During this phase of the project the main goal is to learn more about your client's industry. In addition to understanding the industry it is important to begin understanding the audience for the site. This understanding is gained by conducting research, not only of your client, but of your client's competition as well. Conducting a competitive analysis affords the team and the client a good understanding of existing sites, site conventions and functionality used within the client's industry. Discovery entails a process of information-gathering and research that allows a team to familiarize themselves with the project at hand from a fresh perspective.

• We knew very little about our client and the industry.
• Our time was very limited to complete the competitive analysis, yet we needed and wanted as much information as possible.

I developed a questionnaire to send to the client that would help the team gain some insight into her personality and her knowledge about other photography web sites. This was an attempt to measure her expectations of what she thought her site should be.

In order to gain as much relevant information as we could, the team decided to divide and conquer the competitive analysis. Each team member ran an informal analysis of an existing photography web site. The analysis was used to look at features and usability.

As students, this was our first big project working as a team. I knew there would need to be clear direction, communication and documentation if we were to succeed as a team. I developed weekly agendas and status reports for our meetings that specifically addressed what needed to be completed, who was responsible for the completion, and when it was to be completed by. During the week I would check in with both the client and the team for updates or to address any unforeseen problems. This "tracking" helped the team stay focused. The team members appreciated the direction and clear lines of responsibilities. It allowed for our meeting to be very productive and allowed ample time for creative problem solving when necessary.

I attempted to keep the team working details on one phase while I prepared and planned for the next phases. I think this forward planning helped to keep the team focused on the details without worrying too much about the phases to come. It helped me to address areas that I had little knowledge about and to alert the team to areas that needed further research.