Process
Five phases, and you can see into all of them
- 01
Discovery & systems audit
Fixed scope, before any commitment to a build
We start by understanding how the business actually runs — not how the org chart says it does. Every tool, hand-off, and workaround gets documented, because the workarounds are usually where the real requirements are hiding.
What happens
- Interviews with the people doing the work, not only the people commissioning it
- Inventory of every system, integration, and manual process in scope
- Identification of the system of record for each type of data
- Definition of what success looks like in numbers you already track
What you get
- Systems map with current-state data flows
- Prioritized problem list with estimated impact
- Recommended architecture and phasing
- Scoped proposal with fixed pricing per phase
- 02
Architecture & design
Before the first production commit
We resolve the hard structural decisions on paper, where changing your mind is cheap. Data model, integration contracts, and interface design all get settled before the build starts.
What happens
- Data modeling and schema design
- Integration contracts and system-of-record decisions
- Interface design against real content, never placeholder text
- Component-level design system aligned to the codebase
What you get
- Technical architecture document
- Database schema and API contracts
- Interactive design prototype
- Design system and component inventory
- 03
Build
Iterative, with a working environment from week one
Development happens in short cycles against a staging environment you can open at any time. There is no phase where you wait in the dark and hope the result matches the deck.
What happens
- Iterative development with a persistent staging environment
- Review checkpoints at the end of each cycle
- Automated type checking and test coverage on critical paths
- Continuous deployment to staging on every change
What you get
- Working staging environment from the first cycle
- Cycle-by-cycle progress notes and demos
- Production-ready application code in your repository
- Test coverage across business-critical logic
- 04
Migration & launch
Coordinated cutover with a documented rollback
The riskiest part of a platform project is the day it replaces the thing people rely on. We plan the cutover in detail, migrate with reconciliation, and keep a way back.
What happens
- Data migration with reconciliation against source systems
- Redirect mapping to preserve existing search rankings
- Team training on the systems they will operate daily
- Phased or scheduled cutover with rollback procedure
What you get
- Migration reconciliation report
- Redirect map and SEO continuity checklist
- Recorded training sessions and written runbook
- Monitoring, alerting, and error tracking in production
- 05
Operate & evolve
Ongoing, scoped to your roadmap
Launch is the point where the platform starts producing information. We stay on to read it — what people use, what they avoid, where the next constraint is forming — and keep building against that.
What happens
- Performance and Core Web Vitals monitoring
- Behavioral review against the success metrics set in discovery
- Security patching and dependency maintenance
- Roadmap planning for the next phase of capability
What you get
- Regular performance and usage reporting
- Maintained dependencies and security posture
- Prioritized enhancement backlog
- Ongoing engineering capacity on a retainer or block basis
Operating principles
The commitments behind the phases
Discovery is a deliverable, not a sales call
You leave discovery with a systems map, an architecture recommendation, and a fixed-price proposal — useful artifacts even if you build with someone else.
Staging is open from week one
You can look at the real thing at any point. No black-box phases, no big reveal where the first honest feedback arrives too late to act on.
The stack has to survive us
Typed, documented, conventional code in your repository. If you hire an internal team next year, they should be able to read it without an archaeology project.
We recommend against building when that is the answer
Sometimes a well-configured off-the-shelf tool wins. Saying so early costs us a project and earns a reference — that trade has worked out consistently.
Phase one
Start with discovery
Buy the first phase on its own if you want. You leave with a systems map, an architecture recommendation, and a fixed-price plan — regardless of who ends up building it.