Discovery Projects

Strategies for Defining the Opportunity

Tom Martin
Senior Technology Consultant
Topic

Header

The What
What is a Discovery Project?
What is a Discovery Project?

A Small Project to Define the

Big Project
Discovery
• Planning Project
• Gathering Goals & Requirements
• Generating a Project Roadmap
• Narrowing Estimate Ranges
The Actual
• Creating Alignment Project
• Earning Trust
 What is a Discovery Project?

Discovery Project
“Goldilocks Zone” ERP

it y
le x
mp
C o

Brochureware
What is a Discovery Project?

Lessons From Animators

Animation Development
Lessons From Animators

“If I had three days to animate a

scene…
…I’d take
two days to plan
and
one day to animate
it” - Eric Larson
Lessons From Animators

1: Script 2: Design
Lessons From Animators

3: Storyboarding 4: Animatics
 Lessons From Animators

What Can WE Do to Plan?

Data Models Architecture Diagrams Project Plans

Whiteboarding System Maps Process Flows

Proof of Concepts Architecture Frameworks QA Planning

UML Diagrams Discovery Interviews

Prototypes
Integration Maps Decision Trees
API Contracts Permissions MatricesUser Stories
Tech Specs RML Diagrams Brainstorm
Ecosystem Maps Information Architecture
Estimates Interactive Wireframes
Wireframes
User Experience Planning Risk Assessment
Topic

Header

The Why
Why Do a Discovery Project?
Why Do a Discovery Project?

Narrow the “Cone of Uncertainty”

Why Do a Discovery Project?

Narrow the “Cone of Uncertainty”

More!
Agile
Why Do a Discovery Project?

Narrow the “Cone of Uncertainty”

More!
Waterfall
Why Do a Discovery Project?

Define Boundaries
Agile
Find # of Sprints & Resources

Scope

Quality

Cost Time

Waterfall
Find the Iron Triangle
Why Do a Discovery Project?

The Selfish Reasons

• CYA - Cover Your… Assets
• Set your development team up for success!
• Proactively go into the unknown, turn

over the rocks, look in the dark alleys, 

find the dragons
Why Do a Discovery Project?

The Better Reasons

• Helping the client better understand their own
problem(s)
• Guiding the client towards the best solutions
• Making the client feel not only involved, but invested
in the solution
• Earning the trust of the client, become a partner
• Break down barriers
Topic

Header

Hold Up….
That Sounds Involved
That Sounds Involved

A Discovery Project is a Project :

Get Paid!
• This is billable consultation
• Ratio of discovery cost to final project cost: 3-10%
• Can be a surprisingly easy sell for large corporations
• They planning & documentation
• They narrowing estimate ranges
• They minimizing risk
That Sounds Involved

The Process Scales

• A “discovery” can be as little as half a day to inform
the SOW
• Small scale: we commonly do 2.5 -10 day
discoveries for websites with migrations or complex
functionality
• Large scale: we’ve done multi-month discovery
engagements
 Topic

Header

The How
Step 1: Interview & Listen

INTERVIEW DELIVERY

DOCUMENT HANDOFF

Discovery Project Timeline

The Interviews

Your Their
Technical Magic Institutional
Knowledge Knowledge
The Interviews

Identifying Stakeholders
• Identify who is funding the project
• The management that will take ownership
• The people that do the day-to-day operations today
• The people that will actually use your solution
The Interviews

Choosing Communication Tools

• Never underestimate the power of body language!
• In-person is always best
• Video conference if you have to be remote
• Phone is a last resort
• Email is not even an option. No.
The Interviews

Putting the Stakeholders at Ease

• Many have been burnt by a vendor in the past
• Some may be afraid that your process automation
may replace the need for their jobs
• They may feel powerless in the face of the change
that you and your solution represent
• Bring them along on the journey!
The Interviews

The Critical Role of Listening

• Shhhhhhhhhh…..
• “And so I had him thinking of me as a good
conversationalist when, in reality, I had been merely
a good listener and had encouraged him to talk.” 

- Dale Carnegie
The Interviews

Asking the Right Questions

• A powerful question evokes clarity, action,
discovery, insight or commitment
• A question should create greater possibility, new
learning, or clearer vision
• Powerful questions are open-ended, do not elicit a
simple yes or no response and yet do not ask ‘why’
The Interviews

Have Them Demonstrate

• Walk through the current process from start to finish
• Have them point out things that they feel are slow,
annoying, repetitive, or completely unnecessary
• Have them point out all of the things that work well
• Ask “why do they do it that way” … a lot
The Interviews

Take a Step Back

• Look for common themes
• Corroborate stories
 Topic

Header

The How
Step 2: Document & Communicate

INTERVIEW DELIVERY

DOCUMENT HANDOFF

Discovery Project Timeline

Document & Communicate

Use All of Your Workbench

Document & Communicate

Architectural Frameworks
• TOGAF (The Open Group Architecture Framework)
• The Zachman Framework for Enterprise
Architectures
• The Federal Enterprise Architecture
• The Gartner Methodology
• DoDAF (Department of Defense Architecture
Framework
Document & Communicate

