Our process
One secret to SPC’ success is having skills internally to run your project using a feedback-driven (agile) approach. It has pros and cons and we’ll help you work out what’s right for you.
Agile uses the inspiration gained from each stage to inform the next stage of work.
Consider remodelling a bedroom – you start with a seemingly small project and buy a new wardrobe and paint the room.
That might inspire you to buy new bedding or hang some art. You may decide you now dislike the first re-paint colour and do it again. Doing too much in the same room will start to have a diminishing return.
- Workshops are continuous, very visual, looking at the next sprint
- Customer directs the team – may focus on new functionality or revising something already built (flexible)
- Not possible to quote as the customer determines when the project ends
- Risks can emerge at any point and as SPC is engaged hourly, costs borne solely by the customer
- Excellent where there is a clear and useful minimum-viable product (MVP) that can be improved iteratively if required
- Not ideal where a fixed cost is required, where the customer cannot commit the time continuously or where the customer lacks the discipline to focus on high-ROI functionality rather than niceties or revising previously complete work
Step 1
Define
Identify processes, information flows and business decision-making that is ready for disruption. We workshop ideas and determine if a successful outcome will produce a good return on investment (ROI).
We do this as a paid consultancy up-front. You’ll receive recommendations and if we propose a further project, we’ll give you an estimated budget as well.
Step 2
Sprint
Once given the go-ahead, we’ll work out your most important priorities and design simplified workflows to tackle in short 2-4 week work sprints. These sprints incorporate design, development and testing but on a very limited set of functionality (perhaps one workflow or screen per sprint).
You’ll see your software come together very quickly and need to stay engaged to get the most out of this process.
Step 3
Iterate
The build stage is iterative; we’ll do a first-pass based on agreed designs, test it in your organisation and this will naturally expose hidden complexities and edge-cases as new requirements. You decide whether you’ll get the most value out of spending the next sprint improving working (but limited) functionality or adding more workflows/screens.
Discipline is key – it is possible to over-spend on perfecting certain functionality. We recommend catering for more workflows early on and then improving them afterwards, only where there is a strong ROI.
Step 4
Accept
At various stages throughout this iterative process, you’ll have versions of the software that are usable in your business. These builds may not cater for every user or every scenario, but you’ve tested it in known situations and are confident it can add value.
Before accepting/deploying software into your business, ensure it has been thoroughly tested using real-world data and that potential users know how to work around any unfinished areas.
Step 5
Deploy
We apply your accepted software into a professional-grade hosting environment according to your specifications. In some cases, we can also deploy to your in-house servers.
Your software is now “live” and you can start realising the benefits of the project.
Step 6
Support
When the software tackles what you want it to and you consider it “finished”, our support plan kicks in. This not only provides an extended warranty and assistance for your users, but we can also make small incremental modifications or improvements to meet any changing business needs.
We have a range of support packages and our aim is to help you maximise your project’s ROI.