Discovery allows your ministry to explore a digital project’s goals and define what success would look like so you can build the right solution for your users. It’s a powerful, essential tool.
But only when done right.
The Discovery phase requires rigor, forethought, and expertise for its results to be truly meaningful. Unfortunately, there are far too many ways to get Discovery wrong that can threaten a project’s ultimate success. And even derail your ministry from pursuing its mission.
The good news? There are seven common Discovery blunders you can learn to avoid to set your organization up for impactful project strategizing.
A Cautionary Tale of Discovery Gone Wrong
Imagine a (fictional) example of Discovery gone wrong. There’s a ministry that’s been around since the 1960s. This ministry relies mostly on 1960s methods of reaching its constituents. They have no choice but to modernize or risk the organization’s long-term health.
Because this ministry is at a crossroads, time is of the essence. They move quickly, building a digital product that’s drastically different from anything they’ve ever created. In the process of moving quickly, they skip Discovery altogether.
When the product is launched, users aren’t sure what to make of it, so they don’t use it. Without Discovery, the ministry never grasped user needs.
The organization isn’t agile or well-funded enough to fully recover from their misstep, so they must play it safe with every subsequent project to remain afloat. They never get the 21st-century makeover they so desperately need—and the ministry is stagnant. Even the team’s leaders feel the effects of bypassing Discovery. The project’s failure follows them from position to position; the world of Christian nonprofits is just so small.
7 Blunders to Avoid for Fruitful Digital Projects
You might think that’s an extreme example (although we’ve seen it happen). But regardless of how an ineffective Discovery phase (or even skipping Discovery) affects you specifically, you stand to waste irreplaceable resources like time, money, focus, energy—even trust.
Avoiding the following seven blunders is your ticket to being a good steward of your resources and, ultimately, an effective leader within your ministry.
1. Skipping Discovery Outright
Organizations skip the foundational step of Discovery for many reasons:
- They have meeting bloat and don’t want to block more time on their calendars to complete Discovery.
- They think they already know what needs to be built.
- They lack familiarity with or understanding of what Discovery is and why it matters.
- They underestimate just how many project “nooks and crannies” need to be discussed upfront.
- They perceive Discovery as too expensive or lacking value.
Those are all understandable reasons—until you complete Discovery. We’ve never had an organization regret an effective Discovery session or continue thinking it’s a waste of time and budget.
And remember, if you do skip Discovery, you risk building something your constituents—the people you serve—won’t use. You also risk internal misalignment and avoidable roadblocks.
2. Rushing Through Discovery
It’s tempting to rush through Discovery for the same reasons it’s tempting to skip it altogether. Additionally, you might be in a hurry to get your ministry’s website or app live because you’re at a crossroads, like in our example, or under some other pressure.
Many organizations in this category half-heartedly agree to conduct Discovery. But only because they want to check the box, get the project blueprint, and move forward.
But sprinting through Discovery is almost worse than not doing it in the first place. If you move too quickly, you’re once again betting your organization’s ideas will turn into a product your users want—without the evidence to continue confidently.
3. Conducting Discovery Internally
Your team’s knowledge of your ministry and its mission is invaluable to the success of your project. But there’s a reason doctors don’t operate on themselves.
Understandably, you (and your team) can’t get the distance from your ministry or project necessary to truly challenge your assumptions and evaluate each aspect of your operation without bias. You might also be biased toward the way your organization has always gotten things done and loyal to the charismatic leader at the helm.
That’s all a perfectly natural and even laudable part of working for a harmonious organization with a worthy mission. But for Discovery to be useful, you need a fresh set of eyes. A partner on the outside looking in can help you see the best parts of your ministry and keep those intact. But they can also help you optimize the parts that could and should be working better.
Finally, completing the Discovery process is more technical than you might think. An external partner with lots of experience will facilitate an expert-level Discovery phase customized to your ministry.
4. Neglecting the User Perspective
Christian nonprofits like yours typically have a founder and board full of influential, wonderful, visionary people. These people have awesome ideas for digital products they want to implement ASAP.
But you must keep in mind that your ministry exists to serve your constituents, not to build what your president or board wants. You must filter all ideas through the lens of these constituents—your users—so they’re satisfied with the final product and your ministry is faithfully pursuing its mission.
During Discovery, you’ll use tools (like empathy maps and personas) to ensure an idea that looks great on paper will translate to a user-centered product your constituents love.
5. Treating Discovery as a One-Time Endeavor
Imagine you’re building a few new digital products for your ministry’s 100th anniversary. The anniversary isn’t for a few years, but you need to start planning right away since it’s such a pivotal milestone.
Of course, you should start with Discovery. However, it would be a mistake to think one Discovery process is sufficient for a multi-year, big budget project! (For the record, one Discovery session is enough for many projects.)
Just consider how much changed in our world between 2019 and 2022! You can’t assume all of your Discovery findings from today will hold up in a few years when the celebration finally arrives. It’s okay to deviate from early plans if it’s justified by changes in society or your ministry’s landscape.
The bottom line? With an expansive project, you should count on intermediate stages and an appropriate number of additional Discovery sessions to ensure your initial findings are holding true as time marches on. Discovery isn’t always one and done. And you’re never finished thinking about your product(s), even as you’re building.
6. Losing Sight of Discovery Findings
As mentioned, it is okay to deviate from your initial Discovery results if you have a good reason, like societal changes that demand adaptation. Or new user research that suggests your product is slightly off course.
But there’s a difference between deviating for a good reason and losing sight of Discovery findings completely.
Sometimes, shiny trends present themselves midway through a project. It can be tempting to jump ship and incorporate a trend into your product instead of taking the product you ideated during Discovery across the finish line. However, following a trendy idea is generally not a good enough reason to veer.
You may also be presented with a new idea (trend or not) post-Discovery, perhaps from a teammate. Use your Discovery blueprint to test this new idea. If it doesn’t fit your plans, put it in the backlog to be revisited. Having your objective Discovery blueprint makes it easier to “reject” off-course ideas—or, often, simply postpone them—without it seeming like a personal affront.
Neglecting to reference your Discovery findings can also harm project continuity—especially when there’s turnover in staff or leadership. On the flip side, with Discovery findings in hand, new hires can easily pick up where past staff left off. Everything is beautifully documented, so your project is future-proofed.
7. Omitting Measurable Definitions for Success
An often overlooked Discovery to-do is coming up with tangible measures of success for your project and digital product.
We get it. It’s difficult to meaningfully measure success, so many ministries assume simply launching the product is victory enough. They further assume that their constituents are happily using their app or website—without proof. Besides, you’re zeroed-in on getting to the build or pleasing your board. Setting success metrics takes a backseat.
But what’s the point of creating something if it doesn’t provide your constituents with what they need and therefore advance your ministry’s mission? And how will you ever optimize your product (or build a new, better one) if you don’t know what’s working—and what’s not?
So, it’s clear you should implement measures of success. Some common ones include tracking user and/or donor engagement. There are others; whatever metrics you use, it’s important that they are meaningful to your ministry.
Engagement doesn’t necessarily translate to conversions like it does in the for-profit world. But it’s still immensely valuable. It might mean users are reading more Bible passages, streaming more sermons, or just generally interacting with scripture more often, all thanks to your app. Because users are taking advantage of your app, donors are more likely to support you. And your board will be thrilled you’re meeting your mission.
Impact Your Ministry’s Mission with Effective Discovery
Discovery is worth its weight in gold—if you do it right. Bypass these seven blunders and you’re on your way to a digital product that meets user needs, elicits donations, pleases your board, and, most importantly, drives your ministry’s mission forward.