Build the Right Thing with a Formalized Discovery Process
summary
A Pearson education unit (1,000 people, 75k full‑time and 250k part‑time students) formalizes a month‑long discovery cadence to avoid building unused features, using a core discovery team (PM, PO, engineering lead, QA, UX, architect) plus a rotating extended team and phases Understand–Ideate–Validate–Define. Cheap prototypes and customer interviews prompt concrete changes (one feature dropped, another reprioritized), outcomes flow into SAFe via Aha and Neo, collaboration happens remotely with Mural and Zoom, and leaders report stronger empathy and clearer roadmap decisions.
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chapters (17)
- 0:00Intro
- 1:35Case Study: The Business Conte 1000 employee business unit within large, complex organization
- 3:38The Problem
- 5:58Other Challenges
- 9:29What is Discovery?
- 9:56A Better Balance
- 11:32The Discovery Framework
- 13:35The Cross-functional Team
- 15:56Ensuring Shared Understanding
- 20:38Integrating with the Delivery Prode
- 23:23Starting with a Shared Vision
- 25:13Manage flow with WIP (Work in Progress) limits Leverage Portfolio & Program Kanban
- 27:25Invest in the right tools
- 30:15Be Strategic About Discovery
- 33:36Feedback from Customers
- 34:17Sage Advice
- 37:41Self-reflection
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