How to Buy Digital Services?
Buying digital services is hard—so let me help you with that.
I found myself hearing the following questions quite often: “I got this offer from this company, is it any good?” and “How long does it take to do [insert something] and what would it cost?” Frankly, putting a price tag on a digital service is a very complex process since no two clients are alike. However, some things and choices affect the project’s overall costs dramatically. Let me explain a few of them below;
Project Scope
Don’t put too much on your plate. It’s wise to start with a minimum viable product and extend it after each iteration since then it’d never be too late to “turn the ship around” and make some adjustments if something doesn’t work as planned.
3rd Parties’ Fees
The project’s overall costs add up quickly when there’re many services and assets from external parties. These can be, for example, font and image licenses, server and domain costs, and monthly-based subscriptions fees, to name a few.
Number of Stakeholders
Less is more. Successful projects require different talents, but too many stakeholders increase expenses and make scheduling harder by adding unneeded dependencies—everyone should have a clear role and need in the project.
Working Hours
Simply put, three main things impact how much “actual work” there’s to successfully complete the project: the difficulty of work, how much customization and iteration is wanted, and how extensive is the project’s scope.
Features & Functions
…but do we really need that? Each feature increases expenses during the production phase and after the product launch. Custom functions also make maintaining more challenging due to the possible compatibility issues.
Project Management
Projects are much more than just designing and creating beautiful things. All projects require at least brief documentation on how to use the outcome, customer service and meetings between stakeholders, and so much more!
Design and Development Phases
No projects are alike, but they certainly share many resemblances.
Typically all my projects consist of 5 different phases. The first phase is a (1) project kick-off phase, during which we define the project scope and set the budget. The second phase is a (2) design phase where we create layouts, mockups, and wireframes that will guide the development process.
There’re always some (3) iteration rounds between the design and (4) production phases since rarely the first version is perfect as it is. After everything has been tested both on mobile and desktop devices, we can finally (5) launch the product to the public.
So… what now?
The only way to know for sure is to ask!
Long story short, I’m happy to discuss your requirements and goals, so I can provide you with the services you really need. Fortunately, many projects can be completed within a reasonable budget by planning them well ahead and making minor compromises here and there.