A single document that frames the problem, defines MVP scope, and gives engineering a starting point with clear boundaries.
| Component | What You Get |
|---|---|
| Problem framing | What we're solving, who the users are, what business decision the output supports. Reframes the problem when the brief buries the real question. |
| Stakeholder map | Personas with needs and tensions between them. Success criteria per stakeholder — surfacing conflicts before they become scope creep. |
| Top 10 questions | Clarifying questions with reasoning. Surfaces what's undefined or assumed in the brief — the things that derail sprints in week 3. |
| Assumptions log | Each assumption documented with risk-if-wrong and a concrete validation step. Turns implicit bets into explicit, testable hypotheses. |
| MVP scope | What the first version does and — critically — what it does not do. Explicit boundaries prevent feature drift. |
| Decision / confidence logic | Scoring models, thresholds, escalation triggers. Worked example against a real scenario. The core product logic, specified. |
| Requirements | Functional, non-functional, business rules, exception handling. Numbered, testable, traceable. |
| User stories | 3–5 stories with acceptance criteria covering primary workflows and key edge cases. |
| Delivery plan | Week-by-week with day-level tasks and go/no-go gates. The first gate is always a manual spike — validate before writing code. |
| Walkthrough | Short video (2–5 min) covering key decisions, risks, and rationale. Async-friendly — no meeting required to understand the deliverable. |
Everything in the Product Definition Sprint, plus the artifacts that take a feature from "defined" to "buildable and testable." Engineering executes against it, not interprets it.
| Component | What You Get |
|---|---|
| Product Definition Sprint | Everything above: framing, scope, requirements, stories, delivery plan, walkthrough. |
| Data model | ER diagram, table definitions, field types, relationships. Visual and textual. The schema engineering builds on. |
| BDD scenarios | Gherkin feature files covering happy paths, edge cases, and error states. These become the acceptance test suite — "done" means all scenarios pass. |
| API / integration map | External data sources with endpoints, auth, rate limits, fallback logic, and cost-per-call. No surprises in sprint 2. |
| Edge case inventory | Documented scenarios the brief didn't anticipate — data gaps, conflicting sources, boundary conditions, policy ambiguities. |
| Estimation / calculation logic | If the feature involves computation: full decomposition of inputs, formulas, lookup tables, configurable parameters. Specified to a level where implementation is mechanical. |
| Validation plan | Metrics, targets, measurement method, success criteria, red flags. Defines what "good enough" means before building starts. |
| Stakeholder alignment | Facilitated review with stakeholders. Tensions surfaced and resolved. Decisions documented — not deferred to engineering. |
| GitHub project scaffold | Private repo with issues, milestones, and project board reflecting the delivery plan. Engineering picks up tickets, not PDFs. |
Ongoing BA capacity across multiple feature areas. Best fit when the roadmap has several features that need analysis over weeks or months — commitment gets a better effective rate than buying deliverables individually.
| Included | Details |
|---|---|
| Product definitions | 1–2 feature areas per month, each at Product Definition Sprint depth or deeper depending on complexity. |
| Async communication | Unlimited email and chat. Questions answered, briefs reviewed, feedback provided — no per-message cost. |
| Scheduled meetings | Up to 4 hours/month included (kickoffs, stakeholder reviews, alignment sessions). Additional meetings at $75/half hour. |
| Ongoing refinement | Requirements evolve as engineering builds. Retainer covers clarifications, edge case resolution, and scope adjustments as they arise. |
| Backlog maintenance | GitHub issues and project board kept current as priorities shift. New stories, updated acceptance criteria, re-prioritized milestones. |
| Deliverable | Sprint | Full Package | Retainer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Problem framing + stakeholder map | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Questions + assumptions log | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| MVP scope (does / does not) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Confidence / decision logic | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Requirements (FR, NFR, BR, exceptions) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| User stories + acceptance criteria | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Delivery plan with gates | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Video walkthrough | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Data model (ER + schema) | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| BDD scenarios (Gherkin) | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| API / integration map | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Edge case inventory | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Calculation logic spec | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Validation plan + metrics | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Stakeholder alignment sessions | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| GitHub repo + project board | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Ongoing refinement + backlog | — | — | ✓ |
| Unlimited async (email + chat) | — | — | ✓ |
| Multiple feature areas | — | — | ✓ |
| Price | $7,500 – $10,000 | $12,500 – $18,000 | $8,000 – $12,000 /mo |
| Turnaround | 3–5 days | 2–3 weeks | Ongoing |
Each tier is a range. Where it lands depends on scope, not negotiation.
| Factor | Lower end | Upper end |
|---|---|---|
| Scope clarity | Brief is tight, problem well-defined | Ambiguous, stakeholders disagree on the problem |
| Domain complexity | Adjacent to prior work | Net new domain research required |
| Stakeholder access | Direct access, responsive | Filtered through intermediaries, slow feedback |
| Data availability | APIs exist, sample data on hand | Data sources TBD, coverage unknown |
| Feature areas (retainer) | 1–2 per month, well-bounded | 3+ per month, evolving scope |
| Channel | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Included | Unlimited. Primary channel for questions, feedback, document review. | |
| Chat (Slack, Teams, etc.) | Included | Unlimited. Async — responses same business day. |
| Scheduled meetings | $75 / half hour | Kickoffs and review sessions included in each tier. Additional meetings billed in 30-minute increments. |
| Loom / async video | Included | Walkthroughs, status updates, and decision explanations delivered as short videos. |
| Step | What | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scope | One conversation to understand the feature area, stakeholders, and constraints. I ask the hard questions here. This call is free. |
| 2 | Quote | Fixed price based on scoping factors above. Not a range — a number. Includes what's delivered and when. |
| 3 | Analysis | Domain research, data source evaluation, edge case discovery, stakeholder tension mapping. Async — no meetings needed. |
| 4 | Deliverable | Written document + video walkthrough. Everything numbered, testable, and traceable. Tables, bullets, and decisions — not polished prose. |
| 5 | Review | One review round with stakeholders. Resolve open questions. Finalize scope boundaries and acceptance criteria. |