Whiteboarding == Rapid Ideation

Document & Communicate

Diagrams
• UML, Process Flows, People Models, Data
Models…
• Keep your audience in mind
• Find the fidelity sweet spot
• Diagrams should be meaningful and answer
questions
Document & Communicate

Diagrams: UML
Audience:

Highly technical,
developers, CTO

Use:

Standard way to
visualize a system
 Document & Communicate

Diagrams: Process Flows

Audience:

Stakeholders, your team

Use:

Confirm that you
understand the flow of
actions across user
roles.



When lots of user
interfacing is required.
Document & Communicate

Diagrams: Ecosystem Maps

Audience:

Stakeholders, client’s
IT, your team

Use:

Show how your
system will sit within
existing infrastructure
Document & Communicate

Diagrams: System Maps

Audience:

Stakeholders, client’s
IT, your team

Use:

Show the
components of the
proposed stack
Document & Communicate

Diagrams: Integration Maps

Audience:

Client’s IT, your team

Use:

Show the specifics of
how the proposed
system will connect
with their existing
systems
Document & Communicate

Wireframes
• Visuals speak
louder than words
• Requires less
imagination on
behalf of the
stakeholders
Document & Communicate

Tools : OmniGraffle
Document & Communicate

Proof of Concepts
& Interactive Prototypes
• Can be working software that proofs that a specific
goal is achievable
• 70% confidence is good enough
• The goal may be to prove a workflow, concept, or
user experience
• Can be used to secure funding
Document & Communicate

Tools: InVision
Document & Communicate

Prototype
Document & Communicate

Documents Tools: Google Docs

Document & Communicate

Documents

The Inverted 

Pyramid
Document & Communicate

User Stories

Archetypes

Epics

As a <archetype>
I want to <some goal>
so that <some reason>
Document & Communicate

Discovery
Document
Document & Communicate

Discovery
Document
Document & Communicate

Discovery
Document
Document & Communicate

Discovery
Document
Document & Communicate

Discovery
Document
Document & Communicate

Discovery
Document
Document & Communicate

Discovery
Document
Document & Communicate

Statement of Work
• Project Overview
• Purpose Statement
• Business Objectives
• Overview of Deliverables
• Success Criteria
• Timeline & Milestones
• Resources
• Scope & Cost

Document & Communicate

Statement of Work
• Project&Overview
Roles Responsibilities
• •Purpose
Quality Statement
Assurance
• Business Objectives
• Maintenance/Support & Warranty
• Overview of Deliverables
• Assumptions & Exclusions
• Success Criteria
• Other Key Information
• Timeline & Milestones
• Terms of Agreement
• Resources
• Signatures
• Scope & Cost

 Topic

Header

The How
Step 3: Delivery

INTERVIEW DELIVERY

DOCUMENT HANDOFF

Discovery Project Timeline

Delivery

The Big Reveal Is Not for Us

• Maintain transparency
• Follow up call with interviewees to go
over sections relevant to them
• Take their feedback to heart - send a
quick follow up thank you note with a
snippet showing their changes
 Topic

Header

The How
Step 4: The Handoff

INTERVIEW DELIVERY

DOCUMENT HANDOFF

Discovery Project Timeline

The Handoff

Setting Your Team Up for Success

• Share Everything
• Invite team members to strategic meetings, the
earlier the better
• Encourage team members to take an active role in
the discovery
• Transition the knowledge
• Transition the ownership
The Handoff

Transition the Energy

Moving On

Frequent Check-Ins
• Attend sprint demos and sprint planning/estimation
meetings
• Be the team’s compass - ensure they’re still heading
towards the “True North” of the client’s vision
• Stay in touch with the client.
 Topic

Header

That was a lot of work…

Was It Really Worth the Effort?

INTERVIEW
SPRINT 1 SPRINT 3 SPRINT 5
DELIVERY

DOCUMENT
SPRINT 2 SPRINT 4 HANDOFF
SPRINT 6

Project Timeline
Discovery Project Timeline
Is It Really Worth the Effort

Reality Police
• You’ll never do all the techniques we discussed in a
single discovery
• Be practical about how much time you spend in
discovery
• It’s about prevention : You’ll never truly know how
many obstacles you avoided.
Is It Really Worth the Effort

You Are Doing Things Right If:

• You see a sharp decline in project escalations, pre-
launch blockers, change orders, and developer
face-palming
• The client trusts you, and feels like you have a rich
understanding of their business goals
• Your internal champion within the client gets a
promotion
• A stakeholder buys you a beer
Is It Really Worth the Effort

The Client
becomes a
Partner
Q&A

Tom Martin
Senior Technology Consultant
Metal Toad
[email protected]
@squidhaven