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How the discovery phase works

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Before you commit to building a service, you need to understand the problem that needs to be solved.

That means learning about:

  • your users and what they바카라 사이트檙e trying to achieve
  • any constraints you바카라 사이트檇 face making changes to how the service is run - for example because of technology or legislation
  • the underlying policy intent you바카라 사이트檝e been set up to address - this is the thing that government wants to change or make happen
  • opportunities to improve things - by sharing data with other teams, for example

This part of your project is called the discovery phase.

What you learn during discovery should help you work out whether you want to move forward to the alpha phase. Running an alpha means you바카라 사이트檝e decided that the benefits of looking further into the problem outweigh the cost.

You should not start building your service in discovery.

Before starting discovery, check if you need spend controls approval to spend money on your service.

You can .

How long a discovery should take

There바카라 사이트檚 no set time period for a discovery, but around 4 to 8 weeks is typical. Let the purpose of your discovery dictate how long you spend on it.

If you바카라 사이트檙e working on a problem that no one바카라 사이트檚 researched before, you might need a bit longer. If it바카라 사이트檚 a problem you know a fair bit about already, you might be able to have a slightly shorter discovery.

Set a goal for your discovery

It바카라 사이트檚 useful to start by setting a clear goal for your discovery. This will help you scope your discovery appropriately and work out when it바카라 사이트檚 finished.

Define the problem

At the start of your discovery, you might be presented with a pre-defined solution or told you바카라 사이트檙e building a specific thing.

Before you start your research, you바카라 사이트檒l need to interrogate that solution and reframe it as a problem to be solved. This will help you better understand what your team has been set up to achieve.

Break down assumptions and ask lots of questions. Reframing the problem also includes agreeing what is not part of the problem.

For example, a problem is not: 바카라 사이트淲e need to build an interactive map to show people where our contact centres are바카라 사이트�. It바카라 사이트檚 probably something like: 바카라 사이트淗ow can we make it easier for people to find their nearest contact centre if they need to book a face-to-face appointment?바카라 사이트�

So start by . The better you define it, the better the potential solutions you바카라 사이트檒l end up with if you move on to the alpha phase.

You should also consider quantifying the value of solving the problem you바카라 사이트檝e been set up to address. During discovery, that means understanding how much the problem is currently costing.

What to find out in discovery

Once you바카라 사이트檝e set a goal for your discovery and understand the problem you바카라 사이트檙e looking into, you바카라 사이트檙e ready to start research.

Focus on learning about your users and their context, the constraints that affect your problem or the wider context you바카라 사이트檙e working in - and any opportunities to improve things.

Understanding users and their context

Start by learning about your users and their context. This means understanding what the user바카라 사이트檚 trying to achieve and how they go about doing it.

When you dig into this, you바카라 사이트檒l often find the thing you바카라 사이트檙e working on is part of a bigger process or user journey. For example, .

Understanding context includes developing a picture of what that wider journey looks like - for example, by creating a low fidelity map of the services that exist in the wider problem space.

As you flesh out your map, you바카라 사이트檒l probably notice that the problem spans across multiple departments and sometimes includes non-government organisations too.

Spend some time during discovery learning from those other teams and organisations. You should also talk to your operations colleagues, given that the user바카라 사이트檚 journey is very likely to include interactions via offline channels.

You바카라 사이트檒l also need to learn enough about your users바카라 사이트� accessibility requirements to let you work out whether the problem space you바카라 사이트檙e looking at presents any particular challenges from an inclusion point of view.

Bear in mind that, in the UK, 1 in 5 people report a permanent disability. And that accessibility covers a range of other needs for people who do not have a disability.

You바카라 사이트檒l also need to think about things like your users바카라 사이트� digital skills and internet access.

Understanding constraints

You바카라 사이트檒l need to understand any constraints you바카라 사이트檙e likely to come up against if you were to move on to the alpha phase. This includes constraints due to things like:

You바카라 사이트檒l need to work out which of these constraints are hard constraints that you will not be able to do much about. For example, primary legislation is not something that can easily be changed. But if you were to move on to alpha, you바카라 사이트檇 need to find a way of delivering a service that still works for your users.

Some constraints are soft constraints, though. For instance, if existing processes (whether in digital, call centre or paper-based teams) are preventing you from delivering the best version of your service, you바카라 사이트檒l need to work to change those processes - do not just work around them.

Understanding constraints is helpful for two main reasons. Firstly, it helps you work out whether it바카라 사이트檚 worth continuing to alpha. If there바카라 사이트檚 a hard constraint which means you are not able to improve on the solution that바카라 사이트檚 currently available, it might be worth stopping at the end of discovery.

The second reason is that it can help you prioritise your risky assumptions if you do continue to alpha. For example, if a service will only be viable if you can change an existing process or structure, you바카라 사이트檇 want to focus on ways of doing that during your alpha.

You could also look at related or similar services, to understand the constraints they face and how they dealt with them.

Identify improvements you might be able to make

One of the benefits of understanding the user바카라 사이트檚 wider journey and who바카라 사이트檚 involved in delivering it is that you can spot things that could be improved. You could take these improvements on to later development phases.

For example, your discovery research might reveal that another part of government is already collecting the personal information you need from your users. If you decide to go ahead and build a service, reusing that data would prevent users from having to provide the same information multiple times.

You could spend part of your alpha evaluating the technical and legal challenges of reusing that data in your service.

Your research might also lead you to consider alternatives to building a service. For example, you might be able to solve the problem more effectively (or less expensively) by publishing website content, running a campaign, partnering with a non-government organisation, giving improved information to face-to-face advisors or making data or an API available to third parties.

Your service should not duplicate another government service and it should only meet user needs that it makes sense for government to meet.

How you바카라 사이트檒l measure success

You need to consider how you바카라 사이트檒l measure if you바카라 사이트檝e been successful. That means you need to think about:

Sharing what you learn

Unless confidentiality issues mean you cannot, you should talk publicly about what you바카라 사이트檙e learning. You could do this by publishing blog posts or running open show and tells.

This helps people across and outside your organisation know what you바카라 사이트檙e doing and makes it easier to collaborate with the other organisations working in your problem space.

The team you need

Aim to involve a variety of disciplines, although there are some people you need to have in your team at each phase.

How you know discovery is finished

Your discovery is finished when you바카라 사이트檝e decided whether or not you want to move on to alpha. There a couple of factors that play into this decision, including whether:

  • there바카라 사이트檚 a viable service you could build that would make it easier for users to do the thing they need to do
  • it바카라 사이트檚 cost effective to pursue the problem - this means weighing up how much it바카라 사이트檇 cost against how much of an improvement you think you could make

It바카라 사이트檚 not a failure to stop at the end of the discovery phase if your research shows that바카라 사이트檚 the best thing to do. In fact, you바카라 사이트檒l be saving time and money that could be better spent elsewhere.

If you do decide to move on to alpha, you바카라 사이트檒l need to make sure you:

  • understand the wider context and the other services, teams and organisations working on similar problems to you
  • are clear on how what you바카라 사이트檙e working on fits into that wider problem space
  • have a list of ideas you바카라 사이트檇 like to test at alpha and an idea of which one you바카라 사이트檇 like to test first
  • know roughly who you need in your team for alpha
  • know how you바카라 사이트檒l measure whether you바카라 사이트檝e been successful

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From:
Agile delivery community
Last updated
almost 4 years ago
Last update:

Added new 'How you'll measure success' section.

  1. Updated to reflect the requirements of the updated Service Standard.

  2. Added guidance on how to meet government accessibility requirements in discovery.

  3. Guidance first published