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🔍 Discovery Phase - Before You Prompt

Critical: Never skip the discovery phase. Understanding your project requirements thoroughly will save countless hours of development time and prevent major refactoring later.
  • 📋 Project Brief
  • 🎨 Design System Discovery
  • 🗺️ User Journey Mapping
  • 📊 Technical Discovery

Essential Questions Checklist

Before writing any prompt, answer these fundamental questions:
Public or Private Platform? • Public: Needs SEO, performance optimization, public APIs • Private/Internal: Focus on security, authentication, role-based accessTarget Audience Demographics • Age range and technical proficiency • Geographic location (affects hosting, compliance) • Expected user volume (affects architecture)Device Usage Patterns • Mobile-first, desktop-first, or equal priority? • Native app requirements or PWA sufficient? • Offline functionality needed?
Language Requirements • English only or multi-language? • RTL support (Arabic, Hebrew, Persian)? • Date/time/currency formatting needsAccessibility Standards • WCAG 2.1 AA or AAA compliance? • Screen reader optimization priority • Keyboard navigation requirementsRegional Compliance • GDPR (Europe) • CCPA (California) • Other regional data protection laws
Content Update Frequency • Static content (rarely changes) • Dynamic content (frequent updates) • Real-time content (live data)Content Editors • Technical team only • Marketing/content team • End users (user-generated content)CMS Requirements • Full CMS (Strapi, Sanity, Contentful) • Headless CMS integration • Simple admin panel • Git-based content management
Authentication Methods • Email/password • Social logins (Google, Facebook, GitHub) • SSO/SAML for enterprise • Passwordless/Magic links • Two-factor authenticationUser Roles & Permissions • Simple (user/admin) • Complex (multiple roles with granular permissions) • Team/organization structures • Invitation systemsUser Data Management • Profile customization needs • Data export requirements (GDPR) • Account deletion workflows • Data retention policies
Performance Targets • Page load time requirements • Lighthouse score targets • Concurrent user expectations • API response time SLAsIntegration Needs • Third-party APIs • Payment processing • Email services • Analytics platforms • CRM systemsSecurity Requirements • Data encryption standards • PCI compliance (for payments) • Healthcare compliance (HIPAA) • Financial compliance (SOC 2)

Next Step

With discovery complete, proceed to create your planning documents (claude.md and plan.md) →