars. It’s best to consult with us to get an accurate estimate based on your needs and requirements.

      A project Discovery Phase is essential for several reasons:

      1. Understanding the project requirements: The Discovery Phase helps to define and understand the project requirements, including the business objectives, user needs, and technical requirements, which helps ensure the project is aligned with the client’s goals.
      2. Defining the project scope: The Discovery Phase helps to define the project scope by identifying the key features and functionalities required for the project, which helps to ensure that the project stays within budget and is completed on time.
      3. Risk assessment: Potential risks are identified and assessed during the Discovery Phase, which helps to mitigate risks and avoid potential roadblocks during the project.
      4. Cost estimation: The Discovery Phase helps to estimate the project’s costs accurately, which allows clients to plan their budgets and allocate resources accordingly.
      5. Team composition: The Discovery Phase helps determine the skills and expertise required for the project, which helps to ensure that the right team is assembled to deliver the project successfully.

      Overall, the Discovery Phase helps ensure the project is well-planned, well-defined, and has the best chance of being completed successfully within the specified timeline and budget.

      After the Discovery Phase, the following steps typically include the following:

      1. Planning: Based on the findings from the Discovery Phase, the team can create a detailed project plan with specific timelines, milestones, and deliverables.
      2. Design: Once the project plan is in place, the team can start working on the design phase, which involves creating wireframes, visual designs, and product prototypes.
      3. Development: After the design is approved, the development phase can begin, which involves writing code, building the product, and implementing the features.
      4. Testing: Once the development phase is complete, the team can start testing the product to ensure it meets the requirements and works as intended.
      5. Launch: The product can be launched or released to the market after successful testing.
      6. Maintenance: Once the product is live, it may require ongoing maintenance and updates to keep it functioning correctly and meeting users’ needs.

      The following steps after the Discovery Phase depend on the specific project and its requirements. The project team should work together to determine the best course of action based on the findings from the Discovery Phase.

      The number of people needed for a project Discovery Phase can vary depending on the complexity and scope of the project. Typically, a project discovery team includes a project manager, business analyst, UX designer, and technical lead. Additional members may consist of subject matter experts and stakeholders as needed. The size and composition of the team can be customized based on the project’s specific needs.