Digital strategy
The most expensive part of a digital project isn't building it — it's building what didn't need building. Before writing code we define what actually solves a real problem, in what order, and with which resources.
Who it's for
- You have several ideas and need to know which one comes first.
- The budget is tight and you can't afford to build more than necessary.
- You're coming from a project that grew without direction and nobody is quite sure what each part does.
- You need to justify a digital investment to a board or a committee.
What's included
Diagnosis
What exists today, what works, what's surplus, and where time or money is being lost.
Scope definition
What's in, what's out, and what's left for a second stage. In writing, so the conversation happens before the budget rather than after it.
Prioritisation
What to build first, by impact and effort. There's almost always a smaller version that solves most of the problem.
Technical decisions
Which technology makes sense and why, taking into account who will be maintaining this three years from now.
Roadmap
Stages with concrete deliverables, so the project can be assessed as it advances and not only at the end.
Realistic estimates
Timings and resources with the assumptions made explicit, so you know up front what would change them.
How we approach strategy
It's the shortest stage of the project and the one that saves the most money.
Listen
What you want to achieve, what you've already tried, what resources you have, and which constraints exist that never make it into the brief.
Sort
We separate the essential from the desirable, and the desirable from what sounds good in a meeting but nobody will use.
Propose
Scope, stages and technical decisions in writing. You end up with a document that works for deciding, for budgeting, and for any team to execute.
A real case
Corporate website with a custom CMS
A project split into two halves with opposing needs. The public side lives on search visibility, so it was built in Next.js with server rendering. The admin panel is private, doesn't need indexing and does need interactivity, so it was built in React. The CMS was made to measure rather than using an off-the-shelf one because the client wanted to modernise their systems with something simple to operate: they edit exactly what they need to edit, without learning an entire tool to change a paragraph.
Frequently asked questions
- Can we hire just the strategy?
- Yes. The result is a document that works for deciding and for budgeting, and any team can execute it — ours or someone else's.
- How long does it take?
- It's the shortest stage of the project. It depends on how many people need to be heard and how well defined the problem is at the start.
- What if the diagnosis says nothing should be built?
- We tell you. It has happened that the problem was solved by tidying up a process rather than with software. That's one uncomfortable conversation that saves months of misdirected work.
- Is it useful if we already know what we want?
- It's useful for putting the assumptions in writing and finding where people don't actually agree. On projects with several areas involved, that conversation is what prevents the rework.
Not sure where to start?
Tell us what you want to achieve and we'll tell you what we'd do first. No commitment.
Book a meeting