A plan before the build. A build you can watch.
Every project runs the same five steps. You know what you are getting, what it costs and when it lands before production starts — and you see it being built every week.
Call. Scope. Plan. Build. Launch.
In order, every time. The scoping sprint is the first phase of the contract, not a separate product — so the plan you get is the plan we build to.
- 01CallHalf an hour. You describe the business problem; we tell you what we think it takes, what the riskiest parts are, and whether we are the right team for it.
- 02Scoping sprintOne to two weeks. We work out what the product is, who uses it, which features come first and what release one leaves out. You are in the room for all of it.
- 03PlanScope, technical approach, sequence and cost, in writing. It is yours: build with us or take it elsewhere.
- 04Build in the openOne team designs, builds and tests. Working software on a staging site every week, and one channel with the whole team in it.
- 05Launch and keep goingLive, monitored, documented, in your accounts. We stay on for support and the next release.
What the plan contains.
02 — The planA working document, not a slide deck. It belongs to you: take it to another developer, use it to raise money, or build it with us.
- ✦Product definitionUsers, journeys, scope, and the explicit list of what release one does not include.
- ✦Technical approachArchitecture, data model, integrations, and the decisions that are expensive to reverse.
- ✦SequenceWhat ships first and why. Usually a third of what you arrived with, and better for it.
- ✦Cost and timelineA number and a date, with every assumption they rest on written beside them.
1. Scope
The platform replaces the current process, which runs across email and . Release one covers request intake, assignment, estimate approval and report generation. Explicitly not in release one: client self-service, automated , historical data migration beyond 12 months.
2. Hard edges
Report output must satisfy submission format — externally defined, not negotiable. Two user populations with different auth requirements. The integration is undocumented; discovery time is included.
3. Assumptions this cost rests on
Report templates supplied as by end of week one. One nominated decision-maker available for weekly review. No change to the requirement mid-build.
A real plan. Client details redacted.
What building in the open means.
03 — Build in the open- ✦Working software every weekOn a staging site you can open in your browser, from the first sprint to launch.
- ✦One channel, the whole team in itNo account manager relaying messages. You talk to the people doing the work.
- ✦Scope changes come costed, the same dayAbsorb it, defer something else, or extend. You get the options and the numbers; you make the call.
- ✦Documented as it is builtDecisions and their reasons, written down as they are made — so the plan and the product stay the same thing.
Where AI fits.
04 — Where AI fitsSenior engineers working with AI do the mechanical parts of a build — scaffolding, integration glue, tests, migrations, first drafts of documentation — in days rather than weeks. That is where most of the speed comes from, and it is passed on to you as cost.
The decisions stay with people. What to build, in what order, and whether the result is right: that is judgement, and it is the part you are paying for. AI makes a good plan quicker to deliver. The plan is ours.
Tell us what you’re trying to build.
Half an hour on a call with our team. Bring a spec, a rough idea or a system that has stopped keeping up, and you leave with our view on what it takes and what comes first.
Zeki Mirza — Founder & product lead
Your first call is with the team that scopes and builds it