SPARRING Service for early-stage projects and ideas
Most good ideas start with a spark. A gut feeling that this could be something
if only you could ensure everyone understands you correctly.
And that’s where we can help. Together, we’ve got 50+ years of experience translating from human to business and human to IT.
Between an idea and a plan
Decades in the digital industry have shown us countless great ideas getting derailed and projects landing “not quite there” because what was asked for and what was expected did not line up. Both parties giving it their best, and the end result still falling a little short… Translating ideas into actionable web specs is a skill that takes many years of practice.
Whether you’re launching a digital service, improving your ecommerce flow, or tackling a complex business challenge, our sparring support is designed to get you moving — confidently, and with a real strategy behind you.
Let’s be clear. Our goal is to protect your business — from expensive functionalities, overcomplicated tech, fixes for problems that do not exist… and yes, sometimes even from your own enthusiasm (we say it with love).
we’ll be Your in-house digital BI strategy team
We’ll be your inside man, advocating for your business interests. Asking tough questions, connecting dots, creating overviews and making sure you’ll have everything you need before you head to battle. We’ll be your in-house experts, for as little or as much as you’ll need us. And we’ll take some hits for you in the process.
SPARring for early stage projects and ideas
Our Strategic Planning and Approach Refinement service (or sparring for short) helps you shape early-stage ideas into clear, actionable plans — and often, into real-world deliverables like project specifications, service overviews, or tactical roadmaps.
a tangible starting point
Whether you’re launching a digital service, improving your ecommerce flow, or tackling a complex business challenge, SPAR is designed to get you moving — confidently, and with a real strategy behind you.
Who is it for?
The sparring service is meant for anyone who has an idea — or a strong feeling that something needs to be done — but isn’t sure what to do next.
It’s meant for those times when you really wish you had your very own specialist in your pocket. A knowledgeable and experienced friend who’s got your back. Who’ll jump into the trenches with you with you, and help sort it all out without worrying about popularity contests.
THE benefit
When you approach an agency or a developer, you’re usually expected to come with a definitive scope and some guarantees. A list of specs, at the very minimum.
The better it’s been defined, the less likely you’ll end up overpaying, overcomplicating or (more commonly than you’d think!) solving a problem that you actually didn’t have. Not to mention the delays and office politics!
We can help you fill the gap between your ideas and the information that lands on paper.
our role
The truth is, “speaking business IT” is a skill — and we’re pretty fluent.
We’ll take the role of your right-hand assistants, help you hold the course and translate your ideas into something that makes sense for business stakeholders as well as technical teams.
That means fewer surprises, better alignment, reliable resource management and faster results. Not to mention: wayyy less stress!
So… how does it work?
Every SPAR project starts with a conversation.
We’ll ask questions, challenge your thinking, and help you get to the core of what matters. Together, we’ll define the problem, explore possible approaches, and break the work into manageable steps.
For some clients, that initial discussion is enough to send them back to the drawing board with a clearer, sharper plan. For others, it’s just the beginning — and we continue working together to create the documents, plans, and materials that bring the project to life.
POTENTIAL DELIVERABLES
Besides the main goal (achieving alignment and mission clarity), sparring often leads to useful, real-world outputs created as a result of it. Documents you can hold, share and use for benchmarking; applying for funding; ordering services.
- Web Specification Documentation
- Project/Service Overview
- Design brief
- User Journeys
- An audit (accessibility, usability etc)
- Sales or pitch deck
OUR MOST COMMON SCENARIO
A Client approaches us stating they “may need” to build a completely new website. We quickly discover there is a lack of consensus there, so we organise a 3h brainstorming workshop with Client’s C-level. As a result we discover the main perceived pain point can be easily solved with additional web functionality; and a deeper problems sit at their internal sales funnel.
The Client then asks us to document the needed functionality, and invites us to another brainstorming meeting (now with their sales team) to hone in on the sales blockers.
How much does it cost?
It’s flexible, and charged simply by the hour.
For broader troubleshooting, we recommend involving 2-3 of our senior experts. For specific questions (i.e. design improvements to shopping cart) one may be enough.
Think about your desired outcome: how would you know whether the sparring achieved its goal? If you can tell us that, we can recommend the scale of sparring! And yes, you can ALWAYS scale it up or down, according to your needs!
GET IN TOUCH
Don’t hesitate to poke us (or any of us directly, i.e. in LinkedIn) if what you know you need something but you’re not sure what it is just yet!
- Strategic Planning
- Professional Documentation
- Actionable Insights
- Resource Alignment
- Development Connections
