ADAAS
ADAASADAASMarketplace
RE-006Research

Discovery Phase

The first step to your business goals — architects, BAs and designers explore the problem, define the strategy and set the quality criteria your product will be judged on.

The problem

Starting to build before the problem, strategy and quality criteria are agreed — so scope drifts, stakeholders misalign, and the important quality attributes surface too late.

How we solve it

The Discovery Phase is the first step to achieving your business goals. It's when Architects, Business Analysts and Designers explore the problem or opportunity, define a strategy, and identify a solution — taking into account all the quality attributes that matter for your product. A well-planned discovery is what ensures success for the whole project: the team works with stakeholders to gather their needs and wants and builds a detailed plan, including quality attributes like scalability, sustainability, cost-effectiveness and availability.

What you get
  • A shared strategy and solution before anyone starts building.
  • Stakeholder needs and wants gathered and aligned.
  • The quality attributes that matter, prioritised early.
  • A detailed, defensible plan for the whole project.

A bounded, phased engagement. Each bar below is proportional to its estimated duration on a shared calendar.

1ExploreSessions

Architects, BAs and designers explore the problem and gather stakeholder needs.

2Define~days

Set the strategy, the solution and the quality attributes that matter.

3PlanEnd

Deliver the HLSD, mind-map, usage scenarios and prioritised requirements.

0123
Bars are proportional to estimated calendar weeks · total A few weeks by scope

Concrete artefacts you keep — delivered in editable, open formats your team owns.

  • HLSD Document

    A high-level solution design for the product.

    Document

  • Product Mind-Map

    The product mapped, with system usage scenarios.

    Mind-map

  • Quality Attributes

    A prioritised set of quality attributes and non-functional requirements.

    Register

The edges of this engagement, and what we’ll need from you to run it.

What's not included
  • Building the product or a prototype.
  • Low-level or detailed component design (that's Architecture Design).
  • Delivery estimation as a standalone (that's Independent Estimation).
  • Ongoing implementation.
What we'll need from you
  • Access to the stakeholders who hold the goals.
  • The business problem or opportunity to explore.
  • Availability for workshops and sync meetings.
  • The quality attributes that matter most to you.

Fixed-scope and outcome-priced — one agreed figure for a defined set of deliverables, with no hourly billing.

InvestmentFrom $8,000

Per assignment — from $8,000, $14,500 for medium complexity.

How we price it
  • Fixed scope, agreed before we start — no open-ended hourly billing.
  • One figure covers the full set of deliverables listed alongside.
  • The number only moves with system complexity, and only by agreement.
Included in this price
  • HLSD Document
  • Product Mind-Map
  • Quality Attributes

Answers to the questions we hear most about this engagement.

Who is involved?

Architects, Business Analysts and Designers work with your stakeholders to explore the problem, define a strategy and identify the solution.

What do we get?

An HLSD document, a product mind-map, a set of system usage scenarios, and a prioritised set of quality attributes and non-functional requirements.

How is it priced?

Per assignment — from $8,000, rising to $14,500 for medium complexity depending on scope.

How does it fit with Architecture Design (RE-002)?

Discovery frames the problem and the quality criteria; Architecture Design then turns that into an executable blueprint.