Pre-study - From vision to reality

A pre-study is a valuable tool for a successful project that contributes to more accurate estimates and better decisions - so that you reach your digital goals. Here we tell you more

What is a pre-study?

A pre-study is like a mini-project carried out to clarify and establish the conditions for a project. You gather facts, ask why and form a picture of the current situation and the goal - what does the company’s situation look like? What challenges are you facing? What needs and potential exist?

The insights are then used as the basis for the brief and are the foundation for developing the new solution. The aim is for all parties to gain a shared view and become aware of the conditions surrounding the future collaboration or project

Why is it good to carry out a pre-study?

There is much to gain from laying a good foundation through a pre-study. Our experience as a digital agency is that pre-studies provide the best conditions for a successful project. It is a good way to define purpose, goals, timeline and budget in order to make better decisions and achieve better results

Pre-study with an agency - 4 benefits

1. Valuable input from experts

Some companies deprioritise pre-studies because they believe they have a good understanding of their target groups, users’ needs and what their website or digital service is meant to achieve. Or they have done a pre-study internally and think that’s enough. But often you risk doing yourself a disservice. 

With an internal pre-study you have hopefully reached internal alignment within the company, which is a good start, but there may be areas you need to delve into that you haven’t considered internally. A pre-study together with an agency or an external party can provide other valuable input. They can come in with fresh eyes, contribute their expertise and offer completely new perspectives and experiences from past web projects

2. Shared understanding for better results

A pre-study aims to clarify what is unclear and create a shared picture and a clear goal to strive for. Without a common goal you risk achieving the wrong things and not creating customer benefit and value for the investment you’ve made

To achieve the alignment you want it’s important that those who will create the solution are provided with the right information. It can be an advantage if the team that will be involved later in the project takes part in the pre-study. That way a greater understanding of the business and the challenges, opportunities and priorities ahead is created. Here a pre-study together with an agency can form the basis for that

3. Support during discussions

A pre-study serves as support later in the project. If questions, discussions and disagreements arise during the project’s course you can go back to the pre-study and the goals and see whether what you’re discussing helps you achieve the goals or not. It then becomes easier to make decisions and reach the set goals

4. Discover things early

With a pre-study you invest a bit more at the start, but you gain a lot from it in the long run. You get the opportunity to spot issues early and thus avoid common pitfalls. This can save both development time and resources later in the project that otherwise can become very costly. Being able to staff and plan in advance makes it easier to keep to the project’s timeline and budget

What does a pre-study include?

At Limetta we usually divide a pre-study phase into three parts - business and direction, strategy and creativity, and technology. Below we describe the different parts.

Business and direction

We often start by collecting data and knowledge from you. This picture can then be validated against data, measurement and analysis. To get to know the target group, interviews can be carried out with different types of customers from each business area. Business, target group and measurable goals are identified. We then develop a strategic direction and a number of recommendations.

Examples of activities: 

• Current state analysis - background, goals and purpose
• Data collection - what does reality look like?
• Workshop - experience and knowledge exchange
• Analysis and insights - what can we learn from and make use of what we know?
• Strategic direction and recommendation - actions and prioritization

Strategy and creativity

The strategic direction lays the foundation for a creative concept to achieve the goals. Page types and a sitemap are mapped out and they roughly identify what should be communicated and where. This work often results in suggestions for how the team should approach the project and provides input and inspiration for the creative work around accessibility, design and experience.

Examples of activities:

• Strategic direction - where are we going?
• User scenarios and needs - how do users behave, what do they do and what are their needs?
• Sitemap and page types - what should be communicated and where?
• Overall content plan - what content should be included?
• Concept and other creative input - how we solve problems and seize new opportunities

Technology

In the technical part of a pre-study we formulate technical requirements based on an analysis of needs and technical conditions. Among other things, we find out which systems exist in the organisation today, which system the current website is built in, whether it can be upgraded or whether it requires building a new one. There may also be systems that need to be connected to the site that must be taken into account.

Examples of activities:

• Technical analysis, requirements and integrations - what does the current situation look like?
• Security aspects, requirements, roles and permissions - which technical requirements and aspects must we consider?
• Identification of different choices - what technical options do we have?
• Recommendation of choice - which option provides the greatest goal fulfilment?
• High-level requirements - what is needed to achieve the goal?
• Choice and recommendations – approach, how we should proceed

Summary

In summary, a pre-study lays the foundation for a successful digital project by defining goals and requirements, reducing uncertainty, managing risks, and optimizing the use of resources. With a well-prepared pre-study in place, it becomes possible to develop a realistic budget and timeline for the project. It is an investment in the project’s future success and can save both time and money in the long run.

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