Frame
Turn uncertainty into a build decision you can trust.
Before committing to design and development, clarify what should be built, what it will take, and which assumptions still need validating.
Format
Short, focused engagement
Depth depends on uncertainty
Investment
Fixed price
Based on complexity
Includes
Understand the current process, users and context
Surface critical assumptions, constraints and dependencies
Shape the first viable solution direction
Validate UX, data, integration and technical feasibility where needed
Define MVP scope, build approach and realistic estimate
Why not estimate Build immediately?
Because an estimate without a sufficiently defined scope is mostly a guess. Unknowns in users, data, integrations, infrastructure or workflow can dramatically change both cost and effort once development starts.
Doesn’t Frame just add extra cost before development?
The purpose is the opposite: reduce the chance of paying to build the wrong thing, over-scoping the first release, or discovering expensive constraints after work has already started.
What if we already know what we want to build?
Great. Frame doesn’t restart the project. We test whether the proposed direction is sufficiently defined and viable to commit to and focus only on the unknowns that could materially affect scope, cost or timing.
Why can’t we just agree a deadline and work toward it?
You can, but a deadline is only meaningful when the dependencies behind it are understood. Frame turns ambition into a realistic scope and plan, reducing the risk of promising a date that the actual solution cannot support.
The process
From opportunity to informed build decision
Understand
We understand the opportunity, current workflow, users, information, constraints and intended outcome.
Shape
We turn that context into a concrete solution direction and define what the first valuable version could be.
Validate
We investigate the assumptions that could materially change the solution, such as data, UX complexity, integrations, architecture or technical constraints.
Decide
We translate the validated direction into an MVP scope, dependencies, delivery approach and informed estimate for Build.
A buildable solution direction
A clear definition of what the first solution should do, how it should work and where its boundaries are.
Critical assumptions validated
The UX, data, technical and integration unknowns that could materially affect Build are made explicit and investigated.
A focused MVP scope
A first release designed to create value without prematurely designing or building the entire future system.
A credible build plan & estimate
A clearer view of design and engineering effort, dependencies, investment and timing, based on an actual solution direction rather than early assumptions.
Know the opportunity, but not yet the build?
Frame it before committing significant time and budget. We’ll turn the important unknowns into a buildable direction and informed next decision.
