Product Discovery
Explore the business challenge, customer needs, opportunities and assumptions behind a product idea.
- Discovery workshops
- Stakeholder interviews
- Problem definition
- Opportunity assessment
- Product requirements
Build the right product, before you build the product.
Turning an idea into a successful digital product starts with understanding the problem, validating the opportunity and making the right decisions before committing to development.
I help founders and businesses explore their ideas, test assumptions and shape them into clear product strategies, prototypes and practical plans for development.
What you get
- Clarity before costThe problem, the users and the assumptions, written down
- Evidence, not opinionAssumptions tested with real customers before you build
- A route to deliveryA scoped first version and a plan nuom or another partner can build from
Good ideas need more than good development.
Building software is a significant investment. Without a clear understanding of the business problem, customer needs and commercial opportunity, projects can accumulate unnecessary features, changing requirements and wasted effort without gaining traction.
I help founders and leadership teams establish what needs to be built, why it matters and whether the opportunity is worth pursuing before committing to development.
What I can help with
Four areas of advisory work, used together or on their own depending on where your idea is.
Idea Validation
Test whether an idea solves a meaningful problem before committing to a full development programme.
- Assumption mapping
- Customer validation
- Early-stage testing
- Feasibility assessment
- MVP hypothesis development
Product Strategy & MVP Planning
Define a realistic first version of the product and establish priorities.
- Product roadmaps
- MVP scoping
- Feature prioritisation
- Technology considerations
- Delivery planning
- Indicative development costing
Prototyping & Innovation
Explore how an idea could work through early concepts and prototypes.
- Concept development
- Design sprint facilitation
- Prototype planning
- Rapid experimentation
- User feedback
From idea to a clear direction
Four stages, each ending with something written down. Not every engagement needs all four.
Understand the business opportunity, intended users and problems worth solving.
Outcome: Clear problem definition and key assumptions.
Test the most important assumptions and explore whether the proposed solution is feasible and valuable.
Outcome: Evidence to support product decisions.
Define an appropriate MVP, prioritise requirements and establish a realistic delivery approach.
Outcome: Product direction, scope and next steps.
Where a project is ready for design or software development, I can help shape the delivery approach and explore implementation through nuom.
Outcome: A defined route into product design, engineering or further validation.
Ways to work together
Three advisory engagements. Each one ends with a clear recommendation.
Start here
Product Discovery Workshop
£600
Credited if you proceed
A focused session to explore the opportunity, identify assumptions and establish next steps.
Book a workshopMVP Scope & Cost Assessment
£1k – £8k
Scoped to the product
An advisory engagement to define the initial product scope, assess complexity and develop an indicative delivery budget.
Discuss an assessmentProduct Strategy & Advisory
Bespoke
Proposal after a conversation
Ongoing support for founders and leadership teams developing new products or reviewing existing product plans.
Talk about advisory supportWhen you're ready to build.
Good product development starts with clear thinking, but eventually ideas need to become working solutions.
Where a project requires product design, software engineering or implementation, I can help define the delivery approach and explore support through nuom, the digital product and software agency I founded.
My role is to help ensure the right problem is being solved and that the project has a clear direction before significant investment begins.
- Martin: discovery, validation, strategy and advisory
- nuom: product design, engineering and implementation
- One clear brief carried from plan to build
Frequently asked questions
Product discovery is the work done before development to understand the problem, the people affected by it and the opportunity. It covers who the product is for, what they need, which assumptions the idea rests on and what the smallest useful version might be. The output is a clear definition of what to build and why, not a finished design or a line of code.
In most cases, yes. Validation is usually cheap compared with development, and it tends to change the scope: features drop out, priorities shift, and sometimes the right answer is not to build yet. A few weeks of testing assumptions with real customers protects a much larger investment later.
Yes. The MVP Scope & Cost Assessment defines the first version, prioritises requirements, considers the technology options and produces an indicative delivery budget. The figure is a planning estimate based on the scope we agree, not a fixed quotation, and it can be used to brief nuom or another delivery partner.
No. My role is discovery, validation, product strategy and advisory. When a project is ready for design or engineering, delivery can be supported through nuom, the digital product and software agency I founded, or another partner that suits the project. I stay involved in shaping the approach so the build matches the plan.
Yes, and most of the founders I work with are non-technical. Part of the job is translating between business goals and technical reality so you can make decisions with confidence, ask the right questions of developers and avoid paying for things you do not need.
It depends on what discovery shows. Some projects move into validation or prototyping, some go straight to planning and a delivery brief, and some pause because the evidence says the opportunity is not strong enough yet. Each stage ends with a written view of what was learned and a recommended next step.
An idea is usually ready when the problem is clearly defined, the people who have it have confirmed it matters, the first version is scoped to what they will actually use, and you understand roughly what it will cost and how it will reach customers. If any of those are missing, that is the next thing to work on.
Not sure whether to build yet?
That is the right question to ask first. Start with a conversation about the idea, the problem it solves and what you would need to know before investing.
