Introduction
Before we write a single line of code or sketch a single interface, we invest time in understanding. Not just what you want to build, but why you're building it, who it's for, and what success actually looks like for your business.
This is our discovery process, and it's the foundation of every successful project we deliver.
Why strategy matters
We've seen it happen too many times: a business invests thousands into a beautiful website that doesn't convert, or a rebrand that doesn't resonate with their actual customers. The culprit? Skipping straight to solutions without understanding the problem.
Discovery isn't an unnecessary step we tack on to inflate project costs. It's the difference between building what you think you need and building what will actually work. It saves you money by preventing costly revisions, reduces project timeline bloat, and most importantly, creates outcomes that genuinely move your business forward.
Think of it as the blueprint phase. You wouldn't build a house without architectural plans, and you shouldn't build your digital presence without strategic groundwork.
What our strategy process looks like
1. The stakeholder workshop
We start by gathering the key voices in your business. This isn't a formal presentation where we talk at you, it's a collaborative session where we dig into your business goals, challenges, and vision. We want to understand the internal landscape: what's working, what's frustrating your team, and where the opportunities lie.
Key questions we explore:
- What does success look like six months after launch?
- Who are your main competitors, and what are they doing well (or poorly)?
- What assumptions are you making about your customers?
- What constraints are we working within (timeline, budget, technical)?
2. User research & insights
Your customers are the real experts on what they need from your website or brand. Through interviews, surveys, and analytics review (if you have an existing site), we uncover how people actually interact with businesses like yours, not how we assume they do.
Maybe your target audience isn't who you thought it was. Perhaps the feature you considered essential is actually a barrier to conversion.
3. Competitive & market analysis
We examine your competitive landscape not to copy what others are doing, but to identify opportunities for differentiation.
Here are a few things we look out for:
- Identifying your competitors: Understanding main competitors, and industry leaders is important to show you what you want to keep and what you need to add.
- Track industry trends: Identify opportunities, and align strategies with current market needs.
- Review reports and news: Gain insights into market size, growth opportunities, challenges, and trends through reports and news articles.
5. Creating a product you can call yours
All the technical things that go into the discovery phase is important, but the most important thing to ask yourself is; “Does it align with my ideals?” What you will be creating will highlight your personality, your image, and bring out the way you want to be perceived. So it’s important to establish this beforehand, so when a customer visits your website, you can say with confidence “Yes that’s what I believe, and the way I want to promote my brand”
6. Technical & content audit
If you have an existing website, we conduct a comprehensive analysis to understand what's working, what's not, and where the biggest opportunities lie. This includes but isn’t limited to:
- Evaluate the current live site across desktop and mobile
- Assess conversion paths that may be losing qualified leads
- Check forms for usability issues, field optimisation, and conversion best practices (single-step vs. multi-step approaches)
- Analyse your most critical pages for conversion optimisation opportunities
- Evaluate trust signals including testimonials placement, certification visibility, social proof integration, and credibility markers that influence buying decisions
- Audit technical SEO fundamentals e.g. meta titles, image ALT text, meta descriptions
7. Strategic framework development
All of this research culminates in a strategic framework that guides the entire project. This includes:
- Clear user personas and journey maps
- Brand positioning and messaging strategy
- Content strategy and site structure
- Technical requirements and recommendations
- Success metrics and KPIs
The strategy deliverable
At the end of discovery, you receive a comprehensive document of what to expect on the project. Your team, our team, any stakeholders, can reference this single source of truth. It eliminates confusion and ensures we're all working toward the same goals.
More importantly, you gain clarity. Many clients tell us that discovery helped them understand their own business better, solidifying ideas that had been floating around in different people's heads.
Setting up success for many more interactions
Discovery might feel like it slows things down at the start, but it's what allows us to move fast and confidently later.
Every hour we spend in discovery saves multiple hours in revision cycles, scope creep, and post-launch adjustments. It’s great for business and great for both parties to have an understanding, to avoid confusion.
If you're ready to start your project on solid ground, let's talk about discovery.
