Proposal Review
Meeting Date: January 20th, 2026
Attendees: Derek Gibbs, Sean Urgel, Oscar Gonzales, Kelly (listening)
Summary
| Area | Details |
|---|---|
| Team Diversity Focus | Aim to recruit more Filipinos, ensuring 80% of engineering maintains strong cultural alignment and team cohesion |
| Proposal Timeline Adjustment | Discovery phase extended to 10-14 days to improve accuracy based on team feedback for better planning |
| Pricing Strategy | Monthly budgets offered to clients; options for fast delivery with essential features or full build for flexibility |
| Discovery Deliverables | Prioritized features list, technical validations, and build briefs to clarify scope, target completion in four weeks |
| Concurrent Design Process | Design and engineering work in parallel, incorporating client feedback iteratively to enhance delivery efficiency |
| Clear Client Communication | Strict documentation and confirmation of scope changes to manage expectations while maintaining project transparency |
Notes
Team Composition and Recruitment
The team is focusing on strengthening diversity and specific recruiting strategies to fit cultural and role needs.
- Derek Gibbs emphasized recruiting another Filipino team member to maintain the current team diversity, where 80% of the engineering team are Filipinos and the product team is predominantly Asian women
- This reflects a deliberate approach to team composition aligned with cultural fit and existing team dynamics
- Derek also highlighted onboarding a promising Filipino Asian woman PM candidate, Alyssa, who could fill a product management role alongside current team members
- Recruiting efforts are actively underway with follow-ups planned to secure this candidate
- Maintaining this diversity is viewed as a strength in team cohesion and cultural alignment
Proposal Development and Timeline Management
The team is finalizing a detailed proposal with a clear timeline and flexible pricing model that balances client expectations and project scope.
- Derek Gibbs shared a new version of the Oak Harbor proposal aiming for a 5 to 7 day discovery phase, which was later adjusted to 10 to 14 days to account for realistic timing
- This adjustment was based on feedback from Oscar Gonzales and Sean Urgel, who emphasized the need to multiply initial estimates to avoid underpromising
- The proposal includes distinct user roles and acknowledges the complexity of adapting web features for mobile, requiring thoughtful UX redesign rather than direct translation
- The team plans to deliver a visual blueprint at the end of discovery, covering roughly 70% of core features, which will help clients decide on scope and budget for the build phase
- Pricing strategy is designed to offer clients monthly budget ranges rather than fixed amounts upfront, allowing scope adjustments based on budget and timeline preferences
- Options include an essential core launch for faster delivery and lower cost or a comprehensive build with more features and longer timeline, nudging clients toward incremental delivery
- This tiered pricing encourages starting with an MVP followed by iterative feature releases, matching the team's agile philosophy
Discovery and Definition Phase Scope
The discovery phase is scoped to identify core features, technical requirements, and user contexts to reduce scope creep and build confidence in the subsequent build phase.
- The team agreed discovery will focus on consolidating existing web features for mobile adaptation, emphasizing understanding user contexts for receivers and shippers rather than simply porting web screens
- Oscar stressed the importance of analyzing the information architecture and core jobs to be done per user persona during this phase
- The visual blueprint will serve as a prototype showing essential user flows, not the full comprehensive UI design, which is reserved for the design phase
- The discovery deliverables include:
- A prioritized list of features representing about 80% of the scope
- A technical validation of APIs and system integrations
- A build brief that outlines contract scope and sequencing
- Assumptions documented around personas, available services, and no unexpected new features
- Derek and Oscar emphasized the discovery work is not wasted regardless of build size, as it clarifies scope and reduces risk
- The discovery is estimated to be completed in four weeks with part-time allocation of a designer and PM to balance capacity and cost
- The focus will be weighted with 75% effort on receivers and the remainder on other personas to manage scope within time constraints
Design and Build Process Integration
The team outlined a concurrent design and build workflow that avoids front-loading design, enabling faster, flexible delivery aligned with client feedback loops.
