Discovery
Aims of the Discovery phase
Core goal: collaboratively understand the problem space & identify measurable opportunities
When you start discovery, you should clearly define the problem you’re trying to solve. During discovery you should learn about: - your users and what they’re trying to achieve - any constraints you’d face making changes to how the service is run - for example because of technology or legislation - the underlying policy intent you’ve been set up to address - this is the thing that government wants to change or make happen - opportunities to improve things - by sharing data with other teams, for example
Core team
The core team is best kept as small as possible and would expect to have the following digital roles:
- Delivery Manager
- User Research
- Business Analyst
- Service Designer [Optional]
Ad hoc input may be sought from other professions as required.
In addition, a contact is required from the business to provide their input and perspective. Ideally this would be a designated Product Manager who can subsequently become part of the core digital delivery team for Alpha.
Key work
- Service vision: This is ideally a single sentence describing what problem you are trying to solve for users. This should not contain any hint of a solution and should be high level enough to remain pretty consistent through the lifecycle of the service, but specific enough to help guide the team in their work.
- A list of user types: You will need to know at the end of discovery who all your different user types are. This will include any internal user types (civil servants are users too!).
- A prioritised list of user needs: As well as understanding who your users are, you need to understand what they are trying to achieve. This should be prioritised so that we know which of their needs we are most able and most willing to support.
- Discovery show and tell: At the end of discovery you should run a show and tell for as wide a group of stakeholders as possible to run through what you have achieved and how you have achieved it.
- A recommendation for Alpha: This should either be a recommendation of what an Alpha phase should look like, or a recommendation not to continue. For more complex services you may have several options. This should have started being developed and agreed before the end of discovery so you can move straight into alpha if required. It is not considered a failure to end at discovery. Your recommendation should include an idea of how much alpha is likely to cost and what that will be spent on.
- DDTS Stage Gate 1 (Business justification) approval, plus any other necessary governance and assurance documents in order to move into the next stage, as detailed below
Other work may include: - A set of assumptions to test in Alpha: If you are moving into Alpha then you will need a list of the big unknowns that you are planning on testing in your alpha phase.
Templates (WIP)
- TBC
Operational requirements
Data Protection DDTS Portfolio Activity
It may be appropriate to start thinking about Data Protection at the Discovery stage, especially if your service or delivery will be handling sensitive information. Usually by the end of Alpha you will need a completed DPIA to proceed. To begin the consultation process and start a draft DPIA, contact the Data Protection team.
- For Environment Agency deliveries: DataProtection@environment-agency.gov.uk
- For all other Defra deliveries: data.protection@defra.gov.uk
Cloud Centre of Excellence DDTS Portfolio Activity
All hosting is done via CCoE for dev, test, pre-production and live sites. At this stage you won’t be ready to commission environments, however you may want to find out more about the process of getting your service live, or request help with solution architecture, cloud considerations or environments for prototyping.
- The CCoE Sharepoint site
- An overview of the route to live
Assurance requirements
Business Activity DDTS Portfolio Activity CDDO/GDS Activity
Internal assessment [Optional] CDDO/GDS Activity
No formal assessment is required to move from a Discovery to an Alpha, however some teams might like to carry out a voluntary internal assessment to help them best structure their Alpha and identify areas that require further exploration. To do this contact the Service Assessment team. - GDS Service assessment Sharepoint
Discovery report [Optional] CDDO/GDS Activity
In addition to a Discovery Show and Tell, sometimes key stakeholders like to see a report that compiles a summary of the findings and the identified next steps. This can sometimes be useful for wider circulation.
Business case [Optional]Business Activity
Some parts of Defra require business cases and some do not. If required, this should be produced by a business contact, or where there is none available, produced with significant input from the business. At this stage, the business case should be high level.
- Guidance for producing business cases
DDTS Stage Gate 1 (Business Justification) DDTS Portfolio Activity
You will need to complete DDTS Stage Gate 1 at this point. This establishes whether the business requirement can be delivered – is it affordable, achievable and has value for money been established? Obviously at Discovery Stage, this is more about establishing whether it is financially worth proceeding to Alpha.
- Overview of Stage Gates
- Stage Gate template with guidance for each gate
Integrated Assurance and Approval Plan (IAAP) DDTS Portfolio Activity
As part of the DDTS Stage Gates, you will need to put together an Integrated Assurance and Approval Plan (IAAP). This is a living document that will be updated throughout the lifecycle of the project, and aims to capture how your delivery will be assured by DDTS. A first draft should be created at this stage.
- IAAP template
Spend Control DDTS Portfolio Activity
All digital projects need to pass through spend control. If your project is proceeding to Alpha, you will need to begin this process and start making the relevant preparations to pass through spend control. Typically you will need to submit your case with supporting documentation, and it will get reviewed and approved at a PAB meeting.
- Spend control sharepoint site
- Assessment criteria for GDS spend control
Project Online DDTS Portfolio Activity
All deliveries in DDTS need to have a project in Project Online, the Portfolio assurance and reporting tool. You will need to: - Add basic information about your delivery including key contacts - Add a high level timeline of when you roughly expect your delivery phases to be - Update at least monthly to give red / amber / green ratings for finance & progress - Add your financial forecasting for the spend control approval you’ve got, replacing forecasts with actuals on a monthly basis
The Portfolio team run regular inductions on Project Online.
- Requesting access to PoL
- To book an induction email DDTS_PortfolioOffice@defra.gov.uk