Discovery Research
The most expensive decisions your team makes are the ones based on assumptions.
Entering a new market or problem space without solid research isn't bold. It's a gamble.
Discovery Research gives your team a clear, evidence-based foundation so you're not locking in strategy before you understand what's actually going on.
Who this is for
This is a good fit if you're a product or service team about to make a major strategic decision and you're not confident you understand your customers well enough to get it right. If your team is moving fast, debating what to build next, and realizing that nobody has actually talked to the people you're building for, that's the signal. This is also a strong fit for teams entering a new market, launching a new product line, or inheriting a product they didn't build and don't fully understand yet.
How it works
Every Discovery Research engagement starts by getting clear on what your team needs to know and why it matters. From there I design and lead the research, drawing on methods like contextual inquiry, qualitative interviews, and journey mapping depending on what'll get you the most useful answers. I talk to your customers, your prospective customers, and sometimes the people adjacent to them who shape the experience from the outside. Everything gets synthesized into findings and recommendations your team can take directly into roadmap and strategy conversations.
What you get
A research report with key findings, prioritized recommendations, and the supporting evidence your team needs to make confident decisions. Depending on scope, this often includes journey maps or experience maps that stay useful long after the engagement ends.
A Real Example
A national automotive parts supplier came to me with a messy problem. They were trying to understand a three-sided ecosystem: motorists, repair shops, and parts stores. Nobody had a clear picture of where the friction was or who was feeling it most.
Over nine months I ran three phases of research across all three groups. I rode along with delivery drivers, interviewed technicians on shop floors, and visited parts stores and distribution centers across three states. Remote interviews and concept testing with motorists rounded out the picture. Every journey got mapped individually and then connected into a single deliverable that showed how all three sides of the ecosystem affected each other.
That deliverable became the foundation of a multi-year digital transformation program. The research didn't just answer the original question. It gave the organization a shared understanding of the problem that hadn't existed before.
The work led to a second engagement: rebuilding the client's UX research department from the ground up.
Ready to stop guessing and start building on solid ground? Let's talk.
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It depends on the scope and how many groups you need to understand. Focused engagements can wrap up in four to six weeks. More complex, multi-phase work like the NAPA engagement runs longer. We'll scope it based on what you actually need, not a standard template.
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It depends on the questions you're trying to answer. Contextual inquiry, qualitative interviews, journey mapping, and concept testing are the methods I reach for most. I'll recommend the right mix after understanding your goals, not the other way around.
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ou'll get a research report with key findings and prioritized recommendations. Depending on the engagement, this can also include journey maps, experience maps, or a synthesis presentation built for a specific audience like your exec team or product leadership.
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Every Discovery Research engagement is scoped based on your specific situation, the number of customer groups we need to understand, and whether fieldwork is involved. It's not a fixed number because the right answer depends on what you actually need. Reach out and we'll talk through what makes sense for your goals and budget.