Whether you’re in the early stages of a project or working on maintenance, getting an informed opinion is a cost effective way to improve what you’re doing. Design reviews are classic consulting engagements. We’ll come in, ask questions, read design documents and code (if you’re far enough along), and tell you what you’re doing right, and how you could improve. Design reviews work in a variety of circumstances.
- Companies seeking to employ a new technology such as Ruby on Rails often need to know how far they might stretch the technology. You might want the productivity of Rails, and yet wonder if it can work given your technical requirements.
- Startup companies often use design reviews to determine the best possible technical platform for their projects (we know Java and Ruby very well, but won’t hesitate to recommend other technologies if they are the best fit.)
- Startup companies, their funders, or those looking to acquire a company often do design reviews for due diligence. Changing an approach at the early stages is often much more cost effective than waiting until it is too late.
- Core process problems leading to cost overruns or availability problems often require a second look. These days, if you don’t solve your own problems early, usually you won’t get another opportunity to do so.