๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ช๐ถ๐น๐น ๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐ช๐ถ๐น๐น ๐๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ?
Iโve had it happen time and time again - a client approaches with a technical spec and asks:
โ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ช๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ?โ
The assumption โ Thereโs a single answer The reality โ ๐๐๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ฅ๐ค๐จ๐จ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฃ๐จ๐ฌ๐๐ง๐จ
๐ฆ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐, ๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐๐ต๐
Letโs say you need a product designed: โข ๐ฌ๐ผ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ฎ ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ต๐ - One engineer might handle it and it would cost X โข ๐ฌ๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฐ ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ต๐ - This might take 3 engineers and cost 1.5X
Same end goal but different timelines, teams and cost
And itโs not just about time and team size
๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ, ๐ฆ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ด๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ค๐๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐น๐น ๐๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฑ๐๐น๐ฒ
You can change more than just the number of engineers or months on the calendar: โข ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ฒ/๐ฑ๐ฒ๐น๐ฎ๐ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ - Cutting scope or delivering incrementally can save time and cost โข ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐ - A basic version early may accelerate feedback and refine priorities โข ๐๐ฑ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐พ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ - A demo with flaws (planned fixes later) may be better for investor discussions or early market testing โข ๐ง๐ฎ๐ถ๐น๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐ - If its just a proof-of-concept, some steps may not be necessary
Each of these shifts the projectโs trajectory, timeline, and budget
๐ช๐ฒ ๐ก๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ง๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ
As outsourcing partners, we need to understand the bigger picture: โข Whatโs driving this timeline? โข Whoโs the customer? โข Is early feedback more valuable than polish? โข What happens if a feature is dropped or delayed? โข Is reliability critical on day one, or just before launch?
These arenโt extras. They are critical. Without this context, weโre planning blindfolded
๐๐ฒ๐โ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
Instead of asking: โ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ช๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ?โ
Try this: ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆโ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ, ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด?
This opens the door to smarter tradeoffs, not just cheaper or faster decisions
๐ข๐๐๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ, ๐ก๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฃ๐๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ
Weโre not pulling numbers out of a hat. Weโre co-designing a path to your goals - balancing features, time, cost, process and quality
If youโre ready to explore a development strategy that fits your business - not just the spec - letโs talk
By @Greg Burk originally posted to LinkedIn
#outsourcing #productdevelopment #WolffElectronicDesign