- Sean Urgel and Derek Gibbs agreed that fully front-loading design before engineering is impractical due to inevitable changes during build and testing
- Instead, the design team will work feature by feature, completing UI approval before passing to engineering, allowing continuous iteration
- This concurrent approach reduces delays and supports client-driven changes without pushing back the entire timeline
- The team plans to enforce client sign-off gates at key stages, where further revisions after approval will require additional time and cost, protecting both parties' time
- Derek emphasized documenting decisions and communicating implications clearly to manage expectations and scope creep
- Client delays in review will be tracked and formally communicated to avoid blame and maintain timeline transparency
- The workflow will be managed via Linear boards to show phased feature releases and resource implications, helping clients understand staffing needs for faster delivery
- Adding engineers creates parallel tracks that speed up delivery but increase costs, giving clients clear options
Budget and Value Alignment
Aligning the project scope with client budget and business goals is critical, but actual budget information remains unknown, requiring flexible discovery and prioritization.
- Sean Urgel raised that without knowing the client's budget upfront, it's challenging to recommend a scaled solution that maximizes business value
- He suggested discovery should uncover budget and value drivers early to tailor recommendations accordingly
- The team agreed discovery includes researching business problems, budget constraints, and value metrics to prioritize features effectively
- Derek acknowledged this is a chicken-or-egg problem where value and budget understanding depend on discovery insights, so the initial phase must uncover this data
- The ultimate goal is to present clients with prioritized features matching their budget and business impact, supporting a build plan that drives ROI
- The existing web solution is being maintained internally, and the external team's role is to offer mobile development expertise, focusing on adopting not redesigning web tools unless necessary
- The team will assess technical feasibility early to prevent costly redesigns and align design with backend capabilities
Client Communication and Contractual Controls
The team plans to maintain strict documentation and transparent communication with the client to manage scope, timelines, and expectations.
- Derek emphasized the need for clear documentation of client decisions around scope and timeline trade-offs, which will be treated as binding for contract and project management
- If client requests more time or scope, the team will present options including deprioritization or extended timelines transparently
- Email confirmations will serve as formal change requests to manage contract scope
- The discovery proposal and process will be refined collaboratively by Derek, Oscar, and Sean, with an aim to finalize and present to the client by tomorrow morning
- Assumptions about scope, personas, and available services will be explicitly documented to avoid misunderstandings
- The team will convert the written proposal into a more visual deck to improve client understanding and engagement
- The approach aims to give clients control over budget, features, and timeline while protecting the team's capacity and reducing risk of scope creep
Visual Blueprint and Information Architecture
The visual blueprint serves as a critical checkpoint artifact that bridges discovery and build phases, providing clients with a tangible preview of the solution.
- Oscar explained the visual blueprint will show the information architecture and core user flows, helping clients understand the app structure before committing to build
- The blueprint will cover approximately 70% of core features, falling between essential and core tiers, focusing on primary user journeys
- For Oak Harbor, this would demonstrate the experience from starting a shipment to delivery, showing how receivers and shippers interact
- Sean can then extract technical requirements from the blueprint, identifying pages, features, and integration points needed
- This approach moves information architecture work earlier in the process, reducing scope creep that typically occurs during design phase
- The blueprint is not full UI design but rather structural flows that will be refined into detailed designs during the build phase
- This artifact helps clients make informed decisions about scope and budget before entering the build contract
Technical Scoping and API Validation
Technical validation during discovery ensures the team understands system capabilities and integration requirements before committing to build.
- Sean will review technical scoping sections to ensure discovery covers necessary technical details for build planning
- The team needs to inventory existing APIs, test accessibility, and map features to backend services
- Technical validation will identify gaps (like GPS tracking exposure) and confirm what's available versus what needs to be built
- This intersection of available APIs and prioritized features creates a matrix that determines build feasibility and effort
- The goal is to reach 80% confidence in technical requirements, with remaining details clarified during build
- Assumptions about technical capabilities will be documented to protect against scope changes mid-project
Action Items
| Assignee | Action | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Oscar Gonzales | Review and refine the product and design sections in the Oak Harbor proposal document | 56:14 |
| Sean Urgel | Review technical scoping and ensure the discovery phase covers necessary technical details to enable build planning | 56:42 |
| Derek Gibbs | Upload and share the latest Oak Harbor proposal draft | 01:38 |
| Kelly | Provide feedback and input on proposal or process as needed | 58:16 |
| Team | Finalize proposal document with edits and refinements within 15-20 minutes for client review tomorrow morning | 57:36 |