Discovery Phase Services for Software Development
Have a business idea but need to know how to implement it technically? Onix provides software product discovery services to bridge the gap between the business concept of your software project and its technical realization.
In just 2-4 weeks, we'll finalize your product vision, build a clickable prototype, work out the product architecture, and provide a cost proposal with time estimates. Onix helps you establish the basis for success in the market!
Final product vision
Solution architecture
Product flow
Time & cost estimation
50% of startups fail due to poor functionality feasibility. Don't become another statistic!
Let's work on a technical feasibility study to gain insight into your future product and predict any risks and roadblocks!
A project discovery phase helps you to:
Turn your business idea into a functional product
Predict and reduce risks and roadblocks
Plan a budget to avoid loss
Prioritize product scope and split it into iterations
Build the groundwork for extra funding for your project
Define goals and scope for the MVP, and provide well-developed UX prototype
When to use discovery phase
You want to build a product from scratch
Get a better understanding of what lies ahead for your product, identify potential risks, craft flawless experiences to satisfy particular user requirements, and facilitate reaching product-market fit.
You need to scale an existing product
Analyze the current state of your product, determine the scope for scaling, define potential risks and issues, and provide ways to solve them.
You need to audit an existing product
Our specialists can perform a comprehensive audit of existing products before the acquisition, merge, or any other substantial technological modifications in your organization.
You want to assess your current product
Onix experts identify the outdated components of your software, define the full possibilities of product upgrading, and plan the development process to get the desired result on time.
Get a technical product vision now and avoid significant development risks and issues tomorrow!
How the product discovery services work
During the software product discovery phase, a team of experts prepares project documentation and provides the deliverables needed to start the implementation stage.
Custom software development
01
Planning
02
Product design
Discovery
﹂ Product ideation and analysis
﹂ Architecture design
PoC / Clickable prototype
03
Implementation
04
Maintenance
Software development
﹂ Project start
﹂ Support
Dedicated development team
05
Handover
Knowledge transfer
How Onix conducts Project Discovery
Depending on your specific project’s requirements, complexity, and scope, the product discovery services can run from one to several weeks.
During this period, our specialists collect the necessary information to produce the deliverables essential to subsequent software development stages. The software product discovery services are billed according to the time & material pricing model.
- 01
Planning (2-3 days)
We start by analyzing requirements and creating a further discovery plan.
﹂ Elicit high-level requirements
﹂ If the product is not built from scratch, we clarify the reasons for changing the existing solution and analyze customer feedback, content, technology stack, and feature set
﹂ Review the customers’ internal documents, existing market surveys, user interviews, etc.
﹂ Conduct competitors’ research
﹂ Prepare a detailed plan for the discovery implementation
- 02
Analysis (7-10 days)
We dive deeply into the client's business to define a clear product vision, set priorities, and determine success criteria.
﹂ Define functional decomposition
﹂ Elaborate and set priorities
﹂ Study the target market and define a user persona.
﹂ Create user journeys
﹂ Analyze functional requirements of architecture
﹂ Design initial architecture vision
﹂ Create user screen flows
- 03
Finalizing product vision (10-15 days)
Our experts finalize product vision, prepare a possible project implementation roadmap, and calculate recommended development costs.
﹂ Define the most suitable architecture for the product
﹂ Choose the optimal technology stack and define the level of automation and CI/CD pipeline
﹂ Build a prototype of MVP with the essential modules and features (if needed)
﹂ Validate all assumptions and hypotheses from the business analysis, user experience, and IT architecture perspectives
﹂ Shape the solution’s final scope
﹂ Develop a project roadmap
﹂ Estimate the project timeline and budget needed to implement the idea into an MVP or a full-fledged product
Throughout the software product discovery services, we make sure every team member is 100% on the same page with the client, shares the final product vision, and intends to realize this idea in the fastest and most efficient way.
Get technical validation of your product concept before spending a lot of money building, polishing, and marketing it!
Who is the Onix discovery team
Project manager / Business analyst
Ensures effective communication between the client and the team and works directly on creating software requirement documentation.
Solution architect
Helps with defining product architecture and potential scaling, decides on the tech stack, and defines the project budget.
UI/UX expert
Outlines the relationship of roles, creates the user flow, and prepares prototypes.
Software engineers
Are responsible for technical solutions, including architecture documentation, defines technology requirements, thinks through the development process, and provides time estimates.
