Project planning: benefits of a detailed pre-study

Crucial decisions are taken when starting your software development project. What type of foundation will give your users the best experience at minimal cost?

An experienced project leader can plan your project to make it scalable, user-friendly, fast and secure. Such a smart foundation will reduce development costs and increase your profits.

How will you benefit from smart project planning?

  1. The core process (where most of your users will spend most of their time) will be designed in a very user-friendly way. Usability of the core process is extremely important for project success.
  2. Identify existing components and open source functionality that can be re-used to reduce cost.
  3. Estimates and milestones are provided for the first phases (sprints). You know what you will get and what it will cost. If a detailed project study is not done, development companies may give you an initial ballpark figure that turns out to be too low for your expectations and the requirements you have planned.
  4. A solid foundation will be put in place by our project leader / software architect. It will be scalable and easy for developers to work on, also for third party developers in case you need to take the project elsewhere in the future. The database will be professionally designed for high security, scalability and speed. A programming language and framework will be chosen based on what’s best for your business, such as PHP Laravel or Golang Beego.
  5. Wireframing makes it easy for everyone to visualize how the system will work and to discover better ways to design processes.
  6. Your requirements will be communicated to designers and developers in a way that cannot be misunderstood. Our project planners have plenty of experience of working with Western clients and Indian developers.
  7. Lowers the risk: planning removes potential development roadblocks.
  8. Planning prevents unnecessary later changes which could be costly.
  9. The project leader can tailor the general security routines to suit your project and needs.
  10. An analysis of your revenue model and improvements.
  11. The project leader will assign the work to the most suitable programmers who have got prior experience of similar projects and features. Selective recruitment of team members is crucial.

Why opt for a paid project planning phase

Our project leaders (PLs) invest some time to give you a rough estimate free of cost. This is a ballpark figure though, which is very rough.

For a more thorough planning we suggest a paid project study. Your project will then be scrutinized by a PL with over 10 years of experience. 

A detailed project study has many benefits as listed above. Investing a bit of time and money into it makes sense.

You’re not making a commitment and you can stop the planning at any time. You can even take planning deliverables with you to another agency if you’d like.

Many potential clients ask for estimates and a PL needs time to do the project planning well. Therefore the paid planning option is sensible. 

Most of our clients have initially opted for a paid pre-study. If you’re considering starting your project within the next couple of months it’s a good investment that lowers your risk.

We usually charge the same hourly rate for planning as we do for developers. So the hourly rate is low considering the PL’s expertise of 10+ years. The PL has previously been a high-performing developer and has been promoted because of diligence and competence. 

After the pre-study, you can choose from one of two engagement models: a)  time and material (hourly) b) a dedicated / fixed contract.

The PL can help you gather and specify your requirements. Take the next step and schedule an appointment with a PL.