Summary:
As a design lead at TTT Studios (The agency), I identified the inefficiencies of a one-hour client call and introduced a comprehensive discovery process. This process not only improved client conversion rates but also advanced the company’s UX maturity and ensured products addressed real customer needs alongside clients business goals.
Primary role:
UX/Design Director
Skills & Capabilities:
Strategy
Process Development
Facilitation
Timeframe:
2019 - 2024
Key Metrics
Client Conversion Rates
Increased by 25%
Average Project ROI
Improved significantly through better alignment with user and business needs.
Time Saved
Reduced unpaid work by focusing efforts on paid discovery sessions.
The Challenge
The agency relied on a one-hour call to understand client needs, followed by the unpaid creation of a mind map and an estimate for the project completion. This approach was flawed:
Inadequate Understanding: The call didn’t provide enough depth to understand the client’s or their customers’ problems.
Assumption-Driven Solutions: The proposed solutions were often assumption-based or copied from competitors.
Time-Intensive and Unpaid: The process consumed at least 20 hours of unpaid work with low client conversion rates.
Missed Opportunities: Lack of a structured discovery phase led to poor alignment with client needs, reducing the chance of securing long-term engagements.
The Process:
Building a Robust Discovery Framework
I introduced a discovery process that redefined how the agency engaged with clients, leading to better outcomes for both the agency and its clients.
1. Pre-Call Preparation:
Understanding the Problem Space: Gathering background information from the client about industry, market, and potential challenges before the initial discovery sessions.
2. Problem Space Exploration:
Conducting competitor analysis and market research to identify gaps and opportunities.
3. User Interviews (if feasible):
Talking to real users to uncover pain points and validate assumptions.
4. Live Workshops with Clients:
These workshops became the cornerstone of the discovery process:
Product Vision Definition: Aligning with the client on the product’s purpose and goals.
Persona Creation: Identifying key users and their needs.
User Flow Mapping: Understanding how users would interact with the product.
Feature Mapping: Outlining features and functionality.
Risks & Assumptions Mapping: Identifying unknowns and potential barriers.
MVP Prioritization: Defining the minimum viable product to test core assumptions.
5. Post-Workshop Research and Validation:
Conducting further user interviews, surveys, and technical feasibility research as needed.
6. Discovery Report Delivery:
A comprehensive document provided to the client, including:
Research findings and insights.
A clearly defined problem space and proposed solution.
Product vision, personas, user flows, and features.
Risks, assumptions, and a prioritized MVP.
Budget, roadmap, and timeline.
The Outcome
Impact on the Agency:
Improved Conversion Rates: The discovery process converted more clients into full engagements, increasing revenue and reducing wasted time.
Advanced UX Maturity: Introducing user research, testing, and competitor analysis elevated the agency’s design and delivery standards.
Reduced Risk: By uncovering unknowns and validating assumptions early, the process minimized costly rework and misaligned product development.
Impact on Clients:
Clients received well-researched, user-centric solutions that aligned with their business goals.
Enhanced trust and collaboration led to stronger partnerships.
Reflections and Lessons Learned
What I Learned:
The power of structured discovery to drive better client relationships and project outcomes.
The importance of upfront investment in research to save time and resources later in the process.
How to balance business goals and user needs through collaboration and thoughtful prioritization.
Challenges Overcome:
Convincing stakeholders to invest time and resources in a longer discovery phase.
Adapting the process to fit varying client needs and constraints, not every client was building from scratch, some had existing systems that needed an overhaul.