Learn how to determine objectives, technical solutions, risks, costs and impact of any type of project or digital products, through Inception.

All organizations, regardless of their size, sector or type, have the imperative need to make successful definitions of their digital products and services. That way, when they go to market, they solve a validated need, guarantee an optimal user experience and have a cost-efficient operating model. It is not enough to have a great business idea or extensive knowledge in a sector, the construction of digital products involves considering the efforts of development, support and evolution of the system. It also requires the ability to make disclaimers and prioritizations, to establish an appropriate MVP (Minimum Viable Product) and, above all, the ability to make early stage validations before investing time and money. The key? To carry out an inception.

In our daily work, it is common to hear people or companies interested in knowing “how much it costs and how long things take” when a development project can bring to reality, that great business idea that represents the desire to undertake, or the continuity of a business.

The common factor, in the case of entrepreneurs, is the confidence and conviction of having a disruptive idea. In the case of corporations, the awareness that they need to optimize a process to be more competitive in front of the new demands and requirements of their users; and, why not, to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Unfortunately, it is not the only usual thing, no matter if it is a consolidated or emerging business, the usual thing is to find deficient or inadequate definitions of their requirements and gaps in the definition of digital products, which is a major risk in terms of time, cost and feasibility of the project.

At Ceiba we strongly believe that sales processes must be responsible and that commitment implies making these risks evident, supporting our clients in mitigating them and making professional recommendations based on our experience and technical knowledge.

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That is why for several years now we have chosen to assist our clients in the sensible and reflective definition of their technological projects and in the alignment of a common and consistent vision of all those involved. For this purpose we have configured a service called INCEPTION, which inherits its name and practices from the proposal made by Jonathan Rasmusson in his book The Agile Samurai (2010), and which has been nurtured with another series of dynamics and activities proposed from our experience, resulting in an exercise of high utility and maximum value generation.

Why do I need an INCEPTION?

Our Inception is a co-creative process where we execute a set of dynamics oriented to focus all the people involved in a project towards the same objective. The purpose of these activities is to identify and align the expectations of all the people involved, to make visible the scope and needs of the project, reducing uncertainty and helping to identify possible risks.

As this activity is guided by a group of experienced facilitators, it contributes significantly to solve communication problems, lack of consensus and ambiguities that may arise. At the end of the process there is a clear definition of the business objective, the functional scope of the product, the general architecture and a prioritization of the approach according to the generation of value of digital products.

Its greatest benefit is reflected in a coherent and effective alignment of the product vision long before the first line of code has been written, and subsequently in the execution of a project that focuses on delivering value aligned to business objectives and user needs.

How does the process work?

To carry out the inception, it is necessary to have the participation of all the people interested in the development of digital products. We provide a team of experienced facilitators who are responsible for guiding the activities for each of the phases and who are able to engage in conversations and discussions of value with senior management, technical and operational staff. From there and taking advantage of the collective intelligence, a series of sequential guided activities are executed to determine the objectives of the product, the main users, the essential functionalities, a detailed understanding of the perceptions of risk, effort and business value in such a way that the project can be estimated; to finally establish a structured and incremental sequence. This allows to clearly visualize the steps to reach the MVP.
Our service covers the following phases:

In each of these activities, a series of dynamics are carried out to understand the why, how, what and with whom of the project. It is not mandatory to go through all of them (although it is recommended). Therefore, depending on the context, some activities can be replaced by others that pursue the same objectives, or even be omitted if these objectives have already been achieved previously.

At the end of the inception exercise, our client obtains, in addition to a clear vision of the implications of his project, a series of deliverables that will be the input to start the development process with greater peace of mind and awareness of the effort and risks.

Should I do it?

Inception can be applied when starting any type of product or service, not only software development, although it shines especially in the early stages of project development (startups, intrapreneurship, new digital product development), as it facilitates the definition of the MVP.

I need it! What do I have to do?

If you want to know more about this service, and you think it can be useful for that initiative or project you are working on, do not hesitate to contact us, and we will be glad to provide you with more information.