Our Onboarding Process
Whether you’re a startup or an enterprise, you want to know what to expect.
We make our onboarding process simple and transparent, with a strict methodical workflow to avoid knowledge gaps and missing features.
1. Discovery
The discovery process begins as soon as we receive your inquiry. Our team will begin knowledge gathering based on your project and specific request. We perform an external inspection of the project and opportunities that are immediately available.
Next we’ll schedule an initial consultation meeting where we will learn about your vision, objectives, and any existing pain points. We will share the opportunities that we see as well as advise on how we expect to reach your goals.
Discovery is only the first step, but it is an ongoing process that we frequently return to. We will schedule several follow up consultations virtually and in-person as needed to understand your project.
Expected timeline: 2 - 3 weeks
2. Scope Definition
Your project scope will be defined, setting the boundaries, functionalities, and requirements of the project in great detail. This will establish clarity on the what, why, and how of your business processes and the elements that we will be developing.
We will begin mapping out your MVP, user stories, set key deliverables, estimate timelines, and provide budget estimates.
At each step, we will confirm with you that we have an understanding of each process.
Expected timeline: 2 weeks
3. Visual Prototyping
We create a visual representation of our planned solution and validate these with you and your stakeholders based on initial scope.
Depending on your project’s requirements, this includes:
Developing wireframes for UI/UX
Mockups for web and mobile platforms
Iterative feedback sessions
System designs and diagrams (ERD, state-machine, DFD, SCD, etc.)
Expected timeline: 3 weeks
We reserve this time for our research, development, and iterative feedback sessions.
4. Re-Scoping
Perfection on the first attempt is ideal, but not always realistic. We understand this, and to ensure the highest quality outcome for you and your business we establish a mandatory internal re-scoping process.
This involves a comprehensive re-assessment of your project from the ground up, leveraging all the insights and knowledge acquired through previous steps to ensure quality.
A team member independent from the initial development phase will conduct a fresh evaluation of the project, its scope, and your goals with a fresh perspective to identify potential improvements and overlooked elements.
Any changes identified from the re-scoping process will be shared and confirmed with you.
Expected timeline: 3 weeks
1 week to perform re-scoping
We recommend 2 additional weeks for feedback, implementation, and confirmation
5. Engagement
We will meet to formalize our partnership with a Statement of Work which will be our contract to build your project. We will formally establish the project timeline and any relevant milestones.
If possible we prefer to meet in-person to complete a final review and acquire your official sign-off.
Once completed, we allocate our resources to your project and begin the Development phase with a scheduled kickoff meeting.
Expected timeline: 2 weeks
We reserve 1 week to build the contract and SOW
We recommend 1 week for your review.
6. Development
Our developers will write the necessary code, integrate systems, perform tests, and ensure each step of the development process meets the agreed specification.
Our developers will:
Interpret project guidelines, wireframes, and technical blueprints
Write the necessary code to complete the project
Initiate a feedback session at each milestone
Perform testing and quality assurance
Implement deployment and release management strategies
If permitted, at all times you will maintain direct access to the work-in-progress project. We encourage you to provide feedback at any time.
Expected timeline: Project-dependent
7. Acceptance & Delivery
As we approach your project’s due date we will meet with you at each milestone to review progress and remaining steps.
The final stages of your project’s development phase will consist of:
Presenting a launch plan for the project going live, schedule the delivery period
Perform a comprehensive acceptance review with you
Coordinate closely with your team to ensure a seamless transition from development to production
We will present a launch plan with an Acceptance Agreement which is a formal confirmation of the project deliverables. The agreement will include the expectations on launch day plus any outstanding issues to be addressed as we transition to the Maintenance period.
On launch day, our team will perform any needed changeovers and closely monitor for any immediate post-launch concerns as we transition to maintenance.
8. Maintenance
For all projects, we include a 6-month maintenance window following the official launch date. This allows time for user-acceptance testing, in-depth review, and change requests.
We proudly stand by our work, aiming to provide you with confidence that you have a true software partner working to ensure a seamless transition into your day-to-day operations.
Our maintenance window includes:
Bug fixes and issue resolution
Technical support and guidance for using
Performance monitoring and optimization
Security updates and patches
Change requests (CRs) will be necessary for changes that introduce new features or alter core functionality. We welcome change requests as we know we are continuing to build a product that’s right for you. Any change request follows our Onboarding methodology.
As the included maintenance window ends, we will provide the option of continuing our relationship with a Maintenance Agreement, or will work with your team to facilitate transition from our hands fully to yours.
9. Retrospective
Two weeks prior to the end of your maintenance phase, we will complete and present a Project Retrospective and Closer.
This will detail a summary of our work, all change requests, re-validation of the project deliverables, documentation, any outstanding issues or considerations to be mentioned once the maintenance phase ends.
It will signal the end of the maintenance period, and with your review and signature marks the official conclusion of your project.
Although our business at hand may be concluded at this point - expect us to check in, and always be available as your next software development partner.
