Sprint Zero
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
The Sprint Zero covers comprehensive pre-project preparation activities aimed to estimate the scope of work, terms, and budget for a specific project, get a vision of the finished product concept, 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 works, where it is difficult to formulate basic requirements and exact technical specification;
- MVP composition is not clear: the backlog is ideal and large, but it lacks prioritization and assessment;
- 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.
Sprint Zero workflow
1
Preparation
- Quick briefing and analysis of preliminary requirements on the part of the business.
- Brainstorm with both parties involved.
2
Research
- Analyzing a niche and competitors, checking user needs and requests.
- Highlighting features required for MVP and subsequent product versions.
3
Result
- The graphic design concept of 4-5 key screens for iOS.
- A short specification with MVP composition, including app architecture, list of integrations, and requirements for the back end.
- A detailed estimate of the design cost, and a more accurate forecast of the development cost and time, taking into account the project risks.
Advantages of Sprint Zero performed by Surf
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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 client’s side
- detailed project assessment
- backlog, project development map
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The team consists of senior level experts with relevant experience
- 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 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.
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Sprint Zero reduces risks of
- incorrect positioning for the user
- unnecessary expenses for architecture or development
- incorrect estimates at the presale stage
- failure to protect the project budget within the client’s company.
We find the best solutions for our clients
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The Hole
Together with the Medium Quality team, we built a user journey map: for each contact point, we described the actions and psycho-emotional state of the customer, aha moments, barriers, and ways to reduce them using the future product.See case
In the Runet Rating Contest 2021, The Hole project was awarded silver in the Rest and Entertainment nomination. -
Bethowen
Together with the Bethowen team, we compiled a backlog, prioritized and determined the roadmap for the future app — in particular, the features to be included in the first release and the features that can be implemented later. In the first two weeks, the new app allowed increasing the conversion up to 15%.See case -
Tricolor
At the presale stage, we studied the user reviews about the current version of My Tricolor app: figured out what users don’t like and what they need from the app. Based on this, we created a concept that was eagerly accepted by the client. As a result, we not only built the app, but also laid a foundation that can be developed and improved in the future, and the client has a roadmap — a plan for the service development for several versions ahead.See case
