Let's talk about your requirements

Requirements & technical planning that keeps your project on track

Getting requirements right is the difference between a project that delivers what you need and one that drifts off course.

We don't jump straight into building. We turn your business goals into a detailed technical plan with clear priorities and realistic timelines, so every decision is grounded in something solid.

People gathered around the desk with notes

Why projects drift without solid requirements

Vague requirements are the most common reason software projects run over budget or deliver something nobody's happy with. When the brief is "build something like X but better," every person in the room imagines something different. Developers make assumptions. Stakeholders get surprised. Features get built that nobody needed while actual priorities sit in a backlog.

Good requirements don't just describe what the software should do. They create a shared understanding between everyone involved – business stakeholders, designers, and developers – so decisions made six months into a build still connect to what was agreed at the start.

What we cover in requirements & technical planning

This isn't a box-ticking exercise that produces a 100-page document nobody reads. We focus on capturing what matters in a format that's useful throughout the project, not just at kick-off.

The depth and format flex depending on the project, but the intent is always the same: remove ambiguity before it becomes expensive.

  • Functional requirements

    We document what the software needs to do, from the user's perspective. Not in abstract feature lists, but as specific workflows and behaviours that can be designed, built, and tested against.

    Every requirement is tied back to a business goal. If we can't explain why something needs to exist, it gets challenged. This keeps scope honest and makes prioritisation much easier when trade-offs come up later.

  • Technical constraints & dependencies

    Every project operates within constraints: existing systems that need to integrate, infrastructure that's already in place, compliance standards that must be met, team capabilities that shape what's realistic.

    We map these out early because they directly influence the technical approach. A requirement that sounds simple can become complex when it needs to work with a legacy API or meet specific security standards. Better to know that now than during sprint three.

  • Data & integration mapping

    Most applications don't exist in isolation. They pull data from other systems, push updates to third-party services, or need to work alongside tools your team already uses.

    We identify every integration point, document what data moves where, and flag anything that could cause problems — rate limits, authentication requirements, data format mismatches, systems with poor documentation. This is where projects frequently hit unexpected delays, so we give it proper attention upfront.

  • Acceptance criteria

    Every requirement gets clear acceptance criteria: specific, testable conditions that define when something is done. Not "the search should be fast" but "search results return within 200 milliseconds for queries up to 10,000 records."

    This protects everyone. You know exactly what you're getting. We know exactly what we're building. And when it comes to sign-off, there's no debate about whether a feature meets the brief.

  • Effort estimation & phasing

    Once requirements are defined and the technical approach is clear, we estimate the effort involved and break the work into sensible phases. Each phase delivers working software, not just progress reports.

    Phasing lets you see results early, adjust priorities as you learn more, and manage cash flow around meaningful milestones rather than paying for months of work before seeing anything tangible.

Laptop next to a coffee cup, notepad and a mobile phone

Ready to talk about your project?

It all starts with a conversation. Tell us what you're working on and we'll figure out the rest together.

Let's talk about your requirements