Discovery Phase in Agile: Everything You Should Know

The agile discovery process is a short, flexible phase that happens before and during software development. Its goal is to reduce risks and avoid wasted effort. During discovery, teams make sure they understand their target audience and what they actually need. Software development teams also set priorities and test early prototypes to check assumptions.

A good discovery phase delivers a clear problem statement, success metrics, acceptance criteria, a prioritized backlog, a basic architecture plan, and an MVP outline with clear next steps.

When done continuously (known as dual-track agile), discovery focuses on real evidence rather than opinions. This helps teams learn faster, build only what’s needed, stay on budget, and deliver with more confidence and clarity. In other words, the discovery phase helps avoid unnecessary frustrations with the final solution.

There are different approaches to the discovery process.

In this article, we will focus on the discovery process in the Agile approach, as it is one of the most comprehensive approaches to discovery.

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What Is the Agile Discovery Phase?

In Agile development, the discovery phase is the critical first step where a team identifies the scope, goals, and feasibility of a software solution.

During this phase, the team works closely with stakeholders to clarify the business goals, user requirements, as well as potential challenges and complications.

As a result, the team is able to create a vision that aligns with both business goals and user expectations.

The discovery phase also involves building prototypes and running early tests to validate assumptions and reduce the risk of costly errors later on.

There can be multiple discovery phases within one project. For example, if you decide to move your software to the cloud, you need to go through a cloud migration process. To do so, you first partner with a company offering cloud migration services, and they start with the discovery activities.

Then, for example, you might also need a website development services to build a new website or update your existing one. In this case, a web design discovery phase will help you better understand what design elements resonate with your brand identity and user journey. By the end of this phase, the UX/UI design team delivers user stories, technical specifications, and an initial roadmap for development.

When You Need Agile Discovery (and When You Don’t)

You need agile discovery when there’s still uncertainty about the problem, the users, or the best way to solve it. In other words, when you’re exploring potential solutions and don’t yet know which one will work best.

This phase is essential for:

• New software or MVPs

When you’re starting from scratch, you first need to confirm that the problem is real and worth solving.

• Complex or high-risk projects

When a software involves new technology or an unfamiliar market, discovery helps validate business ideas to reduce risk early.

• Major redesigns or pivots

If your development direction changes, discovery helps you re-check assumptions and align the team on the new goals.

You don’t need agile discovery when the problem, users, and solution are already well understood. For example:

• When you’re improving existing features with clear user feedback.
• When you’re adding something small or technical, like performance optimization or an API integration.
• When the roadmap is based on validated data, and there are no open questions about direction.

Outcomes & Deliverables of an Agile Discovery Phase

Skipping this phase is like trying to build without blueprintіs. You might get something built, but it won’t be what you envisioned, and it will likely cost you more in the end.

Here are the outcomes and deliverables of this stage:

Well-Planned Budget

The discovery process is where you lay the groundwork for budgeting.

When you spend time planning upfront, you’re less likely to run into those expensive mistakes that could have been avoided.

Think of it this way: understanding exactly what needs to be built helps you avoid adding unnecessary features or running into budget overruns.

Plus, you’re not just saving money but also protecting your timeline.

No one likes the idea of missing deadlines because something unexpected came up.

Discovery helps you stay on track and make sure you know what’s coming next.

Complete Understanding of Your Customers and Competitors

In Agile, discovery is where you take a deep dive into the why of your solution: why does it matter to your users? What problems are you solving?

This phase helps you focus on building what truly counts.

According to the Pendo Feature Adoption Report, almost 80% of features are almost never used.

You spend a lot of time and money developing these features.

Discovery ensures you’re not wasting time building something no one needs.

Not only that, but this is where you’ll map out your development journey from idea to MVP launch.

You’ll be setting clear goals and defining the steps to get there.

This roadmap isn’t just for you. It’s also a great tool to show investors or potential users exactly what you’re building and why it matters.

Unique Value Proposition and Well-Defined Market Positioning

Discovery also helps you carve out your place in the market.

It’s where you figure out what makes your software unique and why people should care.

