Day one: watch the work
We sit with whoever does the task and watch, with a recording if you are comfortable. We do not ask them to describe it, because descriptions leave out the parts that have become invisible through repetition.
By the end of day one we have the happy path written as numbered steps, and a list of questions.
Day two: exceptions and systems
- Interview whoever handles the awkward cases — usually the longest-serving person
- Ask the newest starter what confused them, which surfaces different exceptions
- Identify every system involved and what interface each exposes
- Get the API question to your vendors in writing, today, because it takes them longest
Day three: the data
Profile what exists: counts, completeness per field, distinct values where they should be constrained, and the outliers. This changes the plan more often than any other input.
Discovering that a notes field has been used to store delivery instructions for six years is the kind of finding that reshapes a project — and it is far better found on day three than in week nine.
Day four: write it down
The specification, the architecture outline, the risk register, the phased plan and the price. Written to be usable by any supplier, not just by us.
We also write down what we are deliberately excluding from phase one and why, because that list prevents most later disagreements.
Day five: present and argue
We walk your team through it and expect to be corrected. The people who do the work will spot things we got wrong, and it is far cheaper to find them now.
You leave with the documents. If you proceed with us, the fee is credited against the build; if you do not, you own a specification you can take anywhere.
What it costs
£1,500–£4,000 for a week at this scale, roughly 5–10% of the expected build. Larger or multi-department processes need two to three weeks and cost proportionally more.