Playbooks
Briefs, budgets, discovery sprints and handovers — how to buy, and run, agency work well.
Write the measurement plan before you build
Analytics bolted on after the build answers yesterday's questions badly. The measurement plan: events, naming, consent, dashboards — before the first sprint.
Estimating software honestly: ranges, risks and why we cap scope
How we estimate software honestly: signal ranges per phase, explicit risk buffers, fixed-scope sprints — and how to read any estimate a studio gives you.
The budget conversation: why hiding the number costs you more
Why sharing your real budget with an agency saves money: what ranges actually buy, how vague scope inflates quotes, and how to negotiate scope instead of rate.
Switching agencies mid-flight: a transition playbook
How to leave an agency — or inherit a fired one's work — without losing the project: asset inventories, handover audits, the two-sprint overlap rule.
Setting goals for a redesign that aren't vibes
How to turn 'make it feel modern' into measurable redesign goals: primary metrics, kill criteria, baseline capture, and reporting that survives launch fog.
How to read an agency SOW before you sign it
Most SOW disputes were visible in the document. How to read scope boundaries, assumptions, change control, acceptance criteria and warranties before signing.
Retainer or project? An honest decision guide
Retainer or fixed-scope project? An honest guide to when each engagement model wins — risk profiles, budget shapes, switching costs, and the questions to ask first.
The one-day performance audit (a playbook)
Run a credible performance audit in a single day: lab vs field data, Lighthouse and WebPageTest against CrUX, and an effort/impact findings template that ships.
The launch-day QA checklist we run on every site
Launch week is preparation; launch morning is verification. Our day-of QA sweep: redirects, 404s, OG tags, forms, analytics parity, and the 72-hour war room.
Plan your exit before you sign: vendor lock-in for agencies and clients
Every platform decision is also an exit decision. Portability tests, export drills, contract clauses and the abstraction seams that actually matter.
The first 30 days: onboarding a client engagement
How the first 30 days of an agency engagement should run: kickoffs that surface real decision-makers, baseline metrics, access week, and artefacts that prevent surprises.
After launch: the first 90 days done properly
Launch day is the start, not the finish. How we run the first 90 days after a site ships: analytics baselines, bug etiquette, and the next engagement.