By spending time here, you’re building trust with your hired dedicated development team that can transform into a long-lasting partnership. When working with a development team, a solid partnership is key. Discover more in our app development partnership guide.

At the end of the day, discovery keeps the focus on the people who matter most: your users.

You need to understand their needs upfront to deliver something that they’ll love.

And when your solution is aligned with what users want, it has a much better chance of being successful in the long run.

The 7-Step Agile Discovery Process

The Agile product discovery phase is a complex process and is broken down into several steps: initiation, planning, execution, control, and closure.

You usually do the discovery phase in the first sprint to make sure the development team and the client understand each other from the very beginning.

Here are seven key steps that lay the foundation for a successful development process.

1. Form a Discovery Team

The team is a cross-functional group of specialists responsible for conducting research and analysis to define the project’s needs.

At SpdLoad, we believe that a perfect Agile team should include a product manager, business analysts, UX/UI designers, dedicated developers, and stakeholders.

Each of them has a different perspective on development. It allows us to focus on both technical implementation and user-centric aspects of development.

As a result, there are higher chances that the final solution is aligned with business objectives and meets user needs.

Want to build a strong founding team? Start by learning how to find a technical co-founder.

2. Gather Requirements

Once the team is formed, it is time to gather requirements.

At this stage, team members collect all necessary information about the business and technical requirements of the project.

The discussion of requirements should include what success looks like from everyone’s point of view.

Let’s take grocery delivery app development as an example.

You’d talk to supermarkets, customers, and delivery staff to understand what they expect.

A supermarket chain might say, “We need real-time inventory updates and an easy way to manage promotions across multiple locations.”

The customer might want features like “I want to track my delivery in real time.”

These expectations get written down as user stories that describe what each type of user wants from the final solution.

Once you know what features are needed, you clarify what success looks like.

For instance, when a customer says, “I want to track my delivery,” you’d define the acceptance criteria, like: “the app should show the delivery status with an estimated time of arrival.”

Throughout this process, you also check if these requirements are realistic.

Can you build these features with the time and resources available?

If everything seems feasible, these requirements go into a backlog.

3. Conduct User Research

After gathering the requirements, the next step is user research.

This is where you dive deeper into understanding your users.

You study their behaviors, needs, and pain points.

Think of it as getting to know your customers better so you can design software that truly helps them.

Let’s say you’re thinking of developing a fitness app.

During user research, you need to talk to potential users, observe their current habits, and maybe send out surveys to gather more data.

You might discover, for example, that many people struggle with sticking to their fitness routines because they forget to log their workouts.

Based on this, you could decide to add a reminder feature to the app that prompts users to log their workouts at specific times.

Ongoing user research helps you eliminate the guesswork about what users want. You base your decisions on real data and insights.

Types of User Research

There are different ways to conduct your research.

You might do qualitative research, like interviews and focus groups, where you gather more in-depth customer feedback from a smaller group of users.

Or, you could use quantitative research. This involves analyzing survey results or looking at user behavior data.

It gives you trends and patterns from a larger group of users.

For example, a report from UX Planet shows that 34% of startup failures are due to a lack of product-market fit.

It basically means the solution wasn’t addressing the real needs of the users. That’s why this research phase is so critical.

4. Define the Scope of Work

Now that you’ve done your research and have a good sense of what people actually need, it’s time to define the scope of work.

This is basically the roadmap for the development process.

Think of it as deciding, “Okay, we’re going to build a workout tracker, but we won’t add meal planning just yet because we need to stay focused.”

This keeps the team aligned and helps avoid what’s known as “scope creep,” where new features keep getting added and cause delays.

5. Agree on Technical Development

Once the scope is set, you need to have a conversation about technical development.

This is where the developers, architects, and stakeholders agree on how the solution will be built from a technical standpoint.

They decide what technologies will be used, what any integration requirements will be, and how scalable the software needs to be.

For example, you might decide to build your workout app using React Native app development services. This is a good choice as React Native allows you to deploy on both iOS and Android quickly. Also, you might need other iOS app development tools to build a standout mobile app.

If you’re planning to build an app, these detailed guides on Android app development costs and iOS app development costs will help you navigate the financial aspects.

