01 / DISCOVERY

Discovery

Discovery is where you slow down enough to understand what is actually going on before anyone commits to building a solution. The goal is evidence: who is affected, what they need, what constraints exist, and whether proceeding makes sense.

At a glance

Purpose
Understand the problem, the people involved, and the policy or operational context before choosing a direction.
Typical
Often four to eight weeks for a focused discovery — longer for complex policy areas. Duration varies by scope and risk.
Activities
User research, stakeholder interviews, desk research, mapping existing services, analysing data, problem framing workshops, and drafting a recommendation.
Outputs
A clear problem statement, evidence of user needs, a map of the current landscape, identified risks, and a recommendation on whether and how to proceed.
End of phase
A service assessment against the Service Standard (for government services) and a decision to move into Alpha, pivot, or stop.

What good looks like

  • Research includes people who struggle with digital services and those who support users face-to-face.
  • The team can explain the problem without describing a specific solution.
  • Assumptions are written down and ranked by how harmful it would be if they were wrong.
  • Outputs are concise enough that a new team member could understand the challenge in an hour.

Common mistakes

  • Treating discovery as a sign-off exercise rather than genuine learning.
  • Only speaking to internal stakeholders and missing the lived experience of users.
  • Jumping to wireframes before the problem is understood.
  • Continuing into Alpha without a clear recommendation or without addressing the biggest risks.

Service Standard points in focus

These points often receive particular attention during Discovery. See the full Service Standard guide.

Double Diamond mapping

Discovery maps most closely to the first diamond: Discover (explore the problem space) and Define (converge on what the problem actually is). Some teams still do light solution sketching, but the emphasis is on understanding before building. Read the full mapping →

Related phases

Alpha →

Phase guidance is published on GOV.UKunder the Open Government Licence v3.0. UCD Services is an independent resource.