Dream, Discover, Deliver: The Discovery Workshop Method

You've got big dreams - visions of groundbreaking ideas and revolutionary online products. But how do you bring those dreams to life? Enter the Discovery Workshop - our tried and tested method to turn your vision into a working technical plan.

First, let's demystify the process: what exactly are Discovery Workshops, and what makes them worthwhile?

What is a Discovery Workshop? 🧑‍🏫

A Discovery Workshop is a full day of collaboration between your team and mmtm to collect, create and analyse all the information required to begin your project.

They're like a funnel where we all move from large abstract concepts ("everything is possible!") to a more realistic, concrete view of what's most relevant and achievable for your business.

These sessions are more than a brainstorm about pricing. We use processes and exercises pioneered by Google to drill down into your long-term goals, user personas, feature ideas, budget and more!

When we came to mmtm, we just had a bunch of ideas on paper. The Discovery Workshop helped us hone our ideas into a concrete delivery plan. It was fun too!

Austin Milne Managing Director, AXM Studios Ltd

What Does a Discovery Workshop Involve? 🗓️

Here's a snapshot of what our typical Discovery Workshop looks like:

Before the Workshop - Preparation: To ensure a productive session, mmtm will thoroughly study and review your business and app idea before the workshop begins.
Morning Session - Defining the Project: To begin, we'll ask you to pitch your idea to our team. We'll then examine your proposition together, diving into the target market, features, monetisation model, metrics, and growth plans.
Afternoon Session - Crafting Solutions: As a group, we'll conduct competitor analysis, discuss feature inspiration, sketch wireframes of how your new platform could look and feel, and finish with a storyboard of your app's key web pages.

Our Technical Director Rupert pointing at a mockup sketch on a whiteboard during a Discovery Workshop

What Makes a Discovery Workshop Worthwhile? 📈

When innovating, the risk of building the wrong thing looms large. That's where Discovery Workshops shine brightest. Here are some of their key benefits:

A Clear Vision for the Future: After the workshop, you'll have a clear idea of when your app will be ready to launch, exactly how much it'll cost, and what features it'll have.
Alignment Between Your Team: The exercises we'll facilitate during the workshop will align you and your team on the highest-priority features to build and how they need to work.
Technical Delivery Plan: Our project leads, Martin and Rupert, will write a technical delivery plan document describing the app's features, how they'll be developed, the investment required, and more.
High-Fidelity Mockups: Using our storyboard from the workshop's Afternoon Session, mmtm will produce high-fidelity mockups of the proposed platform using your brand guidelines, suitable for use in pre-sales outreach or an investor pitch deck.
Fixed-Cost Quotation and Timelines: mmtm will also quote the cost of the development work to build the MVP version of the app. We'll even estimate a timeframe for launch!

The mmtm team adding sticky notes to a window during a Discovery Workshop, with the group gathered around a meeting table

A Discovery Workshop in full swing back in 2020. We've been running and refining this format for years.

Martin Dick

Co-Founder, mmtm

Need expert clarity on your idea?

We've spent the last 10+ years helping founders and growing teams plan, build and improve bespoke web applications, SaaS products and operational platforms used by hundreds of thousands of people.

If you're trying to turn an idea into a buildable plan or sanity-check commercials before committing, I'd be happy to talk it through!

Schedule a call

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a discovery workshop before building an app?

Yes, if the scope, users, priorities or technical approach are not fully clear yet. A discovery workshop helps reduce the risk of building the wrong thing, overcommitting too early, or missing important details that could affect cost, timing or user experience later.

How does discovery reduce risk in a software project?

Discovery reduces risk by testing assumptions before serious time and budget are committed. It helps uncover unclear requirements, technical constraints, weak business cases, unnecessary features and competing priorities early, when they are much easier and cheaper to deal with.

Who from my team should attend?

Ideally whoever makes the final call on the product, plus someone who knows your users and day-to-day operations inside out. Four or five people from your team tends to work best, with Martin and Rupert leading the day from ours.

How much does a discovery workshop cost?

Our Discovery Workshop is a fixed price of £650 + VAT, covering the full day, the Technical Delivery Plan, high-fidelity mockups and a fixed-cost quote for the build. If you go ahead with mmtm, we deduct the £650 from your Sprint 1 price.

Do I have to build with mmtm after the workshop?

Not at all. The Technical Delivery Plan and mockups are yours to keep, so you can take them to another agency or your in-house team, though if you build with us the workshop cost comes off your first sprint.