When you come up with the idea of a mobile application or desktop software, you, probably, see its realization in the most bright colors. However, the implementation of this idea can bring unexpected outcomes and produce quite opposite results. Why does it happen? Maybe because you missed a Discovery stage in your software production life cycle.
Importance of the Discovery Stage for Software Development
The Discovery or Initiation stage is a complex of methods that allow evaluating the feasibility of a project. Not every project that comes to your mind, no matter how brilliant, is worth implementing:
- It may happen that you invest a lot of money and effort into the development of certain software that will be outdated pretty soon.
- To implement your project, you may need specialists whose work you will not be able to pay for.
- You may not find enough stakeholders interested in your project.
- You may come up with an idea that your competitors are already working on. But they are one step ahead.
Impelling Numbers for the Necessity of Discovery Phase
The Mckinsey empirical data witness that large software projects exceed their initially assumed budgets by 45%. At the same time, they do not manage to get that amount of profit they hoped for. The difference is 56% less.
The situation with startups is even worse. Investopedia claims that 90% of all startups close in the first 10 years of their operation. At the same time, CB Insights studies show that 3 out of 5 reasons for startup failures would have been neutralized if the Discovery stage had not been ignored.
Preliminary Steps to Move to the Discovery Stage
Before initiating the Discovery stage of the software development lifecycle you need to perform certain tasks:
- Clarify for yourselves and your partners and managers the