Remote-First Engagements
The Scoping Phase is the first phase of a project and lasts a few days.
The Problem of Too Many Ideas
Most projects begin with more possible ideas than there is time to pursue. Someone has to decide which ones are worth the effort before anything is built. That decision is the job of the Scoping Phase. It happens before the real build work starts, and its purpose is to make sure the team is pointed at something promising rather than at whatever idea was loudest in the first meeting.
This article follows the Scoping Phase step by step and traces what the team knows at each stage. As you read, keep one question in mind: at each point, is the team working from assumptions, or from things it has actually observed?
Where Scoping Sits in the Project
The Scoping Phase is the first phase of a project and lasts a few days. The source labels it Phase 1, which tells you it comes first in the sequence of the engagement.
The short length is part of the design. Scoping is meant to be a focused investigation that ends with a clear view of options. It is not an open-ended study that delays everything else. The phase is also not trying to finish the solution. It answers two questions: what work is happening today, and which parts of it deserve attention first.
Two Ways to Run the Investigation
The FDE runs the Scoping Phase in one of two ways, and the choice depends on the engagement. The first option is a site visit, where the FDE works on site. The second is a series of half-day remote video sessions. The source names both options, and it does not say that one is always better than the other.
The goal is the same in each case: to see the real work up close. The format changes how the FDE gets there, but the purpose of the phase stays fixed. Whichever route is chosen, the investigation has to reveal how work actually happens.
Tracing What the Team Knows
What do you think happens?
Should the Scoping Phase end with a finished solution that is ready to deploy?
Reveal answer
No, the phase only answers which work is happening and which parts deserve attention first
The source says the phase is not trying to finish the solution. Its two questions are what work is happening today and which parts of it deserve attention first.
A useful way to follow the phase is to track what the team knows at each point. At the start, the team has ideas and assumptions but little firsthand knowledge of the work. Watching and mapping replace those assumptions with observed facts. Identifying candidate areas then narrows a broad picture into a handful of options. Prototyping tests those options against something concrete, which exposes which ones hold up and which do not.
- Start: ideas and assumptions, little firsthand knowledge of the work
- After observing and mapping: observed facts about how work moves
- After identifying candidate value areas: a handful of options
- After prototyping: a clearer view of which options hold up under testing
Activities in Order
The source lists the working activities of the phase in a particular order. Read that sequence as the order the source gives the activities, not as a rule that each step must fully finish before the next begins. In practice these activities overlap and loop back on each other. The diagram below shows the order and what each step feeds into.
Why Prototype on Synthetic Data
Synthetic data is artificially produced data rather than records pulled from the customer's live systems. The source specifies that the prototypes in the Scoping Phase are built against synthetic data.
Building against synthetic data lets the FDE explore how an idea would behave without needing access to real operational data at this early stage. The prototype is a way to test an idea in concrete form. Its value lies in what it teaches the team about the idea, which is why the purpose is exploration rather than delivery. A prototype here is not meant to be kept as the finished product.
Testing Three Candidate Ideas
A team has narrowed its observations down to three candidate value areas: a status-tracking step, a handoff between two groups, and a manual report. It wants to know which one is worth pursuing before any real build begins.
- 1Build a small prototype for each candidate
Each prototype runs on synthetic data, so no live customer records are needed at this stage.
- 2Watch how each idea behaves
The team looks for which ideas hold up when they are tried in concrete form and which break down.
- 3Discard weak candidates
Ideas that fail the test are dropped from the list rather than carried forward on hope.
- 4Record the result in the prioritized list
The surviving candidates are ranked by which one is most likely to produce a measurable outcome.
The team ends the phase with a ranked list of what to build and a shared understanding of why each item is ranked where it is. The prototypes themselves are not the deliverable.
Mistakes in Scoping
Common mistake Treating the Scoping Phase as the place where the solution gets finished
Why it failsThe source says the phase is not trying to finish the solution. Its purpose is to answer what work is happening today and which parts deserve attention first.
Do this insteadJudge the phase by whether it produces a clear view of options, not by whether a finished product exists at the end.
Common mistake Keeping the prototype as the finished product
Why it failsThe source says the value of a prototype is in what it teaches the team, not in being kept as the finished product.
Do this insteadUse the prototype to judge whether a candidate area is worth pursuing, then move on with the lessons it gave.
Common mistake Making a tidy document the goal of the phase
Why it failsThe source is clear that the deliverable is a shared understanding of what is worth attempting next, not a document.
Do this insteadAim for a prioritized list and a shared understanding behind it, which the whole team can act on.
Common mistake Letting the loudest idea from the first meeting set the direction
Why it failsScoping exists so that the team is pointed at something promising rather than at whatever idea was loudest in the first meeting.
Do this insteadLet observation and prototyping decide which ideas deserve attention.
Practice: Ordering the Scoping Work
Without looking back, list the five working activities of the Scoping Phase in the order the source gives them, and state what the phase produces at the end. Then explain in one or two sentences why the team prototypes against synthetic data rather than live customer records.
Hints
- The first activities are about observation, and the last are about exploring options.
- The deliverable is described as a prioritized list plus a shared understanding, not a document.
- Think about what the source says synthetic data is, and about what the prototype is for.
Key Takeaways
- The Scoping Phase is the first phase of a project, lasts a few days, and decides which candidate ideas are worth the effort before real build work starts.
- The FDE runs the phase either on site or through a series of half-day remote video sessions, and both aim to see the real work up close.
- The activities move from observing and mapping the work, to identifying candidate value areas, to whiteboarding and prototyping; they overlap and loop back rather than running in strict sequence.
- The deliverable is a prioritized list of what could be built, along with a shared understanding of it, not a document.
- Prototypes built on synthetic data let the team test ideas without live operational data, and their value is in what they teach the team rather than in being kept as the product.