Written by Sam Bloom, Product Strategist at Infuse.us
Trust. It’s a primary factor in the relationship between you and the software development team you choose to partner with. This trust is derived from processes that the development team has established to ensure your product’s journey is successful from beginning to end. A streamlined process ensures that both you and your dev team are on the same page and paragraph with each iteration of your project. This sends guesswork and uncertainty out the window and frees up communication to focus on the future of your partnership.
We at Infuse believe that an intentional framework is important — while we have a plan and we’re ready to implement at the drop of a hat, we also like to leave room to be flexible and adjust according to your needs. No two projects are the same, and accounting for this difference is essential. However, I’d like to walk through what our foundation looks like at a basic level to give you some idea of what we can do for you and your project:
Step 1: Meet with a product strategist. In this initial meeting, the goal is to understand your product story. Who are your end users? What are your must-have features, and what would be on your “that would be awesome” list?” We like to keep this first brush low-stress and high-imagination, so we leave the dollar signs for the next meeting — they’re not the focus in this first step. We’re in the game of building the best product, and want to make sure there are no distractions when it comes to putting an estimate together.
Step 2: Estimation Station. Your Product Strategist takes all the information from the first meeting back to your dedicated team. This team includes at least one Product Manager, Designer, and Full-Stack Developer (the larger the project, the more resources you get). This team then goes through each idea discussed in your initial meeting and estimates the number of days each portion of the project will take to complete. Once that’s wrapped up, your product strategist will channel their inner-DaVinci and craft a beautiful proposal for you (the last three proposals are hanging in The Louvre).
Step 3: Proposal Review aka “Will you go to Prom with me?”. Your Product Strategist will meet with you and anyone else you’d like to invite to walk through our proposal, which includes both a timeline and a cost estimate for the project. Our proposals are broken out by design, product management, and development so you get full visibility into how the project is structured. Once you’ve had a chance to review, we all reconvene and determine whether or not Infuse is a good enough dancer to match your skills on the dance floor.
Step 4: The Decision aka “Taking my talent to South Beach”. You’re at the finish line, but a few questions come up during the contract review. That’s ok. Actually, it’s more than ok, it’s expected! We don’t want to rush into anything — you get to control this narrative. We’re here for you and will work through any final adjustments.
Step 5: The Appetizer. You and your dedicated Product Manager will work together and flesh out the user stories in greater detail, as well as review all required documentation necessary for the project. Based on this conversation, your PM will create a requirements document that summarizes the deliverables, the work process, changes to the existing business process, and an estimated delivery date.
Step 6: The Main Course. Your PM will lead an agile scrum process, working through the scope of the project as well as hosting regular check-in meetings with you to provide pertinent updates around progress, timing, and budget. We stress close collaboration and frequent communication to ensure that the project stays on track and nothing slips through the cracks.
Step 7: The Dessert. Once we are ready for feedback, we release the application to your team for user acceptance testing (UAT) and walk through a test script to ensure that all of the functionality is working as expected. When the project passes UAT, your PM will work with the various stakeholders necessary for release in the appropriate channel.
If trust and a clear process are two components you require, then we’re a good match! Connect with our Partnerships Team and let’s get this process started!
