# Discovery & planning

> Validate the idea before you fund the build. A focused discovery phase tests demand, fixes scope and budget, and cuts the risk of overruns.

Most overruns start before a line of code is written, with a scope nobody tested. Discovery is a short, focused phase before the build. We talk to the people who will use the product, check that the demand is real, map what the first version must do and what it will take, and name the risks while they are still cheap to deal with. You finish with a plan you can fund with confidence, or with a clear reason to change the idea first.

Bitmason: https://bitmason.dev/en/services/discovery/

## What you get

- **Evidence of demand**: Interviews and research that show whether people have the problem and want your answer to it.
- **A fixed scope**: The features of the first version written down and agreed, with what is out of scope named too.
- **A budget you can plan around**: An estimate of cost and time built from the agreed scope, so you know what the build takes before you commit.
- **Architecture on paper**: The main technical choices and how the parts fit together, reviewed by senior engineers.
- **A clickable prototype**: The key screens as a prototype you can put in front of users and investors.

## How it works

1. **Interviews and research**: We talk to your future users and study the market and the alternatives they use today.
2. **Scope and priorities**: We turn what we learn into a feature list and agree the first version with you.
3. **Architecture and estimate**: Senior engineers design the system and estimate cost and time against the agreed scope.
4. **The plan handed over**: You get the findings, scope, prototype and estimate, ready to fund the build with us or anyone else.

## Related case studies

- [A three-language site for an industrial equipment supplier](https://bitmason.dev/en/cases/industronic.md): Present a wide technical range accurately in three languages, and make it easy for a buyer to call or write.
- [One site for equipment buyers and turnkey clients](https://bitmason.dev/en/cases/rollertech.md): Serve two audiences at once: buyers finding the right equipment, and clients weighing what the company can build.

[Plan a discovery phase](https://bitmason.dev/en/contact/?service=discovery)