Sprint Zero: App Design & Development Plan

We lay the foundation for successful products: immersing in client's business, forming and checking concepts, creating design concept and project roadmap Discuss the project
Sprint Zero covers comprehensive pre-project activities aimed to estimate the scope of work, terms, and budget for a project. The zero stage helps to plan an app development, get a vision of the finished product, and receive supporting materials to get a budget approved.
MVP Spec

roadmap, estimation, design concept

Senior

UX researcher, PM

to 5%

of the project cost

1-3 weeks

depending on complexity

Sprint Zero is required when

  • a non-standard project is planned with large scope of work, where it is difficult to formulate basic requirements to a finished application;
  • the exact technical specification is hardly to be described without an IT expert specified in your field for years;
  • MVP composition is not clear: the backlog is ideal and large, but it lacks prioritization and assessment typically offered within Sprint Zero;
  • the architecture is not defined, and the back end, additional integrations, and middleware need to be refined;
  • the budget has not yet been allocated, and the project is to be pitched to investors or an internal project committee;
  • you plan to build a custom product with smart UX/UI and need our IT team‘s help to make it work on your business goals.

Sprint Zero workflow

1
Planning — a basis of the zero stage
  • You give us a description of the product task and your expectations.
  • You describe a business problem, target audience portraits, main competitors, and other things we should know about your project before the next parts of Sprint Zero start.
  • Quick briefing and analysis of preliminary requirements on the part of the business.
  • Brainstorm with both parties involved: it can be founders, marketers, project managers, business analysts, etc.
2
Conducting a research
  • Analyzing your niche and its trends and outlining the best ones to follow.
  • Detailed competitor analysis, including their strengths and weaknesses (if necessary).
  • Checking user pains, needs, and requests to have perfect understanding of your target audience specific.
  • Highlighting features required for MVP and subsequent product versions.
3
Result you get at the finish of Sprint Zero
  • The unique graphic design concept of 4–5 key screens for iOS (if necessary).
  • A short specification with MVP composition, including app architecture, list of integrations, and requirements for the back end.
  • A detailed estimate of the application design cost, and a more accurate forecast of the development cost and time.
  • Describing and discussing the project risks that can be predicted at the zero stage and planned to be solved or avoided.

Advantages of Sprint Zero performed by Surf

  • At the end of Sprint Zero, you get
    • well-reasoned MVP composition
    • design concept in Figma
    • integration plan and risk review
    • review of the back end condition on the customer’s side
    • detailed project assessment
    • backlog and prioritization
    • project development map
  • The product team consists of senior level experts
    • Project Manager with experience in implementing at least 5 products from scratch to release and product management
    • Art Director, Designer, Strategist, Business Analyst with experience in implementing at least 2 projects in your business industry
    • System Analyst with experience in API writing (swagger) and back-end task setting in at least 3 projects
    • Flutter expert, QA, Backend Leads with at least 4 years of project and risk assessment experience with successful releases under their management
  • Sprint Zero reduces risks of
    • incorrect positioning for the user
    • choosing tech stack that is not the best one for a project complexity and budget
    • unnecessary expenses for architecture or development
    • incorrect estimates at the presale stage
    • failure to protect the project budget within the customer’s company
    • overspendings caused by too blurred understanding of custom IT project planning pitfalls

Ready to start your Sprint Zero?

Drop us a brief and get a free consultation.
call

Olga Gromakovskaya

Chief Commercial Officer, Surf

Let's develop your banking app!

Drop a file here or click to upload Attach file
    Estimate project