The primary deliverables of the discovery phase
Business
﹂ Final product vision
﹂ Functional decomposition
﹂ Product roadmap
Design
﹂ Prototype or wireframes (if needed)
﹂ Screen flows
﹂ Style guide (if needed)
Architecture
﹂ Solution architecture
﹂ Technology stack
﹂ Non-functional requirements
Project plan
﹂ Software requirements specification
﹂ Time and cost estimation
﹂ Team composition
﹂ Implementation roadmap
After the product
discovery phase you can
01
Ensure that it's technically possible to implement your product idea and build a commercially successful product.
﹂ Well-defined technical requirements
﹂ Elimination of risks
﹂ Reduction of the development costs
﹂ Increase of product added value
02
Understand that your idea will not bring you the desired results and avoid wasting money on the development of an irrelevant product.
﹂ Eliminate risks
﹂ Don't build the irrelevant product
﹂ Avoid wasting money
“Working with Onix has made it so easy for us to develop the software products. They mobilized a skilled team that handled tasks with extreme professionalism. Onix made this such an enjoyable project to work close to.”
Founder & Chief Product Officer, Phlex
Ryan Rosenbaum
“It is a pleasure working with Onix. We have been growing as a team, and everyone was committed to success right from the beginning. Onix went the extra mile to deliver in time, and their approach to building on a single codebase has proven to be excellent.”
Product Owner 360° Shower
Barbara Dietz
“We are impressed with their professionalism and transparency in their work.”
CEO, MiPaddle
Mark Innes
“They provided us with amazing UI/UX design — it was exactly what we had envisioned.”
Business Analyst, QoreNext
Gary Kwan
“Onix and Haas Automation have been working together for five years. Onix provides us with exceptional resources to help meet our demand for mobile development. Their technical team goes out of their way to share information and to help train our in-house developers, raising the efficiency of our entire development team.”
SAP Manager at Haas Automation, Inc.
Justin Zimmerman
“They are very organized and diligent in the entire process, and communication with them was seamless. I’m so pleased with the work they did that I plan to continue working with Onix as my company continues to grow.”
President of Colorado Sports Video
Heberto Limas-Villers
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Let's bridge the gap between the business concept of your software project and its technical realization!
Why trust Onix for your
discovery phase?
Fast and cost-effective development
We are passionate about delivering top-notch and dynamic solutions through our best structural standards that complement your company's needs, vision, and budget.
Efficient project management
We provide you with a project manager who prepares a document with a detailed product feature list, deadlines, and responsibilities. Thus, you’re continually aware of your project progress and ensuring the team will meet deadlines.
Clear communication
Our experts will guide you through the entire development process. At Onix, we create a communication plan for our clients and team to be always aware of the project's progress, provide feedback, and make changes if needed.
Openness and transparency
No bureaucracy and hidden procedures. All you need to do is to sign an NDA and contract to start working with our team. Moreover, our specialists provide clear reporting of the work done, including highly detailed invoices with the hours spent on each task.
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Successfully delivered
projects
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Talented multi‑dimensional
experts
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Years of experience in
software development
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Countries represented by
clients
Other services
Product Discovery is just the beginning – there is much more work to be done and other processes to complete. We'll gladly assist you with:
UI/UX design services
Web development services
Dedicated team services
Android development
iOS development
Branding
Design audit
Our Insights
Tell us about your product idea and let the magic unfold.
FAQ
What happens if we skip the product discovery phase and move on?
It's possible if you gathered requirements beforehand and have ready-made documentation and project architecture. Otherwise, without the Product Discovery phase, you may find that your software development or product upgrade process is suboptimal and incomplete. This could lead to costly mistakes or project delays as certain aspects may be overlooked. It's highly recommended to go through the Product Discovery phase to ensure a smooth transition to the software development stages.
How long does the product discovery phase usually take?
Discovery services for software development usually take from two to five weeks depending on your needs. During this time, a dedicated team will collect all the artifacts necessary for the project, and produce any deliverables required for transitioning to the implementation stage.
How often should product discovery be conducted in software development projects?
You should conduct a product discovery phase at the beginning of your project when you have only an idea that needs to be transformed into specific requirements and tasks for developers.
Can product discovery be done in-house or is it better to hire offshore experts?
It depends on your unique situation and needs. In-house product discovery can be excellent for small projects, or when fast turnaround time is a priority. However, offshore experts are often the better option due to their cost savings and access to greater resources.