Setting up your discovery team

During the discovery phase you’ll need a team with the skills to: 

• research and understand the user needs for your proposed service 

• objectively gather, review and analyse critical evidence 

• document and visualise insights, outputs and decisions 

• be aware of other services that exist and their development plans 

• start planning what your initial prototypes will explore 

This means for medium or large services you should have: 

• a service manager 

• a product manager or owner 

• a delivery manager 

• a user researcher 

• a service designer

• a business analyst

• a content designer

• an interaction designer

• a developer 

• a performance analyst 

If your service or product is small, or it doesn't involve any interactions with users, you may not need all these roles. 

Once your team is set up, they need to understand what’s being delivered and know how to work together and manage their day-to-day work.  

The team should discuss their chosen delivery methodology and working practices (e.g. daily stand-ups etc.) and communication practices. 

All of this information should be recorded in a resource plan and shared with your stakeholders. 

Agile courses

The Scottish Digital Academy offers a range of agile courses covering things like discovery, alpha and beta phases.