01 / 06
Experience & capability assessment
Your product, research practice, design system, accessibility and measurement scored against where the roadmap needs them to be.
Scored baseline
Design Consulting & Solutioning
A new capability is not a plan. Shape it before you build it.
Design Consulting & Solutioning turns an ambition or a new capability into something a team can actually ship. Routes are drawn to the same level of detail, tested with the people who will use them and sized with the engineers who would build them, so the one chosen survives contact with delivery.
An illustrative solution map: five capabilities placed on three roadmap phases for three routes, with effort, running cost and risk compared; the compose route is recommended.
What it covers · 6 parts
Six ways in, one decision at the end
Every engagement ends the same way: a recommended route, the rejected ones recorded, and enough detail for finance and engineering to agree on it.
02 / 06
Solution shaping
Two or three routes to the same outcome, each drawn as a journey, a system sketch and an effort range, so the comparison is like for like.
Options · trade-offs
03 / 06
Design sprints
One or two weeks to take a vague ambition to a tested prototype, with the customers it is meant for in the room before the week ends.
1–2 weeks
04 / 06
Build, buy or compose
Platform and tooling choices judged on the journeys they have to support, the cost of changing them later, and what your team can run without us.
Evidence-led selection
05 / 06
Design operations
Intake, critique, handover, design QA and the working ratio of designers to engineers, set up so good work does not depend on who is on the call.
DesignOps
06 / 06
Accessibility advisory
A WCAG 2.2 AA programme: audit, prioritised backlog, component-level fixes, team training and an accessibility statement you can publish.
WCAG 2.2 AA
How it runs
Six weeks from ambition to a costed route
Options stay open until there is evidence to close them. Nothing is recommended that engineering has not sized.
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Frame Wk 01
The decision to be made, the constraints that are real rather than assumed, the people affected and what success looks like twelve months out.
- Decision brief
- Constraint map
- Success measures
Gate · Is this the right decision to make?
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Explore Wk 01–03
Current journeys, systems and data reviewed with the teams who own them. Two or three candidate routes drawn to the same depth.
- Current-state map
- Route options
- Risk log
Gate · Are the routes drawn to the same depth?
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Test Wk 03–05
The leading routes prototyped and put in front of users and engineers. Effort, running cost and risk estimated against what the prototype revealed.
- Prototypes
- Research findings
- Effort & cost model
Gate · Did users and engineers back the leader?
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Recommend Wk 05–06
One route recommended, the rejected ones recorded with their reasons, and a phased plan with the operating model needed to run it.
- Recommendation
- Phased plan
- Decision record
Gate · Can finance and engineering both sign it?
Timings are typical and shorten when the evidence already exists.
Route comparison · what you will see
Three routes, scored on the same five questions.
The artefact the steering group signs: each route drawn to the same depth, so the choice is between options, not between a favourite and two straw men.
| Question | A · Extend the current portal | B · New self-serve app | C · Buy and configure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time to first release | 10–12 weeks (Passes) | 16–20 weeks (Watch) | 8–10 weeks (Passes) |
| Three-year cost range | Medium (Passes) | High (Watch) | Medium, rising with seats (Watch) |
| Covers the top five user needs | 3 of 5 (Fails) | 5 of 5 (Passes) | 4 of 5 (Passes) |
| Riskiest assumption | Legacy API holds load (Watch) | Team can hire two engineers (Watch) | Vendor roadmap fits (Fails) |
| Reversible if wrong | Yes (Passes) | Partly (Watch) | Costly (Fails) |
What you keep
A decision you can defend. And the files behind it.
The route you chose, the ones you did not and why: kept in your own workspace so the reasoning survives the people who made it.
/handover/01-consulting/
Design Consulting & Solutioning
- Capability assessment & scorecardDeck · Sheet
- Current-state experience mapFigma
- Solution options with trade-offsDocument · Figma
- Prototype used for testingFigma · coded
- Effort, cost & risk modelSheet
- Target operating model & DesignOps planDocument
- Phased roadmap & decision recordRoadmap · ADR
/handover/README
In every handover
- Decision record, with evidence linksDoc
- Assumption tracker, final statesSheet
- Research consent & retention logSheet
- Walkthrough session, recordedVideo
What changes
Fewer surprises after the decision. Three measures that show it.
Consulting succeeds when the estimate holds, the risky assumptions were tested first and design requests stop arriving sideways. Baseline, target and instrument are agreed in week one.
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Outcome 01
A route you can cost
Options compared like for like, sized by the engineers who would build them, with the assumptions written next to the numbers.
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Outcome 02
Fewer reversals later
The expensive assumptions are tested in week three, while changing course still costs a week rather than a quarter.
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Outcome 03
A team that can run it
Rituals, roles, intake and handover written down, so the plan does not depend on us still being here.
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01 Estimate spread, chosen routeRange width as % of midpoint, first sizing vs final22%from 60%target 25%
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02 Assumptions tested before the decisionShare of logged high-risk assumptions with evidence82%from 15%target 75%
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03 Design requests through intakeShare of work entering by the agreed route, week 1288%from 30%target 80%
The stack
Workshops, maps and estimates. In the tools you already run.
We map, estimate and record decisions where your product and engineering teams already work, most used first. Technologies we work with, not partnerships.
- Figma
- Miro
- Notion
- Confluence
- Jira
- Linear
- Storybook
- Lighthouse
- Google Analytics
- PostHog
- Mixpanel
- Playwright
Frameworks we build to
Every route is costed against the same bar. Accessibility and privacy included.
