What is product discovery?

It's the structured work of finding out what to build before you build it: who the user is, which problem is worth solving, what the smallest useful product looks like, and what it will cost. Done properly, it swaps months of guessing for a couple of weeks of evidence.

What happens in a discovery sprint?

User and market research, scoping and prioritisation, and a validated, costed product plan — over 1–2 weeks. Extend it to a clickable prototype and you can put the idea in front of users and investors before committing to a build.

How much does product discovery cost?

From £4,000 for the 1–2 week sprint, fixed price. Discovery through to a clickable prototype starts from £8,000. Either way you keep everything — the research, the plan, the prototype — whether or not we build it.

What if discovery shows the idea isn't viable?

Then it's done its job. A fixed-price 'no' is far cheaper than a failed build — and what you learn usually points to a sharper version of the idea worth testing next.

Do we have to build with you afterwards?

No. The plan is written to be handed to any competent team — us included. If we do build it, the scope and price are already validated, which is why discovery-first projects run smoother.

Product Discovery Process & Workshops

Every step, with a team who's done it before

The temptation with a new product idea is to start building. Discovery is the cheaper bet: one to two weeks to find out whether the idea deserves a budget — the real user problem, the smallest useful scope, and an honest cost — before a line of code is written. From £4,000.

Book a free 20-minute consultation

Is it ready?

A no-cost call to work out what discovery would need to answer — who the user is, what's still unknown, what a 'yes' would have to prove. If the idea's already clear enough to build, we'll say so.
Set the scope

You commit to a fixed-price sprint before it starts — one to two weeks of user and market research, scoping and a validated, costed plan. Extend it to a clickable prototype from £8,000, decided upfront.
The sprint

We talk to real users, define the smallest useful product by what proves the idea, and hand you a validated plan with a build quote you can hold us to — taken to a tappable Figma prototype and real user testing on the extended sprint.
Build or don't

You keep the research, plan and prototype whoever builds it. If discovery says the idea isn't viable yet, that fixed-price 'no' has saved you a failed build — and usually points to a sharper version worth testing next.

Ideas tested before they were built

Discovery in practice: a wellbeing app taken to a clickable prototype and readied for user testing before any build, a fan-voting app shaped by a real user-feedback session, and a sustainability product scoped from a rough idea into a shippable plan.

Workitude

Workitude's founder needed to test an employee wellbeing concept with real users before committing to development. CodeLeap designed the mobile interface and built an interactive prototype so the idea could be validated first.
Read more
Vota

Vota is a football app where fans vote during a live match on the decisions a manager faces, including substitutions, formation and tactics, and earn points when they call what actually happens. The founder came to CodeLeap to turn the concept into a designed, interactive product he could put in front of fans and funding partners. The prototype did what he needed it to do, and the app is expected to go into development in the coming year.
Read more
Kite Insights

Kite Insights is a UK sustainability consultancy advising large enterprises on ESG, and its leadership saw an opportunity to reach individual professionals directly. Kite Insights partnered with CodeLeap to design and launch Hurd, a mobile app that brings transparency to companies' sustainability practices and gives employees a voice. In less than three months, Hurd achieved presence in organisations including PwC, KPMG, AXA and JP Morgan Chase & Co.
Read more

See more case studies

Our approach

What the sprint is made of — the research methods and the tools we use to turn a rough idea into evidence inside two weeks.

User research

We talk to the people who'd actually use it — the fastest way to find out the problem you're solving isn't the one they have.
ROI-first scoping

The smallest useful product gets defined by what proves the idea, not by what fits in the budget — smaller is faster to learn from.
Figma

Concepts become Figma prototypes you can tap through — we've taken products from sketch to clickable this way for years.
User testing

Prototypes get put in front of real users before any build — feedback comes from behaviour, not a meeting-room hunch.
OpenAI & Claude

For AI ideas we prototype on the OpenAI models we've shipped with, or on Anthropic's Claude where it suits, before you fund a build.
A costed plan

Discovery ends in numbers — scope, price and timeline you can hold us to, or hand to any other team.
An honest 'don't build it'

Some sprints end with a recommendation not to build yet — the cheapest result we offer, and we mean that as a feature.
And much more

This is what comes up most often, not a limit. Bring us something that isn't on this list and we'll get up to speed on it — working with something new is the job, not an obstacle.

What our clients are saying

Real reviews from clients we have delivered for, on Clutch and elsewhere.

4.9 via Clutch

The enthusiasm, understanding of our mission, and passion from the first few minutes of the call were the deciding factors in choosing CodeLeap. Within 3 months of our app launching, we had over 1,500 downloads, appeared in leading publications from Forbes, The Metro, Marie Claire, Women's Fitness and many more, and started raising further investment.

Charlie CEO, Becon
They are incredibly diligent in the quality of work they produce, and go above and beyond when it comes to solving issues faced within the project, and to ensure we meet strict project deadlines. You never feel like you are one of many clients, and they ensure they are always there to help with any need you have, no matter how big or small.

Amelia Parmiter Marketing Manager, AWS - Marble
CodeLeap made me feel like my options were limitless in terms of what could be achieved, which was critical to me as we were creating something very unique. I'm glad I chose Codeleap over a large corporation as the personable approach resulted in a smooth and pleasant experience.

James CEO, Bearable
Working with CodeLeap was a very good experience from both a professional and personal point of view. These people know what they are doing and are both efficient and clever and made a good partner. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend CodeLeap.

John CEO, Neurometrics-Diab
CodeLeap adds so much value and goes above and beyond what I expected. CodeLeap's team is very flexible with all the different requests we've put in front of them. They've also been great with the whole business side of things, and being able to forecast for this industry is really helpful. Overall, I'm completely satisfied with their work — they've been incredibly helpful.

Johanne CEO, Cherry
Their flexibility and focus on quality were outstanding.

Mike Fenna CTO, Kite Insights
Marcelo has been wonderful throughout the process and we are very happy.

Amrit Director, Energy Company
Absolutely FANTASTIC. This is very much what I had in mind. We're very pleased with your team, thank you all very much.

Rich Director, Legal Company

See all reviews on Clutch

Recognised by the industry

Independent rankings from Clutch, The Manifest, SME News and the National Digital Awards.

Flexible, transparent pricing

Discovery sprint

1–2 weeks
- User and market research
- The smallest useful product defined
- A validated, costed product plan
- An honest call if it isn't viable yet
- Everything yours, whoever builds it
From £4,000
Book a free consultation
Discovery to prototype

Sprint to clickable
- Everything in the discovery sprint
- A clickable prototype of the core flows
- Set up for testing with real users
- A build quote you can hold us to
- Research, plan and prototype yours on payment
From £8,000
Book a free consultation
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Any questions? We're here to answer

Everything you might want to know before starting a project with us.

It's the structured work of finding out what to build before you build it: who the user is, which problem is worth solving, what the smallest useful product looks like, and what it will cost. Done properly, it swaps months of guessing for a couple of weeks of evidence.
User and market research, scoping and prioritisation, and a validated, costed product plan — over 1–2 weeks. Extend it to a clickable prototype and you can put the idea in front of users and investors before committing to a build.
From £4,000 for the 1–2 week sprint, fixed price. Discovery through to a clickable prototype starts from £8,000. Either way you keep everything — the research, the plan, the prototype — whether or not we build it.
Then it's done its job. A fixed-price 'no' is far cheaper than a failed build — and what you learn usually points to a sharper version of the idea worth testing next.
No. The plan is written to be handed to any competent team — us included. If we do build it, the scope and price are already validated, which is why discovery-first projects run smoother.