A process that stays visible.

Understand the work, the constraints, and the decision this product is supposed to change.

Client. Access to the people who do the work, the current systems, and the person who can decide.

Technology. None locked. We note constraints (stack, vendors, compliance) so later stages do not pretend they are free.

We only leave discovery when we can say what not to build.

Turn the problem into a product slice with a boundary and a success test.

Client. Workshops on packaging, permissions, and the first customer or operator who must succeed.

Technology. Stack recommendation, tenancy/identity approach, and buy-vs-build for the obvious vendors.

A written slice. If it cannot be estimated, it is not defined.

Make the hard paths visible: empty, error, permission, and the dense screens.

Client. Reviews with the people who will use it, not only the sponsor.

Technology. Design tokens and component boundaries aligned with the intended frontend.

Engineering can implement without inventing product behaviour.

Build the slice as a system: data, interface, delivery path, and observability.

Client. Regular review of running software. Decisions in the open when trade-offs appear.

Technology. Schema, APIs, and infrastructure as code. No architecture that only exists in a slide.

The slice can be used by someone other than the people who built it.

Prove the slice against the jobs, the load, and the ways it will fail.

Client. UAT with real roles. Sign-off is a conversation about residual risk, not a ceremony.

Technology. Fix, flag, or postpone — each gap gets an owner.

We launch what we understand, not what we hope.

Put the product in the path of real work, with a rollback and a watch.

Client. The operational owner is named. Launch is not “engineering is done”.

Technology. Feature flags, migrations, and a practiced rollback.

The product is in use. The work becomes evolution.

Improve the product with evidence, and keep the system fit to change.

Client. A standing cadence. No surprise invoices for “being available”.

Technology. Debt is scheduled or accepted. It is not ignored.

There is no final stage. There is an honest next one.