Get a cost estimate of your project at our free assessment workshops

So you have decided to get in touch with Prograils through the contact form or at least consider doing so after checking our portfolio and pricing rules. But it's obvious that such basic information may not be enough for you to choose us as your software development team. We have an ace up our sleeve, though, and it's called...

Assessment workshops

Getting an estimate for your project is only one of many reasons you should join our free assessment workshops.

Project estimation helps customers determine its cost and learn about the people who will work on it. Before you outsource a software development company and pay them money, you should know if you want to work with them in the first place. This is why we do the workshops with our customers. And you are more than invited to join them!

Want to outsource a good software house? Here’s how to find one!

Why should you join the assessment workshops at Prograils?

There are at least a couple of goals we want to reach through assessment workshops. And a couple of reasons for you to join them. When the workshops are over:

• you know the team assigned to your project,
• we know who you are and what your idea is,
• we have a big picture knowledge of your industry (including your audience and competition)
• you have a tentative project estimate, including scope, mockups and timeline.

Let’s discuss these results in detail.

The team assigned to your project

Even though we can arrange Skype calls or reply to your emails, the direct contact simply works better for us. It usually saves time and helps us put the project faster on track.

The workshops are always conducted by a project manager (PM) whose task is to listen to your idea and ask in-depth questions. Also present are devs and UX or graphic designer to discuss your app’s design.

During the workshops, we make sure you are familiar with the Agile workflow (or at least its basics) and introduce you to our project management. We also discuss all formal matters, such as contracts, non-disclosure agreements and billing. If you have some detailed questions about the way we work, check out playbook for relevant information.

But the main advantage of the workshops is that you can see if you really want to outsource the particular team and if both sides fit each other. It’s always easier to just part ways after the workshops with no obligations, than to step back when the project is already being worked on.

Who you are and what your idea is

We start with asking you the fundamental questions. What is your idea? What kind of problem does it solve? In case of an already existing product, what is the system like? What are its weaknesses?

Relax, we don’t expect you to speak in technical terms. Translating a real-world-problem into an app logic is our job. Read how we carry out projects with non-technical founders.

Have an idea for a web or mobile app? Feel free to drop us a line!

Seeing the big picture

Assessment workshops allow us to put your idea in a wider context of your industry. They help us identify your target audience, the number of end users and give us a better understanding of your competitors.

Your audience

The list of questions goes on. Together with the problem you want to solve, we investigate your end users. Who are they? What are their pain points? How many people are going to use your web and mobile app? The expected number of users helps us come up with an appropriate technology stack. For example, scalable web apps with thousands of users switch to Elixir more and more frequently. Read why.

Industry and competition

Who are your competitors? Do they already offer similar solutions? How can we stand out from the crowd? Finding answers to these questions helps us avoid existing schemes or spot the room for improvement.

Project estimate after assessment workshops

After the workshops, you receive the first project estimate, including:

• project scope,
• timeline,
• and mockups.

Scope

Scope is a detailed ticket list published on a Trello board, showing how long particular tasks will possibly take to complete. Each ticket has its own estimate. Based on this information, you can either decide to carry on with certain features, put them aside for later iterations or even let go of them.

Scope helps you prioritize features and establish an MVP (minimum viable product). If we feel that some features (e.g. integrating your app with some external system) might take longer than expected, we define the price range. Read more about our pricing policy.

Mockups

Together with scope, we provide you with mockups of your product. Mockups showcase the application's flow (meaning what links to what) and what will be displayed on a particular web page or mobile app screen.

Based on mockups, our graphic designer prepares the actual look of your product.

Both scope and mockups help us to prepare both timeline and estimate.

Project timeline

Timeline defines duration of a project as a whole. It sets the start date and an estimated deadline, when the ready product will be deployed. As Agile is about dealing with events and information that may emerge in the process, the end date may change, but we always have your deadline and budget in mind.

Cost estimate

As a result of the assessment workshops, we present you a cost estimate of the project. It usually contains an estimated price which can rise or fall by circa 20 per cent. The emerging information or edge cases that may appear during the software development process may also impact the presented price.

Main takeaway

By joining our free assessment workshops, you get the opportunity to meet your potential software development team before deciding to outsource us. During the workshops, we ask you questions about your product idea to understand it to the fullest. You learn about our software development cycle and Agile workflow. The workshops end with preparing the scope, mockups and timeline of the project which allow for a tentative cost estimation of your project. The costs might change overtime due to adding or deleting features, or emerging edge cases, but you shouldn't be scared of the changes. Some things simply cannot be planned in advance, but we are sure that with the deep understanding of your idea, we will easily fetch you the product tailored to your needs.

Want to estimate your product idea? Don't hesitate to get in touch with us!

Recommended reads:

• Once again, we deliver. Prograils among leading B2B service providers on Clutch,
• Best collaboration and project management tools for small and medium teams,
• See how we code our web and mobile apps

Main photo by rawpixel on Unsplash.com