6. Create Prototypes and Wireframes

The next stage in the Agile product discovery process is prototyping and wireframes.

This is when things start to get visual, and the user flow starts to make sense.

The designers create simple mockups (wireframes) of what the app will look like and how users will navigate through it.

These aren’t fully fleshed-out designs but rather basic layouts that show the structure.

Prototypes come into play when you want to test specific interactions. For example, you want to see how users log their workouts or check their progress.

You need to test the functionality early on to catch usability issues before spending too much time on development.

7. Develop Blueprint

Finally, once you have all the pieces in place, you create a blueprint.

This is essentially the plan that outlines timelines, milestones, and who’s responsible for what.

For instance, the blueprint will specify when the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) should be ready, how long testing will take, and when the final release is expected.

The blueprint is the final step before you hit the ground running with development.

Discovery Timeline & Budget

Discovery time is usually short but intensive. On average, it takes 2 to 6 weeks, depending on the project’s complexity and available resources.

Small projects or MVPs may only need 2–3 weeks to research the problem, map users, and test basic prototypes. Complex software, especially those with multiple user roles or integrations, might take up to 6–8 weeks to validate assumptions and align all stakeholders.

In terms of cost, the final price depends on complexity, tech stack, team location and expertise, and even the industry you work in.

You can learn about software development pricing by region in our article, where we discuss the top 10 countries to outsource software development.

In general, discovery accounts for 10–20% of the total budget.

So, if your development cost is around $50,000, then the discovery phase will cost approximately $5,000.

At SpdLoad, the discovery phase cost is carried out under a Time & Material model. The final price is based on hourly rates and the working time of the discovery team involved in the process. This is a simple and transparent way to deliver high-quality services at reasonable prices.

Pitfalls to Avoid During Discovery Activities

Even with the best intentions, agile discovery can easily go off track. Here are some common mistakes teams make, and how to avoid them:

• Treating discovery as a one-time phase

A major pitfall is thinking that discovery only happens before development. In reality, discovery should continue throughout the development process. New insights and potential solutions should be tested as they evolve.

• Jumping to solutions too early

Teams often rush to design or code before fully understanding the problem. Skipping user research or ignoring feedback leads to building the wrong thing faster. Always validate the problem before testing potential solutions.

• Lack of stakeholder alignment

When product managers, designers, developers, and clients have different definitions of “success,” discovery loses focus. Make sure everyone agrees on goals, priorities, and success metrics from the start.

• Ignoring technical feasibility

Sometimes discovery focuses too much on the “what” and forgets the “how.” Including engineers early helps uncover constraints and ensures potential solutions are realistic and scalable.

• No clear exit criteria

Without defined outcomes, like validated hypotheses, an MVP plan, or a ready backlog, teams risk staying in discovery forever. Set clear criteria to know when it’s time to move into delivery.

• Measuring output, not learning

If success is measured by the number of interviews or prototypes instead of what was learned, the team misses the point. The real value of discovery lies in reducing uncertainty, not checking boxes.

How to Measure Discovery Success (KPIs)

The single most important measure is a clear, evidence-based Go/No-Go/Kill/Pivot decision. Everything else feeds into this.

The KPIs can be grouped into three main areas:

1. Clarity & Alignment KPIs (Did we understand the problem?)

These measures whether everyone is on the same page.

• Stakeholder confidence score

Ask stakeholders at the start and end of discovery: “On a scale of 1-5, how confident are you that we are solving the right problem for our users?” A significant increase shows success.

• Team clarity score

Ask the development team: “On a scale of 1-5, how clear are you on who we are building for and why?” A high score means the team can start building without confusion.

• Reduction in assumptions

Count the number of major assumptions you started with and track how many were validated or invalidated through research. The goal is to replace assumptions with evidence.

2. User & Value KPIs (Did we find a valuable solution?)

These measure if you’ve found a solution that users actually want and need.

• Problem-solution fit

This is a simple “Yes” or “No” answer to the question: “Did we observe clear evidence that our proposed solution effectively addresses a core problem for our users?”

