What is a discovery session?
How often do you hear the term "discovery session"?
Is it a trend, or is it something crucial for your project in the long-term?
Before clarifying what the discovery session is, let me explain what it is NOT!
It's not a free 10-mins call to say, "Hi, I need a Shopify app! Can you do it? - Oh, yes! - Great, we have a deal! When do we start?"
The discovery session is not a trend either!
It is a well-planned, structured process of discussing, meeting, and defining a specific project's actual scope with all the stakeholders involved.
It is a paid service that guarantees that all parties know what they will work on and what they will invest.
Key benefits of a discovery session
The benefits of a discovery session are countless because it covers the skeleton of the project, such as type (e.g., store, app, etc.), goals, quotation, and all the details (such as every functionality, design, SEO, the outcome of the development process, etc.).
Let's have a closer look!
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Defining the project and its goal. Whether we talk about e-commerce or not, when we take a step forward in any area of our lives, we have to know what we want to achieve and, most of all, why we will spend time, investments, and efforts on it. So, in a discovery session, we start with a 15-mins free call. The goal is to get to know you and briefly sketch your project type and needs. Time is the most precious asset that can’t be recovered, so we prefer to immediately save you time and money, and let you know if we can move forward.
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Discussing every functionality and its usability. One of the most critical parts of the discovery session is discussing the project in its essentials - from A to Z - to know what we have on the table. This is when you can ask all your questions. All the missing elements from the puzzle will be placed in their order, and you will be able to see a comprehensive picture of the project. Sometimes misunderstandings lead to canceled projects and many investments for a product you don’t want to work with. This leads to the next and maybe one of the most important benefits of the discovery session. We use 2 hours paid discovery sessions for this purpose or a full 2-weeks discovery sprint.
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Saving time, money, and stress. When you have your product idea in your mind and you are sure you want to see it live, it's time to start thinking about development costs. The budget for product development is crucial for every business. Often business owners don't know the exact investment they'll need for their e-commerce plans, and they don't have to. But if they want a high-end design and development, the discovery session and the experts are essential. Discussing the project in detail will give you an accurate budget for having the project of your dreams - nothing less. You will make an informed decision on your project's future! The investment spent in a discovery session saves you twice or even more in paying for an undefined scope and project map.
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Last but definitely not least, you can get to know the expert you may work with on the project. When you spend money on a project, you need to think about several important factors to ensure its success - trust, good communication, and business partnerships are crucial! And you can’t have a real concept of someone’s expertise for just 15 mins on the phone, can you?
In conclusion, we can compare the discovery session with the process of building a new house.
Before we start the actual building process, we always have a detailed scheme of our future home.
If we start building it without the construction plan, it’s very likely to build a house with a curved roof and walls.
As an added benefit, you don’t need to pray for luck for your e-commerce project, neither!
If you want to follow your discovery session steps, you can do it here.
