Developer involvement in discovery

Traditional approaches exclude developers until implementation time. Agile brings developers into the discovery phase, capturing their technical insights earlier. When developers join user research sessions, problem-framing workshops, and early solution discussions, they offer a valuable technical perspective while gaining deeper user understanding. This prevents creating designs that look good but are difficult to implement. For example, a developer in a user interview might notice that customers struggle with form submission speed. They could suggest backend optimizations that designers wouldn't have considered. Similarly, developers in ideation sessions might propose technical solutions that open new creative possibilities. Involving developers in discovery creates solutions that are both desirable and feasible. When developers see users struggling firsthand, they become more committed to solving real problems rather than just completing tickets.