Frameworks each route is scored against before it is recommended. They are frameworks we build to, not certifications we hold.
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WCAG 2.2 AAWeb Content Accessibility Guidelines
Perceivable, operable, understandable and robust content, including 2.2 criteria such as focus not obscured, target size and accessible authentication.
How we apply itContrast, focus order and target size checked in the design file, then keyboard and screen-reader passes on every key journey before sign-off.
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Core Web VitalsLoading, interactivity and visual stability
Good at the 75th percentile of page loads: LCP ≤ 2.5 s, INP ≤ 200 ms, CLS ≤ 0.1.
How we apply itLCP, INP and CLS budgets written into the design spec per template, and checked at p75 in field data after release.
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ISO 9001:2015Quality management systems
Requirements for a quality management system built on process control, risk-based thinking and continual improvement.
How we apply itEvery stage ends at a written gate with an owner, and design QA against the approved source before anything is called done.
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GDPRGeneral Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679
Lawful basis, data-subject rights, data protection by design and by default, breach notification and DPIAs for high-risk processing.
How we apply itResearch participants give recorded, specific consent; recordings and notes have a retention date and are deleted on it.
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DPDP Act 2023Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023
Notice and consent, duties of data fiduciaries, rights of data principals, breach intimation and added duties for significant data fiduciaries, with the DPDP Rules.
How we apply itConsent notices for India-based participants and users, with data-principal requests answerable from the research log.
Services & packages
Buy the decision, not the deck.
Commission a short diagnostic, a shaped solution or a standing advisory relationship. Each one is scoped up front and ends in something your leadership team and your engineers can both act on.
- Categories
- 04
- Services
- 14
- Packages
- 04
How to buy
- 01Pick services. Enquire about one, or add several to a brief.
- 02Choose how to engage. A sprint, a fixed project or an ongoing team.
- 03Send the brief. We reply within one working day.
Start a project
Ways to engage. Same team, same standard.
Three ways in, from a two-minute question to a formal RFQ. Each is read in full by the lead for the work, and anything already in your brief goes with it.
Or book a thirty-minute call-
01
For a first conversation, a press request, or anything that does not need a scope yet.
You get A reply from a lead, not a sales queue
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02Most useful
Goals, audiences, a budget band and timing. Enough for us to come back with a shape, not only questions.
You get Options and a first scope after one call
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03
Your pack, your deadlines, and the procurement and security rules the work must meet.
You get Receipt confirmed and a named bid lead
How it is priced
Each package shows how it is priced. Every engagement starts with a written scope and a quote agreed before work begins.
Opens a project brief with this package chosen.
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In your brief
- Typical length
- 1–3 weeks
- Pricing
- Fixed fee
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In your brief
- Typical length
- 4–12 weeks
- Pricing
- Fixed price
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In your brief
- Typical length
- Ongoing · 6-month minimum
- Pricing
- Monthly fee
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In your brief
- Typical length
- 6–18 months
- Pricing
- Programme fee · by statement of work
Compare what each package includes
| Package | Every engagement includes | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| SprintOne fixed question, answered in one to three weeks. |
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Discovery, a diagnostic, a prototype or a decision you need to make soon |
| ProjectA defined scope, delivered for a fixed price. |
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Work you can describe up front: an identity, a system, a set of tools |
| RetainerReserved monthly capacity to run, improve and extend what we built. |
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Brands and products after launch that need a steady team without hiring one |
| EnterpriseA multi-workstream programme with governance, a dedicated team and SLAs. |
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Large organisations running change across markets, portfolios or business units |
Questions
Asked before we compare the routes.
Anything else goes straight to the people who would do the work.
Ask a questionQ01What is the difference between consulting and a discovery project?
Consulting starts with a decision you have to make and ends with a recommendation you can act on. Discovery starts with a problem space and ends with a scoped plan for building. One often leads to the other, and we scope them separately so the advice stays independent of the build.
Q02Can you work with our existing design team?
Yes, and that is the usual case. We work alongside your designers, researchers and product managers, and part of the output is a better way for them to work once we leave.
Q03How do you estimate effort without a specification?
Routes are sized with the engineers who would build them, using reference points from comparable work, explicit assumptions and a range rather than a single number. The assumptions are written down so the estimate can be corrected as each one is tested.
Q04Do you run accessibility audits?
Yes. A WCAG 2.2 AA audit combines automated checks with manual keyboard and screen-reader passes on the journeys that matter, and produces a prioritised backlog rather than a list of violations. Conformance is a statement you publish about your product; no one issues a certificate for it.
Q05What if the honest recommendation is to do nothing?
Then that is what the report says, with the reasoning and the conditions that would change it. An assessment that can only ever recommend a project is not worth commissioning.
Keep going
A decision is where the work starts. These carry it forward.
Strategy sharpens what the chosen route is for; System Design gives it parts that last.
02 · Pairs well
What to build next
Product Strategy & Vision
Spotting the product experiences worth building next to meet real business ambitions.
Explore Strategy
05 · Pairs well
Built to grow
System Design
Structuring how a product's parts fit together so it can grow without breaking.
Explore Systems
The discipline
From signal to shipped
Product & Experience Design
All five capabilities, the loop they share and how an engagement moves through it.
Back to the overview
Let’s build what happens next.
Tell us what you’re building. We’ll answer straight.
Three ways to start
Every engagement starts with a written scope and a quote agreed before work begins.
Choose one of the three ways above