How much does the project discovery phase cost

[#1]

The discovery stage is an initial phase in an IT project where the project team works to understand the business problem or opportunity the project is meant to address. It typically involves research, analysis, and stakeholder collaboration to define the project scope, objectives, and requirements. During the discovery phase, the project team may conduct interviews, workshops, and other forms of data gathering to gather information about the current state of the business process or system, the desired outcomes, and the constraints and challenges that may impact the project.

At the same time, this phase is quite expensive - according to various sources, the discovery phase costs range from $5000 to $15000. Therefore, monitoring costs at this stage is critical. So, let's talk about it.

Typical steps in a discovery phase

The goal of the discovery phase is to gather information and insights that will help inform the planning and execution of the project.

Here are the typical steps in a discovery phase:

1. Define the problem: This step involves defining the problem or opportunity the project aims to address. It's essential to clearly articulate the situation to identify the right stakeholders and ensure everyone is on the same page.
2. Gather information: In this step, you collect information related to the problem. This may involve conducting research, analyzing data, talking to stakeholders, and identifying constraints or limitations.
3. Identify goals: Once you clearly understand the problem, you can identify the goals you want to achieve. These goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).
4. Analyze stakeholders: It's crucial to identify all the stakeholders involved in the project, understand their needs and expectations, and determine their level of involvement.
5. Develop a plan: Based on the information you've gathered and the goals you've identified, you can develop a plan that outlines the steps you need to take to achieve your objectives.
6. Define success metrics: To measure the success of your project, you need to define metrics that align with your goals. These metrics should be specific, measurable, and relevant to the project.

Which specialists are involved in the discovery phase?

🦁Project Manager

🐼Business analyst

🐯Technical Manager

🦄UI/UX Designer

🐘Backend | Frontend Developers

🐶Marketer

Accordingly, each of them performs a specific function and particular tasks. To do this, a specific pool of issues is created in the Jira Project, in which the teammates log time spent on the research. So, next, let's talk about how to estimate costs of the project discovery phase for the main workflows + expenses that accompanied this process.

Using Cost Tracker to monitor costs of the discovery phase

Let's look at generating cost reports of such stage of the discovery phase as Marketing Analysis.

The marketing team worked on market research, user persona, etc., for several weeks in April. In Jira, the team created relevant tasks for research, where they logged time.

Upon completion of the work, we generated a cost report showing the cost of the marketing analysis.

There were no one-time expenses in the current period - only payments for the usual tools (recurring expenses).

Next, we get the total cost of one of the discovery phase stages.

And then, accordingly, you can analyze the cost of each stage and, in the end, summarize the cost of the discovery phase in general.

It is also possible to monitor the cost of each task in the research project using the issue widget:

Takeaway

In summary, calculating the cost of the project discovery phase is necessary for effective budget planning, resource allocation, risk assessment, and ROI analysis. It helps in ensuring the project stays within budget and achieves its objectives.

And this is impossible without an effective project cost tracking app. You will use the Cost Tracker for Jira Cloud app and see how easy and simple it is. You have at least 30 days of the trial to see for yourself. Enjoy!

P.S. We invite you to read other articles and use cases from our team: 

• Tracking Project Costs in Jira with Cost Tracker
• The Cost of an Issue in Jira with Cost Tracker
• How to get your team meeting cost in Jira
• How to calculate version cost in Jira
• How to calculate the cost for efforts on JSM issues
• How much does one bug cost
• Cost tracking for marketing teams in Jira
• How to Move Tempo Worklogs to Cost Report?