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Lesson 2 The Discovery phase
Objective Identify the key elements of the Discovery phase.

Web Discovery Phase

Roles, Objectives, Deliverables, and Activities

In this lesson, you will learn the roles, objectives, deliverables, and activities in the Discovery phase.

Where to start with the Discovery Phase.

In the Discovery phase, the development team and the client exchange information about the client's needs and the Web team's capabilities. A statement of need or request for proposals (RFP) is developed to articulate the client's business needs clearly and to spell out the design, development, and delivery strategies.
The goals of this phase are to:
  1. Specify the business needs for a Web site
  2. Determine what issues and constraints affect the design, development, and delivery of the product

WebTeam in action

The WebTeam organizational blueprint helps you identify the key team members in the Discovery phase. While the creative and technical roles are not heavily involved in this phase, their objective here is to support the business role.

Software Architecture
OBJECTIVES DELIVERABLES Activities
Understand the business needs of the client and the capabilities of the team. Help client to develop Statement of Need/RFP Statement of Need Request for Proposal Identify client's goals, objectives, and project end date Delineate the client's business environment Make internal business case for the project Identify and interview audience for Web site Identify gaps, risk factors, and success factors Produce Statement of Need/RFP

In many cases, the client will perform the majority of these tasks and will often outsource tasks such as audience interviews to an appropriate agency.The Discovery phase demands collaboration between the Web team and the client. In fact, some activities may be performed by the client, depending on the client's level of experience, knowledge, available resources, and level of desire to be more hands on in the process.
While the business role handles most of the tasks in this phase, the creative and technical roles may be consulted on an informal basis for input.
In the next lesson, you will learn the key elements of the Definition phase.