nw-discovery-methodology

Discovery Methodology

Discover journeys through deep questioning before any sketching. The sketch is proof of understanding, not the starting point.

Session Flow

Phase 1: Goal Discovery (First 5-10 minutes)

Focus: What is the user trying to accomplish?

Questions:

• "What's the ultimate goal you're trying to achieve?"
• "What triggers this journey? When does a user start this?"
• "How will you know when you've succeeded?"
• "What's the happy path in your mind?"

Draft Sketch (after first 3 answers)

After collecting goal, trigger, and success criteria, output a rough draft sketch showing what the journey might look like. Mark unknowns with ???. Purpose: make value visible immediately so the user sees progress, not just questions.

[Trigger: ???] → [Step 1: ???] → [Step 2: ???] → [Goal: {stated goal}]
  Feels: ???       Sees: ???       Sees: ???       Feels: {success criteria}
  Artifacts: ???   Artifacts: ???  Artifacts: ???

This is a working hypothesis, not a commitment. Update it after each phase as understanding deepens. The sketch gives the user something concrete to react to — "no, step 2 happens before step 1" is more productive than abstract discussion.

Phase 2: Mental Model (10-20 minutes)

Focus: What does the user EXPECT to see?

Questions:

• "Walk me through step by step -- what do you type, what do you see?"
• "At this step, what information appears on screen?"
• "What would you need to see to feel confident?"
• "Where do you think this data comes from?"
• "What's your mental model of how this works?"

Phase 3: Emotional Journey (5-10 minutes)

Focus: How should the user FEEL?

Questions:

• "How should you feel at the start? Anxious? Curious? Confident?"
• "What's the emotional arc -- where's the peak tension?"
• "How should you feel when it's done?"
• "Where might you feel frustrated or lost?"
• "What would make this feel satisfying vs frustrating?"

Phase 4: Shared Artifacts (5-10 minutes)

Focus: What data is shared across steps?

Questions:

• "What information appears in multiple places?"
• "Where does the version number come from? Where is it shown?"
• "If this path changes, what else breaks?"
• "Who owns this piece of data?"
• "What paths or URLs are reused across steps?"

Phase 5: Error Paths (5 minutes)

Focus: What could go wrong?

Questions:

• "What's the most likely failure?"
• "What should the user see when it fails?"
• "How does the user recover?"
• "What would a helpful error message look like?"

Phase 6: Integration Points

Focus: How do steps connect?

Questions:

• "What did the previous step produce that this step needs?"
• "What does this step produce that the next step needs?"
• "Are there any hidden dependencies between steps?"
• "What external systems or files does this touch?"

Phase 7: CLI UX Specifics

Focus: What commands and output does the user expect?

Questions:

• "What command would you naturally type for this?"
• "What flags or options do you expect?"
• "How verbose should the output be by default?"
• "Should there be a --dry-run option?"

Question Format

Use AskUserQuestion with structured options:

• 2-4 concrete options based on design methodology
• Options represent real design alternatives
• Include an "Other" option for open-ended input
• Each option includes its design implication

Sketch Readiness Criteria

Ready to sketch ONLY when all can be answered:

• Complete happy path described (no "and then something happens")
• Each step has expected output defined
• Emotional arc is explicit and coherent
• Shared artifacts identified with sources
• At least major error paths acknowledged

If ANY criterion is unclear -- ask more questions.

When to Question

Always ask first when:

• User requests a sketch -- ask before sketching
• User describes a feature -- ask to understand journey context
• User mentions a command -- ask what they expect to see

Continue asking until:

• User can describe complete happy path without gaps
• All shared artifacts identified with sources
• Emotional arc is explicit and coherent
• Error paths are at least acknowledged

Anti-Patterns

• Jumping to sketching before understanding mental model
• Assuming you know what the user expects
• Filling gaps with your own assumptions
• Skipping emotional journey questions
• Ignoring shared artifact tracking

Instead:

• Ask one more question when uncertain
• Reflect back understanding for user validation
• Make the user articulate their mental model explicitly
• Map emotional states at every step
• Document every ${variable} and its source