Product Discovery Workshop: Know What You’re Building
“If you don’t want to spend money on product workshops, it only means you have too much money.”
For years, we’ve seen companies rush into development without proper discovery, then watch as their projects crashed and burned. Products built without market validation. Features nobody wanted. Money down the drain.
But after working with 100+ digital products, we’ve landed on a simple yet powerful approach: the Product Discovery Workshop.
Today, it’s a core part of how we build trust, improve our products, and deliver better outcomes for our clients.
Why It’s So Hard to Build the Right Product
There’s no shortage of reasons why products fail:
“We didn’t understand what users actually needed.”
“We focused on features instead of solving problems.”
“We burned through our budget before validating our assumptions.”
“We built something nobody wanted.”
And honestly, a lot of companies have failed for exactly these reasons. They focused on implementation before validation or created solutions looking for problems. The result? Wasted money, lost time, and shelved projects.
But what if we looked at it differently?
A Simple Starting Point: Define Before You Build
Let’s keep it pragmatic.
What’s the most effective way to ensure product success before writing a single line of code?
Our answer: a structured Product Discovery Workshop.
When to Hold a Product Discovery Workshop
Timing is everything. Here’s when a workshop delivers the most value:
- Pre-Development Phase When you have a product idea but haven’t committed resources yet. This is ideal—validate before you invest.
- Before Major Pivots When your existing product needs to change direction. A workshop helps evaluate if you’re pivoting in the right direction.
- After Initial Market Research When you’ve done some homework but need to translate findings into action. The workshop turns research into a roadmap.
- During Funding Preparation When you’re seeking investment. A solid workshop creates materials that investors actually care about. Our fintech startup case study shows how a properly scoped product helped secure funding with just an $80K prototype instead of spending millions – read it to see how the right discovery approach can dramatically increase your chances with VCs.
- Before Annual Planning When you need to set priorities for the upcoming year. This focuses resources on what matters.
Workshop Duration and Scheduling
A typical Product Discovery Workshop follows this timeline:
- Pre-Workshop Research: 1-2 weeks for UX research, market analysis, and preparation
- Core Workshop Sessions: 2-5 days of intensive collaborative sessions
- Post-Workshop Documentation: 3-5 days to compile findings and prepare deliverables
We offer workshops in various formats based on your needs:
- Condensed Workshop: 1-2 days focusing only on critical aspects (ideal for startups with limited resources)
- Standard Workshop: 3 days covering all essential elements (most common format)
- Extended Workshop: 5+ days allowing for deeper exploration (best for complex products or regulated industries)
When scheduling your workshop, make sure all key decision-makers can attend the entire event, set aside time for pre-workshop preparation, include breaks between sessions, and plan for review time after you receive the deliverables.
We built a video social app for Gen Z using our discovery workshop approach. Through user research and customer mapping, we created a focused product roadmap that matched real user needs and market potential.
Gen Z Video App: Discovery Workshop in Action
Who Should Be in the Room
For a workshop to work, you need the right people:
Product Team
- Product Managers who understand market dynamics
- UX specialists who champion user needs
Development Team
- Technical leads who can assess feasibility
- Software architects who think about the big picture
- Specialists in relevant technology (AI, blockchain, etc.)
Key Stakeholders
- Decision-makers who can approve directions
- Budget holders who control the purse strings
- Department heads who will be affected by the product
For ideal workshop size, keep it between 4-7 participants to balance productive discussions with diverse perspectives. If your group is larger, use breakout sessions so everyone can meaningfully contribute.
We designed a hair care app using UX research and our discovery workshop process. We identified user problems, then created a focused solution with personalized plans and product recommendations based on hair type.
Hair Care App: Discovery Workshop Success
The Workshop Agenda That Actually Works
As we mentioned before, each discovery meeting agenda is completely different. Below we present an example session agenda for a 3-day workshop (preceded by UX research).
