It doesn’t matter if you’re building a mobile app, a web app, or a website. The path to a quality digital product is the same: Discover first, Design second, Develop third, Maintain fourth.
Skip a step, and you’ll pay for it later. Rush through discovery, and you’ll build the wrong thing. Skip design, and you’ll redesign during development. Ignore maintenance, and your product will decay.
We’ve seen it happen. A lot. That’s why we follow a structured process based on the Double Diamond methodology, adapted for how real projects actually work.
Our process is built on the Double Diamond, a design methodology developed by the British Design Council. It’s not new or proprietary – it’s proven.
The first diamond is about doing the right thing. The second diamond is about doing the thing right. Most failed projects skip the first diamond entirely. They jump straight to building without understanding what they’re building or why.
Here’s how the Double Diamond translates into our actual process.
We ask questions. A lot of them. What's the business goal? Who are the users? What do they need? What already exists? What are the constraints?
This phase surfaces assumptions, identifies risks, and defines success criteria. By the end, everyone agrees on what we're building and why.
Services involved: Discovery, Prototyping (for validation)
We create wireframes, visual designs, and interactive prototypes. We test with users when possible. We iterate until the experience is right.
Design happens before development. Not during. This matters because changing a design in Figma takes minutes. Changing it in code takes hours.
Services involved: Design
We write code, set up infrastructure, integrate systems, and test everything. Development follows the approved designs. No improvising.
This phase is where most of the time and budget goes. It's also where shortcuts hurt the most. We build for maintainability, not just functionality.
Services involved: Mobile Apps, Web Apps, Websites
Digital products aren't "done" at launch. Operating systems update. Security vulnerabilities appear. User needs evolve. Bugs surface.
Maintenance keeps your product running, secure, and relevant. It's not optional - it's part of owning a digital product.
Services involved: Support & Maintenance, Audits & Optimization
Each phase builds on the previous one. Skip or rush a phase, and the next phase suffers.
The upfront investment in Discovery and Design typically saves 3-5x in avoided rework during Development. We’ve measured it.
Not every project needs every phase at full depth. Here’s how common engagements work.
Common questions about our services and how we work.
Sometimes. If you have detailed requirements, user research, and technical specifications ready, we can review them and potentially move straight to design. But “I know what I want” and “I have documented requirements” are different things. We’ll help you figure out which one applies.
It depends on complexity:
| Phase | Simple Project | Complex Project |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery | 1 week | 2-4 weeks |
| Design | 2-3 weeks | 4-8 weeks |
| Development | 1-2 months | 3-12 months |
| Maintenance | Ongoing | Ongoing |
We’ll give you specific timelines after understanding your project.
No. We do discovery-only, design-only, and development-only engagements. We also take over projects mid-stream from other agencies. The process still applies – we’ll just pick up where you are.
They will. That’s normal. Small changes we absorb. Significant changes go through a change request process: we scope the impact, you approve the additional time/cost, then we implement. No surprises.
It feels slower at the start. It’s faster overall. Projects that skip discovery and design typically spend 30-50% of development time on rework. The “slow” upfront investment prevents the expensive rework later.
