The GDS lifecycle stages as we know them are well defined. They’re in line with product development and are a standard across government. More recently I’ve noticed many teams and departments undertake a ‘pre discovery’. Call this a search and sweep, sprint zero or a deep dive — it is an invaluable way to tackle complex spaces, uncertain problems or lack of assurance and clarity.
I usually see teams set up a pre discovery team when:
- The problem is too large and complex
- We are unsure of where to start, with which focus lens.
- Some preparation is needed to gain buy in and develop a shared understanding
Whilst there isn’t one unanimous definition I’ve led a few and have gathered insights from various teams and colleagues. Below are my thoughts on what should be included and how to set up for a great discovery.
Stakeholders
- Get your stakeholders into a room. Take time to identify their drivers and business priorities. Maybe even complete a value proposition canvas. Engage in regular conversations to align expectations with your thinking, gain buy-in, and understand the wider strategy.
- Ensure you have a stakeholder map in progress. This will be extremely beneficial for future stages.
- Identify your subject matter experts. These are not necessarily your senior stakeholders but the people who are able to give you the knowledge and insights you need at a macro or micro level. Bring them in early on and regularly ask for their input.
Desk based research
- Conduct secondary or desk user research. A pre-discovery is an exploratory space and so should be led by user insights. This is to help support the clarity in problem identification. Have a big problem and don’t know where to start? Look at any existing user research from live services or other teams to find patterns of relevance or pick out the key user problems.
- Identify early on the quantity of research you want to process and at what level. E.g. which user types are you focusing on, which part of the journey and what are you drawing out.
- Speak to other teams and/or departments. Look into existing services and identify how your work can fit in with a wider programme. How do services link together? What is their policy intent and how well are these being implemented? Not only will this help you build a picture of your own problem space, you will also b able to carry out a gap analysis.
Product and delivery thinking
- Identify the key team resource and cross functional interactions.
- Keep your scope in check by putting together a one page plan before you begin. I usually find the below format helpful to follow:
‘high level objective > goals > key deliverables and outcomes’ - Prioritise. Towards the end, if you have found various themes or problems prioritise them with your team. This will help with your recommendations and achieving clarity in next steps as well as building an evidence base for alignment with stakeholder expectations.
- Ensure there is value and confidence at the end for you to continue. If there isn’t, that is absolutely fine and reflect this in your findings to stakeholders.
- Think about what success could look like in discovery and beyond. What are your metrics and how will you get there?
By the end of the pre discovery you should have:
- A clearer understanding of the problem. Naturally your user research analysis will lead you to patterns or a specific area of focus that can be prioritised next.
- A better understanding of where you might start first and what success might look like.
- An idea of the resource, cost and plan for discovery.
- Buy in from stakeholders with a clear comms/interaction plan, especially with those outside your team.
Try not to run into discovery territory here as you might just be looking for clarity on the problem or scope. What’s important to understand is regardless of how your pre-discovery goes, it is always an exploratory phase. Use it to gather evidence and support your complexities. You will not capture every detail and you won’t find everything you need.
