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Requirements Engineering: choose the workshop that best suits your needs

date: 17 June 2021
reading time: 6 min

Do you want to start your digital transformation but have no idea how? Are you missing a grand vision? Did you get lost in new challenges? Are you facing any problems that are completely unexpected? Or maybe you’ve come up with a vague outline of a new and exciting product that still needs to be validated or polished?

Taking part in the right expert-led workshops can help guide you through whatever you’re dealing with right now!

You can choose between a Digital Product Discovery, a Experience Design or an Product Design Consulting. So let’s go ahead and see what the difference is between each of these workshops:


Design Sprint Workshop

A design sprint is a 5-day workshop that allows you to design and evaluate your idea for a product prior to development.

All you need is to have a small budget available and the active engagement of key stakeholders and user representatives for the duration of the workshop.


Goals

During this highly productive 5day period, your idea will be clearly defined, evaluated by experts, turned into a working prototype, and thoroughly tested.


People involved


Process

Fast and effective – everything will be completed within one work week!

DAY 1. Understand
Your business needs will be analysed, and your main goals and scope of work will be clearly defined.

DAY 2. Diverge
The ideas for your solution will emerge and take shape.

DAY 3. Decide
The main direction of your software development will be set.

DAY 4. Prototype
You will receive a ready-to-be-tested prototype containing the most crucial features of your product.

DAY 5. Evaluate
The prototype will be tested by subjects representing your potential users.


Possible outcomes

The results of the workshop will provide you with:

  • Clear and accurate visualisation of your product’s key features
  • Recommended direction of development as determined by expert knowledge and user needs
  • User feedback: direct insight into user flow, as well as user reactions and opinions

Thanks to the Design Sprint Workshop, you will find out what needs to be improved, and what works just fine. This is a very cost and time-effective way to kick off your project by getting a thorough verification of your idea at the initial stage of delivery.

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Discovery Workshop

The Discovery Workshop will help you clarify your idea and ensure that your product/service is perfectly adjusted to your business objectives and customer needs.

If you already have comprehensive documentation prepared and want to get started ASAP – you can choose Discovery Workshop.

However, if you haven’t done sufficient research and analysis, and still need proper UX design and testing – it would be better to bet on the Complex Discovery Workshop, even though it’s a bit more time-consuming.


Goals 

The Discovery Workshop will help you find a solution that is right for you. You will receive assistance in setting objectives, planning new features, and creating and testing your MVP (Minimum Viable Product).

The entire scope of the workshop, as well as certain activities, can be easily adjusted to your project and requirements.


People involved

  • Business analysts
  • UX designers
  • Various technology experts (according to the project)


Process

Strategy
Your problems and goals will be defined.

Research
Necessary data (related to business and user needs) will be gathered, analysed and presented in reports.

Ideation
After a few brainstorming sessions, the final idea will take shape.

Design
The idea will be turned into a design of the final solution.

Testing
In the end, the design will be evaluated by recruited end users.


Possible outcomes

The Discovery Workshop’s output is an irreplaceable source of information for your development team, serving as guidelines to successful project implementation.

You may receive, for example:

  • A complex analysis of your existing system
  • Clarification of your new idea along with the project’s priorities
  • A project backlog and report/specifications to prepare an estimation of the costs and the most cost-effective implementation
  • A target audience analysis along with user personas
  • MVP by, e.g., story mapping
  • An initial visualisation of the solution
  • The chance to compare various IT software solution providers
  • A guide map for the next steps in the process with recommendations from relevant experts and specialists
  • System architecture design model

This expert workshop is designed to help you build a highly effective (both in terms of costs and functionality) solution, minimise technical debt, and get faster ROI.


IT Strategy Workshop

The IT Strategy Workshop is based on data-driven discussions, brainstorming and a series of interactive exercises that take place in small groups.

It involves analysing your company’s figures, performance, key processes, business needs, challenges and opportunities, as well as industry trends. Everything that you need to help you make strategic decisions.


Goals

The IT Strategy Workshop is designed to help solve your business problems with up-to-date technology, provided that you have a budget for innovation available to spend in the most efficient way possible. And it doesn’t matter if you need an overall IT strategy, or just a plan for developing a single product — this is a workshop that can help you with both of these goals.


People involved

There are a number of specialists that may be helpful during this workshop, such as Technical Architects, Business Analysts, Developers, or UX Designers. And your project could also benefit from involving external experts on artificial intelligence, machine learning, or cloud computing – rest assured, these specialists will be ready to assist you during the workshop as well.


Process

The process can vary from one project to another, but in general it can be reduced to 4 simple steps:

The process requires you to be open to making strategic changes affecting your business as a whole, in order to develop and achieve a competitive edge. It is why engaging management in this kind of workshop is the key to its success.


Possible outcomes

You may expect many different outcomes, depending on what you want to achieve:

  • Analysis of your current business situation
  • Presentation of possible improvements for key processes
  • Customised IT recommendations for achieving your business goals, prepared in cooperation with an experienced Business Analyst
  • Software product development strategy and roadmap
  • Recommendation of technology solutions adjusted to your requirements and budget
  • Access to expert know-how, including technical expertise and following IT project execution best practices
  • Precise success metrics that will allow you to monitor your progress.

So, before making any big investments, you will receive all the knowledge that you need in order to reduce any risks associated with the implementation of your project.


Final thoughts

All of these workshops serve different purposes, so you can choose the one that suits you best. Long story short:

  • If you have a specific idea in mind and can’t wait to see the shape of a final product and your customers’ reactions to it – bet on the Design Sprint Workshop.

  • If you are thinking about going digital and already have some vague ideas, but also need a specific roadmap to help your development team get started – select the Discovery Workshop.

  • If you have a business problem, or if you’re thinking about the digital transformation or developing a software product, but still have some doubts and need guidance on a strategic level – choose the IT Strategy Workshop.

Just remember that outcomes may vary in each case, as they are strictly related to the workshop’s goals and will be consistent with your individual arrangements.

And just so you know – we can provide you with any of the workshops mentioned above, so don’t hesitate to contact us to get the help that you need!

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