Day 1: Research and Problem Definition
Morning: Setting Context (2-3 hours)
- Introductions and ground rules
- Business goals alignment
- Current state assessment
Afternoon: Research Insights (3-4 hours)
- UX research findings with real user feedback
- Market analysis with competitive positioning
- “Empathy mapping” to get inside users’ heads
- Pain point prioritization to focus efforts
Day 2: Solution Exploration
Morning: Ideation (2-3 hours)
- “How Might We” brainstorming
- Rapid sketching for solution generation
- Idea grouping and voting
Afternoon: Product Shaping (3-4 hours)
- Crafting the product vision statement
- Creating user story maps
- Defining the MVP scope using MoSCoW method
Day 3: Strategy and Planning
Morning: Technical Foundation (2-3 hours)
- Architecture design
- System component mapping
- Technology stack selection
Afternoon: Implementation Planning (3-4 hours)
- Roadmap development with timelines
- Risk assessment and mitigation
- Success metrics definition
- Next steps and action items
We guided Green Token through research and a discovery workshop to define their climate blockchain priorities and improve their communication strategy.
Green Token: Blockchain for Climate Action
What You Actually Get
After the workshop, you walk away with:
- Initial cost & time estimates,
- UX research report (insights into what your users need),
- MVP development roadmap,
- List of product features (scope/backlog),
- List of “quick wins” (a list of features that don’t have to be developed from scratch but can be obtained/integrated at a fraction of the cost for the MVP and later fully developed, if necessary),
- Architecture layout & suggested technology,
- Go-to-market strategy,
- Success metrics (list of metrics to track that will show you product development is on the right way to succeed),
- Business strategy,
- Market Research,
- Competitor analysis,
- Lean Product Canvas/Product Market Fit Pyramid,
- Proto Personas,
- Product hypothesis & testing strategy,
- Product KPIs,
- Hypothesis testing scenarios,
- Customer Journey Map.
But the most valuable outcome? Clarity.
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Common Objections—and Our Take
We’ve heard every argument against workshops. Here are a few—and how we respond.
🧠 “We already know our users!”
Do you? Or do you just think you do?
The #1 reason startups fail is “no market need.” Unless you’ve done proper user research, you’re probably making assumptions that could sink your product.
🔧 “This is too high-level. We need to talk tech!”
Technology doesn’t create business value on its own.
A common mistake is jumping to technical decisions before establishing what problem you’re solving and for whom. The workshop establishes the “why” and “what” before the “how.”
🎯 “We don’t have time for this. We need to launch ASAP.”
Launch what, exactly? To whom? Solving what problem?
Without clear answers to these questions, you’re not saving time—you’re wasting it on building the wrong thing.
⚖️ “This costs too much.”
Our standard workshop costs $8,500. The average failed product costs $100,000+.
Which expense would you rather have?
We helped Brandbooster define their platform connecting artisans and buyers through UX research and a discovery workshop, creating a solution that streamlines social media selling for handcrafters.
Brandbooster: Simplifying Social Media Sales for Artisans
Can I run a discovery session on my own?
You technically can run a discovery session on your own, but it’s generally not recommended. Here’s why:
- You might unconsciously favor information that confirms your existing beliefs.
- Brainstorming solo can be less effective than bouncing ideas off others and building upon each other’s thoughts.
However, if you decide, you will definitely find these free resources super-useful:
- AI Market Research Tool: It that helps quickly validate business ideas. It gives market analysis, competitor insights, and revenue opportunities—perfect for early product development.
- How to start a startup [ebook]: Tt contains a lot of useful knowledge along with methods, exercises, and techniques that can help you create the initial product concept on your own.
How Much Does It Cost?
Let’s talk numbers:
- Standard workshop: $8,500 (18 person-days)
- Typically includes 7 days UX research, 3 days market research, 1 day technical preparation, and 3 days of actual workshop
- 50% discount if you continue development with us
We work primarily with Eastern European rates (around $60-75/hour instead of $75-100+ in the US).
Is This Worth It?
Let’s be clear: this isn’t an expense—it’s insurance.
If your workshop prevents just one wrong turn in development, it pays for itself many times over.
Consider two paths:
- Skip the workshop
- Jump straight into development
- Realize halfway through you missed critical requirements
- Pivot and rebuild at 2-3x the cost
- Launch late with compromised features
- Do the workshop
- Invest $8,500 upfront
- Align stakeholders before writing code
- Build only what users actually need
- Launch with confidence
As we like to say:
“Skipping product discovery is a luxury only those who can afford to waste money should consider.”
If you’re ready to build the right product the first time, a workshop isn’t optional—it’s essential.
Ready to talk about your Product Discovery Workshop? Let’s get started.
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