Four pillars of discovery

When done right, discovery can be a chef’s kiss and lead to spectacular outcomes. Yet, seldom are they delivered this way.

Unfortunately, most experience:

• Missing subject matter experts or crucial stakeholders
• Unfocused sessions leading to unproductive discussions
• No single decider is accountable for agreeing on goals and next steps
• Too many boards and scattered questioning causing confusion rather than clarity

Sounds familiar? It’s because we’ve all been there—turning agile into ‘fragile’ and pressure-cooking ideas that shouldn’t even be on the back burner.

So, how should we respond?

The four pillars 🏛️

To conduct effective discovery workshops, a structured approach is essential.

Problem/Opportunity

Something, somewhere, is either reducing, stagnating or increasing, meaning there’s either a problem to solve or an opportunity to capitalise. For example:

• Sales of a similar competitor product are rocketing
• Adoption and retention rates are nose diving
• Customer complaints fluctuate with the seasons

(Typically led by business unit leaders or identified in holistic research or experiment outcomes—you need to understand what this is.)

Target audience

I’ve never met a company who doesn’t have an end-user. So, understanding whether this is for stakeholders, customers, or employees is crucial. You need to understand:

• Values, beliefs, and motivations: These are core psychological elements driving human behaviour.
• Pains, behaviours, and attitudes: These findings give context to the roadblocks and challenges they encounter.
• Needs and outcomes: These are the specific end-states they aim to achieve by fulfilling those needs.

(Ideally, a researcher is present as a subject matter expert and has a body of data and insights to input into the workshop.)

Risky assumptions

Consumers change—technology advances. Life is full of assumptions. By pinpointing potential pitfalls and unknowns, we have a head start towards certainty:

• What technical constraints do we need to consider?
• Are there any regulatory or compliance needs?
• What are our non-functional requirements?
• How can we test and validate this as fast as possible?

(Give consideration to who has the correct thinking and answers, eg. analyst, solution architect, developer, compliance, commercial, et al.)

Desired outcome

What does success look like? Creating a clear picture of our desired destination will guide you, motivate you, and hold everyone accountable.

• The SMART goal format works well (others prefer OKRs)
• Want to achieve the outcome? Set a single decider

Premature ideation and prioritisation

So, why do we dodge the brainstorming tempest at this stage?

Simple. Discovery isn’t about throwing darts in the dark; it’s about setting solid foundations, gathering the right insights, and plotting the course for the journey ahead.

Doing the opposite breeds a culture of fitting solutions to problems and is the opposite to being customer-centric.

OK, you’re ready to bid adieu to chaotic workshops where the loudest voice prevails. Say hello to discovery workshops where every voice matters, clarity conquers confusion, and direction defeats disorder.