• User validation score

From user testing your prototypes, track:

• Task success rate: What percentage of users could complete key tasks without help?
• User sentiment: What did users say? Were they excited, frustrated, indifferent? Positive quotes are a powerful KPI.
• Net promoter score (NPS) for the Ccncept: “How likely are you to recommend this concept to a friend or colleague?”

3. Feasibility & Scope KPIs (Can we build it effectively?)

These measure if the path to building is clear and well-defined.

• Key technical risks resolved:

How many of the major “unknowns” or technical spikes ended with a feasible solution? The goal is to have zero critical, unanswered technical questions at the end of discovery.

• Quality of the backlog

Is the backlog…

• Prioritized? Is it clear what is most important?
• Refined? Are the top items clear, concise, and understood by the team?
• Estimated? Does the team have a rough idea of the size and scope? (Note: The estimate itself isn’t the KPI; the ability to create one is).

• Accuracy of initial estimates

Once development starts, compare the initial estimates from discovery against the actual effort. Over time, this shows if your discovery process is leading to more predictable planning.

How to Use These KPIs (In Practice)

Don’t try to measure all of them. Pick the 3-5 that matter most for your project.

Example for a new software:

• Stakeholder Confidence Score (from 2 to 4)
• Problem-Solution Fit (Yes)
• Key Technical Risks Resolved (3 out of 3)

Example for a feature improvement:

• User Task Success Rate (increased from 40% to 90% in prototype)
• Team Clarity Score (5/5)
• Quality of the Backlog (Fully prioritized and estimated)

Scaling the Discovery Process In Agile

When you scale, the first thing you want to do is keep discovery continuous.

Instead of thinking of discovery as something you do only at the start of a project, you need to continuously gather feedback from users and stakeholders throughout the entire process.

Even after you’ve launched, you still need to have regular check-ins with users to ensure the solution is meeting their needs.

This helps you avoid falling out of touch with what your audience actually wants.

Another thing that becomes more important as you scale is collaboration between teams.

When multiple teams and specialists are involved: a business analyst, project manager, designer, and developer, it becomes crucial for every team member to share insights and communicate openly.

Without this, you could end up with disconnected parts of the software that don’t align well.

A big part of scaling is also about decentralizing decision-making.

In smaller teams, it’s easier to have a single person or small group make decisions.

But when you scale, you want different teams to be able to make decisions based on their expertise and the data they have.

If your development team learns something during usability testing that affects the code, they should be empowered to act on that without waiting for upper management approval.

This keeps things agile and responsive.

Check out these five usability testing ways that will help elevate your startup’s performance.

Finally, alignment across the organization is key.

You need to make sure that every team understands the overall vision of the solution.

This can be done through regular workshops or sync meetings where everyone comes together to discuss progress, challenges, and goals.

Imagine running a workshop where everyone, from designers to marketers, walks through a user story map together, ensuring that everyone is on the same page.

When done right, the Agile discovery phase helps large teams stay just as agile and user-focused as smaller ones, keeping everyone on track to build software that genuinely meets user needs.

Here is a SCALE mnemonic to help you remember it better:

• Systematize continuous discovery
• Collaborate across teams
• Autonomize decision-making
• Leverage shared tools
• Ensure alignment

Best Practices For Conducting The Discovery Phase

Discovery is much more than just user and market research activities.

In fact, discovery doesn’t have to involve every research method. In an ideal world, you would conduct a large study, perform usability tests of the user’s current experience, conduct stakeholder and user interviews, and listen in on customer support calls.

However, we don’t live in an ideal world, and the market is moving rapidly, so we have to adapt and optimize software development processes.

Hence, you should prioritize the most valuable discovery activities to get the missing information in the time you have.

Align activities to specific questions or assumptions to keep the scope and timeline realistic.

After all, the discovery process is about understanding problems and opportunities in small but feasible iterative increments.

At SpdLoad, we help businesses conduct a robust discovery process using Agile methodology.

During discovery, we create well-planned requirements that will eliminate risks and provide clear budget estimates. This way, we ensure that the software solution evolves based on real user feedback and market changes.

Ready to get the discovery process started and aligned with your company goals?

Let’s get in touch to discuss your business objectives and see how our discovery team can provide you with a deep understanding of your market, audience, and development timelines.