What is "Discovery" in web and app development?

If you're interested in starting a project with fjorge, sooner or later you'll come across the term "discovery." Software projects do involve a lot of time designing interfaces and writing code. However, we have found that it's important to start with understanding the context of the project.

Discovery is part of fjorge's Core Process, the way we choose to do business. Any project you start with fjorge will involve Discovery. It's how we make sure that we understand the ecosystem that your new digital product will be joining.

If you're a typical small business, you probably use a number of third-party digital tools and solutions. Some common ones include email marketing platforms, a customer relationship management tool or CRM, and web traffic analysis engines like Google Analytics.

During Discovery, we work with you to learn enough about the site or app you're planning to develop. The goal of Discovery is to define or clarify the tasks we'll be performing during Development in order to meet your business goals.

Every business needs a website, and many businesses want to sell products online. For development projects like those, fjorge would usually set you up with a Project Manager and a Developer. After they ask you clarifying questions, Discovery ends and Development begins. It's very straightforward, and we have many happy clients who like the balance of speed and production value this approach provides.

More complex projects require additional planning. For those type of projects, Fjorge recommends engaging in Solutions Architecture prior to Development. You can read more in our blog post on how solutions architecture can support high complexity development projects.