← SixByFiveHow we work

Simple, structured, designed to ship without chaos.

A process built from experience on what actually goes wrong in software projects — and what prevents it.

Phases

From first call to long-term maintenance

Not every project goes through all six phases — we adapt to what you actually need.

01
Discovery and scoping1–2 days

Understanding the problem before writing a line of code.

We start with a conversation about what you're building, why it matters, and what success looks like. From that, we produce a written scope: a clear description of what will be built, how we'll know it's done, and what's explicitly out of scope. Scoping is the most important part of the process — a tight scope prevents the majority of project problems.

Written scope documentAcceptance criteria per deliverableFirst milestone definitionRough timeline and cost estimate
02
Architecture and API contracts2–5 days

Agreeing on the shape of the system before building it.

Before any UI exists, we define the data model and API contracts. This gives both sides a clear picture of what's being built and means the frontend and backend can progress in parallel without blocking each other. It also surfaces complexity early — better to find a hard problem in a contract than in production code.

Data model / schemaAPI shape and endpoint definitionsThird-party integration contractsAgreed technical constraints
03
Build in milestonesVaries

Incremental delivery you can review, test, and provide feedback on.

We build in short milestones — typically one to two weeks each. At the end of each milestone, you have something reviewable: a working feature, a deployed environment, or a testable flow. We don't do big-bang deliveries where you see nothing for six weeks and then get everything at once. Steady increments mean problems are caught early.

Deployed staging environmentWorking feature per milestoneShort written update at each stageIssues log and remaining scope
04
QA and pre-launch3–7 days

Deliberate testing before anything goes live.

Before launch, we run through the agreed acceptance criteria systematically. We test edge cases, check error states, and verify the system behaves correctly under the conditions it will actually face. We also complete a pre-launch checklist: environment variables, logging, error tracking, and any third-party configurations that need to be in place.

Acceptance criteria sign-offEdge case and error state testingPre-launch environment checklistPerformance and load sanity check
05
Launch and handover1–2 days

A clean deployment with documentation you can actually use.

Launch is planned, not improvised. We deploy to production in a low-risk window, monitor the first hours, and document anything the team needs to know about operating the system. Handover includes environment setup docs, a runbook for common operational tasks, and clear pointers to where things live.

Production deploymentEnvironment and configuration documentationRunbook for operational tasksMonitoring and alerting in place
06
Maintenance and iterationOngoing

Keeping the system healthy after it ships.

Shipping is not the end. We offer ongoing maintenance engagements for systems we've built — monitoring, dependency updates, bug fixes, and incremental improvements. If you have a new feature to add or something that's broken, you're not starting a relationship from scratch with someone who doesn't know the codebase.

Monthly dependency and security updatesBug fix SLAFeature iteration on requestOngoing monitoring and alerting
Principles

What guides how we work

Scope first, code second

Ambiguous requirements produce ambiguous results. We write down what we're building before we build it, and we review that with you before starting.

No big-bang deliveries

You see something working at the end of every milestone. This keeps feedback loops short and prevents surprises at launch.

Honest about complexity

If something is harder than it looks, we say so upfront — not two weeks in when it's a problem. We'd rather adjust scope than overrun.

Built to be maintained

Every system we build has logging, error tracking, and documentation. Not as an afterthought — as part of the definition of done.

Small team, direct access

You work directly with the people building your product. No account managers, no handoffs, no translation layers.

Sounds like how you want to work?

The first step is a short conversation. We'll ask about your project and tell you honestly whether we're a good fit.