How we Work
From “I think” to “It's live”—without the hand-off tax.
Seven modular steps, one cross-disciplinary squad, zero guesswork.
Pipeline at a Glance
Assess ▶︎ Billing Options ▶︎ Sales Engagement ▶︎ Lab 42 ▶︎ Forge 42 ▶︎ Sim 42 ▶︎ Base 42
└─ Fit & FCI ─┘ └─ Money Model ─┘ └─ Pre-Sales Sync ─┘ └─ Design ─┘ └ Build ┘ └ Verify ─┘ └─ Run ─┘
| Stage | Core Question | Evidence You Get | Output Gate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assess | Are we (and you) ready? | Feature Clarity Index (FCI) snapshot | Fit/no-fit decision |
| Billing Options | Which payment model is fairest now—and later? | Model matrix & switch map | Signed SoW |
| Sales Engagement | How do we support your sellers? | Battlecards, ROI calc, sandbox demo | Opportunity hand-off |
| Lab 42 | Did we design the right thing? | Three-Layer BPMN + BDD pack | Architecture sign-off |
| Forge 42 | Can we build it predictably? | Working increment & burn-up | Sprint demo |
| Sim 42 | Does it meet intent & scale? | Automated tests + perf report | Go-live ticket |
| Base 42 | Can we run & evolve it smoothly? | Observability dashboard & ops backlog | Monthly health score |
Stage Snapshots
Click any heading to visit its detail page.
▸ Assess Your Situation
Self-service quiz calculates your FCI and recommends the initial billing model. Expect 5–7 minutes of honest answers and a PDF summary in your inbox.
▸ Billing Options
Five models—Discovery Sprint, Fixed-Scope Pack, Milestone Contract, Sprint Pod (T&M cap) and DaaS Retainer—mapped to FCI bands and change-paths. Switching models carries zero penalties; we simply re-forecast.
▸ Engaging with Sales People
Whether we stay invisible (white-label) or front-and-center, we shave ~28 % off the average sales cycle with fast ROI maths, ready-to-send quotes and live demo sandboxes.
▸ Lab 42 – How We Design Together
Three-Layer BPMN for shared vision, Behaviour-Driven Development for living requirements, clickable prototypes to flush risk early.
▸ Forge 42 – How We Build Together
Two-week cycles on a CI/CD pipeline. Auto-generated boilerplate frees engineers for the differentiators. Transparent Jira/Linear boards stream to your dashboard.
▸ Sim 42 – How We Test Together
BDD specs become automated tests. Cypress hits the front-end, Apex/Python does the logic, k6 pounds the edges. Fail a gate, fix the code—before users ever see it.
▸ Base 42 – How We Run Together
Fly.io, AWS or on-prem—your call. Sentry + Datadog wired in, Statuspage public or private, monthly product-ops loops handle tech debt and A/B tweaks.
Guiding Principles
Evidence First
Every stage yields artefacts you can see or run.
Clarity Scored
FCI quantifies volatility and drives billing moves.
Three-Layer Thinking
Vision, process and tech in one living doc.
Behaviour-Driven
Gherkin tests born in Lab 42 live on through Sim 42 and Base 42.
Outcome Contracts
Success = launched capability, not hours burned.
Continuous Forecasting
Burn-up, velocity and risk heat-maps auto-update (DaaS Playbook).
Engagement / Billing Cheat-Sheet
Switching is a steering-day decision, not a procurement nightmare.
| FCI Band | Recommended Start | Typical Switch-To |
|---|---|---|
| 0–4 | Discovery Sprint | Fixed Pack or Pod |
| 5–7 | Sprint Pod (cap) | Fixed Pack when FCI ≥ 8 |
| 8–10 | Fixed-Scope Pack | Pod if scope volatility > 15 % |
| Post-Launch | DaaS Retainer | Scale up/down monthly |
Governance & Transparency
Live Dashboards
Budget burn, velocity, risk.
Open Backlog
Comment-level access for all stakeholders.
Quality Gates
Static analysis + coverage thresholds on every PR.
Decision Log
Scope & budget changes tied to FCI deltas and signed at Steering Days.
Success Metrics We Track
| Metric | Target | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Requirement Volatility | ↓ > 40 % post-Lab 42 | Story change rate |
| Lead Time to Code | ≤ 10 days from sign-off | Git tags |
| Escaped Defects | < 2 % of stories | Prod tickets |
| Uptime (Base 42) | ≥ 99.9 % | Statuspage |
| Client NPS | ≥ 9/10 | Surveys |
Mini Case Snapshot
Insurance-Co — FCI rose from 4.2 to 8.6 during Assess/Lab 42, enabling a Fixed-Scope MVP that shipped in 9 weeks and 30 % under the upper budget forecast.
Ready to know where you stand?
Run the free FCI check-up or jump straight to a 30-minute consult.
