--- title: "Notes for better decisions. — Orvun Labs" description: "Practical thinking on product design, software development and the decisions in between." canonical: "https://orvunlabs.com/en/journal" language: "en" last_modified: "2026-09-14" --- # Notes for better decisions. Practical thinking on product design, software development and the decisions in between. ## All topics - [Planning a product](https://orvunlabs.com/en/journal/topic/planning.md) - [MVP & validation](https://orvunlabs.com/en/journal/topic/mvp.md) - [Building SaaS](https://orvunlabs.com/en/journal/topic/saas.md) - [Applied AI](https://orvunlabs.com/en/journal/topic/ai.md) - [Connected systems](https://orvunlabs.com/en/journal/topic/integrations.md) - [Workflow automation](https://orvunlabs.com/en/journal/topic/automation.md) - [Web & experience](https://orvunlabs.com/en/journal/topic/web.md) - [Quality & reliability](https://orvunlabs.com/en/journal/topic/design.md) - [Software modernisation](https://orvunlabs.com/en/journal/topic/rescue.md) - [Choosing a partner](https://orvunlabs.com/en/journal/topic/partnership.md) ## Journal - [What actually determines the cost of custom software?](https://orvunlabs.com/en/journal/custom-software-cost-drivers.md) — The useful starting point for a software budget is the work people need to complete, including the exceptions. - [Buy software or build it: a decision matrix](https://orvunlabs.com/en/journal/build-or-buy-software.md) — Start with the process that makes your business different. - [The questions a software discovery must answer](https://orvunlabs.com/en/journal/software-discovery-questions.md) — 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](https://orvunlabs.com/en/journal/software-handover-checklist.md) — 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](https://orvunlabs.com/en/journal/managing-scope-changes.md) — A new request is information, not automatically an instruction to build. - [Which features belong in a first MVP?](https://orvunlabs.com/en/journal/choosing-mvp-features.md) — 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](https://orvunlabs.com/en/journal/mvp-timeline-dependencies.md) — A delivery date depends on decisions and access as well as development effort. - [Prototype, proof of concept or MVP: choose the evidence you need](https://orvunlabs.com/en/journal/prototype-poc-or-mvp.md) — These deliverables answer different questions. A prototype explores whether people understand an interaction. - [Writing product requirements without a technical background](https://orvunlabs.com/en/journal/product-requirements-for-founders.md) — 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?](https://orvunlabs.com/en/journal/no-code-low-code-or-custom.md) — Choose the approach against the hardest required workflow and the people who will maintain it. - [Separating customer data in a multi-tenant SaaS](https://orvunlabs.com/en/journal/saas-tenant-data-isolation.md) — 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](https://orvunlabs.com/en/journal/saas-subscription-billing-decisions.md) — Billing design starts with what customers are entitled to use and when that entitlement changes. - [Journal 1](https://orvunlabs.com/en/journal.md) - [Journal 2](https://orvunlabs.com/en/journal/page/2.md) - [Journal 3](https://orvunlabs.com/en/journal/page/3.md) - [Journal 4](https://orvunlabs.com/en/journal/page/4.md) - [Journal 5](https://orvunlabs.com/en/journal/page/5.md) ## Let's make something useful. A first product, a difficult workflow or software that needs a fresh start. Tell us where you are. - [Tell us about your project](https://orvunlabs.com/en/contact) ## Structured data ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://orvunlabs.com/#organization", "name": "Orvun Labs", "url": "https://orvunlabs.com", "logo": "https://orvunlabs.com/orvunlabs-icon-512.png", "description": "Custom software, SaaS products and AI-powered tools — designed around your business.", "knowsAbout": [ "Custom software", "SaaS product development", "AI integration" ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://orvunlabs.com/#website", "name": "Orvun Labs", "url": "https://orvunlabs.com", "inLanguage": [ "en", "es", "de", "fr", "pt", "ja", "hi", "ar", "id", "tr", "pl" ], "publisher": { "@id": "https://orvunlabs.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://orvunlabs.com/en/journal#webpage", "url": "https://orvunlabs.com/en/journal", "name": "Notes for better decisions.", "description": "Practical thinking on product design, software development and the decisions in between.", "inLanguage": "en", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://orvunlabs.com/#website" }, "about": { "@id": "https://orvunlabs.com/#organization" }, "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://orvunlabs.com/en/journal#breadcrumb" } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://orvunlabs.com/en/journal#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Orvun Labs", "item": "https://orvunlabs.com/en" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Notes for better decisions.", "item": "https://orvunlabs.com/en/journal" } ] } ] } ```