How we work
A written answer before a line of code.
Most software is late because the question was never fully asked. Our method spends its first stage on the question and refuses to start the build until it is answered on paper.
Select a stage
Stage 1 of 4
Requirements analysis
We sit with the people who will actually use the system and write down what it has to do. Every open question is answered here, on paper, while changing it is still cheap.
What you receive
- Requirements document written in your language, not ours
- Map of the process as it runs today
- Acceptance criteria you sign off before the build
- Fixed scope and a fixed price
Stage by stage
What actually happens, in order.
The same sequence runs on every engagement. Only the length of each stage changes with the size of the scope.
- Stage 1 · Analysis
We interview the people who will use the system, watch the process as it runs today, and write down what the software must do. Disagreements between departments surface here, which is the cheapest possible place for them to surface.
Ends with: a requirements document, acceptance criteria, and a fixed scope and price you sign.
- Stage 2 · Design
Architecture, data model, integrations and screens are specified and reviewed with you. You see a clickable prototype of the main screens before they are built, when changing them costs an afternoon rather than a sprint.
Ends with: solution architecture, data model, integration plan, prototype, and a dated delivery schedule.
- Stage 3 · Implementation
We build in two-week increments against the approved design. Your team has access to a staging environment from the first increment, so progress is something you can click on rather than a percentage in a status report.
Ends with: the full system on staging, tested on the critical paths, accepted against the criteria from stage 1.
- Stage 4 · Delivery
Deployment to production, historical data migrated and reconciled, your users and administrators trained, documentation handed over. Support and maintenance start the day you go live.
Ends with: a system in production, your team running it, and a support arrangement for the licence term.
What we need from you
- One decision-maker who can approve scope and design
- Access to the people who do the work today
- A representative sample of real data, early
- Feedback on each increment within a few days
What we will not do
- Start building before the scope is signed
- Add work to the invoice that you did not approve
- Hand over a system with no documentation
- Take an engagement we do not believe we can deliver
Start here
Tell us what should be working and isn’t.
Describe the problem in plain words. You will hear back from someone who can scope it, normally within two working days.