A discovery is a preliminary phase in the UX-design process that involves researching the problem space, framing the problem(s) to be solved, and gathering enough evidence and initial direction on what to do next. Discoveries do not involve testing hypotheses or solutions.

Discoveries are crucial to setting design projects off in the right direction by focusing on the right problems and, consequently, building the right thing. They are often referred to as ‘product discoveries’ (although I’m not keen on this name because it can set the expectation that this phase is about discovering requirements for a given product).

A discovery should result in the following:

• Understanding of users: Through user research, the project team achieves an understanding of who the users are and how they are affected by a particular problem, as well as what they need, desire, and value from a solution (and why).
• Understanding of the problems to be solved and of the opportunities: Through investigative work, the team understands how and why the problem(s) occur, what effect the problem has on users, as well as on the organization. It understands the magnitude of the problem and opportunities for the organization, product, or service.
• Shared vision: During discovery, the team works with stakeholders to understand overarching business objectives and desired outcomes and get answers to questions such as ‘what do we want to achieve?’, or ‘what does success look like?’. This approach, in turn, focuses the team on the problems (and later the solutions) that will have the greatest impact on that outcome. The team should also have an idea of what to measure going forward, to understand whether the solution is working towards the desired outcome.

Discovery covers the Discover and Define stage of the double-diamond model. In the  Discover stage, lines of inquiry diverge as a team explores the problem space. In the  Define stage, the team aligns on an evidence-based problem statement and on a vision for the future. The second diamond is about the creation of an actual design to solve the problem we’ve identified.

When Is a Discovery Needed?

A discovery is needed anytime when there are many unknowns that stop a team from moving forward.

A discovery might also be needed when the team is not aligned in what it wants to achieve.

Discoveries are often carried out differently depending on the type of problem the team needs to investigate. Below are some examples of instigators:

• New-market opportunities. If an organization is looking to explore where to expand its product or service offerings, a discovery is often needed. The discovery might involve researching a new audience, performing competitive reviews, and investigating whether the size of the opportunity warrants entering the market.
• Acquisitions or mergers. When organizations merge, it’s likely that systems, processes, and tools will also need to be consolidated. A discovery could focus on common problems faced by each organization, in order to find a common solution.
• New policy or regulation. This instigator is especially relevant for government organizations or organizations that operate in an environment affected by regularly changing regulation. Such a discovery would involve studying the populations affected by the change, reviewing the regulation to understand it, and assessing how business operations must change to support the new regulation.
• New organization strategy. This driver of change comes internally from the organization (unlike new regulation, which often originates externally). For example, during my time in the UK Government, one government-wide strategy was to become ‘digital by default’, which meant moving away from expensive, paper-based processes to efficient (digital) ones. Discoveries in numerous government departments focused on understanding the needs of their users, as well as the extent of paper-based processing, in order to ensure that a shift to digital was, in fact, efficient and user-centered. Another common strategy is to provide common platforms for those areas of an organization that do essentially the same thing, in order to help the organization become more consistent in what it does, and efficient. Discoveries in these situations would focus on identifying common needs and backstage processes across multiple products and services in order to potentially consolidate them.
• Chronic organizational problems. Perhaps sales have been low this year, or satisfaction has been low for several quarters. Often organizations find themselves simply focusing on symptoms (e.g., adding webchat), rather than on causes. A discovery involves inward- as well as outward-facing research to understand why these problems occur and examination into causes to identify the greatest opportunities for improvement.

Common Activities in Discoveries

There are many different types of activities that could be carried out in a discovery. I won’t cover them all, but here are a few that are performed in most discovery phases.

Exploratory Research