Design & Build: From business case to working product.

What is the Design & Build phase?

There’s a good reason for this approach. After all, most projects don’t fail because of technical issues, but because of the silence between approval and delivery. A document is signed, the team disappears into development for months, and at the demo, it turns out that the assumptions made in month one no longer hold true. That silence takes a few familiar forms. During development, it turns out that half of the scope isn’t feasible. Or the first demo comes so late that making adjustments only costs money. Or no one asks during the design phase whether this is even technically practical. Design & Build eliminates precisely those moments. You validate the design before a single line of code exists, and then you see functionality emerge instead of waiting months for a demo.

Two steps that build on each other.

The design phase lasts about three weeks and consists of three collaborative sessions. From user flows and initial visual designs, through a design review with the technical design, to a final design for Phase 1. That last session concludes with a go/no-go decision, so you don’t commit to the entire process upfront, you wait until you know exactly what you’re getting. After that, the implementation begins. No separate sprints running in parallel, but rather building, testing, and delivering per epic, with brief check-ins on content and priority. You see functionality take shape rather than waiting months for a demo.

What the design sprint means within Design & Build.

The design sprint is the methodology that kicks off the design phase. In focused sessions, we work with a multidisciplinary team to move from user stories to user flows and an interactive design. We test quickly, learn from feedback, and iterate. This way, you know whether you’re on the right track before development begins, rather than waiting until the first demo.

Design: the visual and technical interpretation of the scope.

The design is the translation of the scope defined in the Kickoff. It’s not about coming up with a new direction, but about making the agreed-upon direction tangible. We design the user experience, validate it with your stakeholders, and thereby lay the foundation for an efficient development phase. UX design defines the structure and navigation paths, while UI design establishes the visual hierarchy.

It all starts with user goals, packaged as user stories. The format is simple but effective: who, what, why. Two lines, and you immediately know what a screen is supposed to do and for whom. They also form the basis for the test plan, so you build and test against the same story.

1. As a visitor, I want to see what’s available so I can sign up for something.

2. As an administrator, I want to be able to view all registrants in the admin panel so I can contact them.

Build: Deliver in stages, not all at once.

During the implementation phase, we deliver the first working product. No separate, parallel sprints" just a streamlined flow of building, testing, and delivering epics, with brief check-ins to review content and priorities. This allows us to maintain momentum, minimize distractions, and continuously focus on what has the greatest impact.

To combine speed and quality, we use AI agents as accelerators: code generation, test setup, documentation, refactoring, and automated quality checks. These agents operate according to our established Cube guidelines, which are based on years of experience in software development, architecture, security, quality, and management. The GitLab Duo Agent Platform brings tools, agents, and development together in a single environment. Supervision and ultimate responsibility lie with our experienced software engineers, not with the agent.

The benefits of Design & Build.

1. A final, validated design for Phase 1, including the key management screens.

2. A detailed data model (ERD) and an implementable technical design (C4 model).

3. A refined business case with an adjusted investment range and phasing.

4. A working application that meets the agreed-upon scope and is ready for real users.

5. Code review, testability, security, and manageability as standard, not as an afterthought.

6. A deliverable that is measurable, so that after going live, you can validate against the KPIs from the business case.

Warranty and Partnership Agreement upon completion.

Upon technical delivery in the acceptance environment, you’ll receive a demo and training for the management environment or the CMS. This is followed by a warranty period during which you can report bugs and missing features within the scope so we can resolve them. A successful first phase is just the beginning. After going live, you’ll want the application to keep running, grow alongside your organization, and continue to improve. That’s what the Partnership Agreement is for: monthly services that include maintenance and management, hosting, monitoring, and opportunities for further development. The added value lies in continuity, because a dedicated team is on hand that knows your organization, application, and architecture inside and out.