The initial assessment helps us align with the client's goals and manage expectations. It also allows us to identify the problem, the users, and the product's value proposition.

In this step, we focus on understanding the goals of both the short-term MVP and long-term business vision. We thoroughly analyze the business, the market segment, and the competition to document the User Journey.

We also identify potential technical limitations and define what we could build considering the project scope.

The Metric of Success is a parameter we developed at Bixlabs inspired by the Lean Startup methodology. At this stage, we define the main pain points the product needs to resolve to fulfill its core purpose.

Using the User Journey as a reference, we brainstorm a list of key indicators for the client's short-term and long-term vision and decide which is the most crucial metric for measuring the project's success.

Defining a Metric of Success helps us prioritize features and improve our decision-making, optimizing the overall project efficiency.

The next step is to identify the single feature we expect to have the most impact on the user experience.

At this stage, we ask every person involved in the process to sketch three to five screens they believe can deliver the most impact on the Metric of Success. Afterward, we come up with a list of testable Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) by creating a usability test. We prioritize them to reduce risks, deliver high value, and achieve a fast release to the market.

To sketch the screen proposals, we take inspiration from similar products in the market.

After sketching, we conduct a feedback session, where we take inventory of the different strategies and the problems we’re trying to solve, and then prioritize them according to the Metric of Success.

Having established the approach, strategy, and the prioritized list of problems and features, we move to the Proof of Concept / UX design stage, where we set to create the product's architecture.

We start by identifying the highest risk screen and create lo-fi wireframes for that screen. We explore different proposals and work through the usability test we developed previously, inspired by the Test Driven Development strategy.

This way, we make sure that we have a concrete solution for each identified problem. Once we reach a consensus, we flush out the rest of the app based on the missing items of the usability test.

This stage is known as Proof of Concept because it serves as an initial testing ground for how features will be displayed on the product. Using a Proof of Concept allows us to explore the best possible ways to shape the UX and offer a valuable experience to potential customers.

The goal is to reduce the number of screens into a compact, manageable offering that can be delivered quickly and significantly impact the Success Metric.

After achieving consensus on the best set of actions to improve the success metric, we translate the wireframes into polished UI mockups.

We build a high-definition prototype capable of triggering authentic and emotional responses from users. It's the first opportunity we have to put the app in front of a real audience.

The goal of creating an interactive prototype is to obtain measurable feedback and validate the market response. It also helps us address concerns and anticipate possible design flaws before fully committing to development.

We provide the client's team with the functional prototype and guidelines to conduct a Product Validation instance with real users.

Validation is a vital step in Product Discovery because it allows us to support our decisions with accurate data and ensure we're heading in the right direction with the project.