What actually determines the cost of custom software?
The useful starting point for a software budget is the work people need to complete, including the exceptions.
Journal
Notes for better decisions.
Practical thinking on product design, software development and the decisions in between.
Journal
Buy software or build it: a decision matrix
Start with the process that makes your business different.
The questions a software discovery must answer
Discovery is useful when it changes a decision. Its output should explain who does the work, which problem matters and what evidence will establish a successful outcome.
A software handover checklist that goes beyond source code
A repository is only one part of ownership. A handover is usable when another authorised team can build, deploy, observe and restore the product without depending on an individual's personal account.
Managing scope change without losing the original purpose
A new request is information, not automatically an instruction to build.
Which features belong in a first MVP?
An MVP needs one complete path to a useful outcome and a way to learn whether it matters.
The dependencies that shape an MVP timeline
A delivery date depends on decisions and access as well as development effort.
Prototype, proof of concept or MVP: choose the evidence you need
These deliverables answer different questions. A prototype explores whether people understand an interaction.
Writing product requirements without a technical background
Describe observable behaviour before choosing a technology. A useful requirement identifies the person, their starting situation, the action and the result they can verify.
No-code, low-code or custom development for a first product?
Choose the approach against the hardest required workflow and the people who will maintain it.
Separating customer data in a multi-tenant SaaS
Tenant isolation is a boundary to design and verify, not a field added to a table at the end.
Designing SaaS subscriptions as a lifecycle
Billing design starts with what customers are entitled to use and when that entitlement changes.
Let's make something useful.
A first product, a difficult workflow or software that needs a fresh start. Tell us where you are.