Discovery
Discovery is the work that product teams do to make decisions about what to build. It encompasses all the activities and decisions teams use to figure out what to build next, including talking with customers, understanding needs, observing challenges, uncovering pain points, and evaluating solutions.
What is the difference between discovery and delivery?
The best way to think about product discovery is to think about it in relation to product delivery. It's not possible to build a product without doing both discovery and delivery.
Discovery encompasses all the activities teams do to decide what to build. Delivery is all the activities teams do to write code, package releases, and ship products.
What is the goal of product discovery?
The goal for product discovery is to learn fast. Instead of learning after shipping a product that nobody wants it, teams want to learn as quickly as possible if what they think they should build is the right thing to build.
Good discovery is a continuous, systematic decision-making process that includes customers throughout and focuses on learning as quickly as possible.
What is the structure of good product discovery?
Good product discovery has a simple underlying structure: Start with an outcome, discover opportunities, discover solutions. This framework helps teams stay focused on what matters most while keeping customers at the center of the decision-making process.
Learn more:
- Product Discovery Basics: Everything You Need to Know
Related terms:
- Continuous Discovery
- Delivery
- Product Trio
- Outcomes
Last Updated: October 25, 2025