01Client
Solutions · Product agencies
Build what the client asked for, and what their users need.
Shorter Loop works with the way agencies run projects. Bring in the client’s brief and research, and see which requirements in the spec have evidence behind them before the build starts.
Free 14-day trial · No credit card required
How you work
The client’s spec is the truth.
The client knows their business and pays for the build. They arrive with a brief, a spec and a deadline. The agency delivers it on time and on budget.
It’s a fair deal, and it’s how most agency work is sold.
02Agency
Estimates, signs the statement of work and staffs the team.
03Team
Builds to spec, sprint by sprint.
04Launch
Delivered on time. Usage is low. Nobody knows why.
What it costs
The project succeeds. The product struggles.
When the spec is fixed, the agency carries the client’s assumptions into the build. Over time, that shows up in the work and in the relationship.
- Assumptions get built.Guesses in the brief become features, because questioning the spec feels like questioning the client.
- Change requests eat the margin.Users react after launch, and every fix is a new negotiation.
- Launches nobody uses.The product ships on time and the client’s users don’t adopt it.
- Blame lands on the agency.When results are weak, the build gets questioned before the brief does.
- No evidence for the next contract.The agency can show what it delivered, and has nothing on what that delivery achieved.
A better way
Treat the spec as a set of claims to check.
The client’s knowledge is real. Keep it, and mark which requirements have evidence behind them and which are guesses. Check the riskiest guesses with the client’s users before building them. The agency becomes the partner that saves the client money, with the evidence to show it.
Two questions before you commit
Which requirements in this spec are guesses? Which guess would hurt most if it’s wrong?
The path
Four stages. Stop at any of them.
Changing how a company decides takes time, and it’s your call how far to go. Each stage pays off on its own, starting with one that asks nothing of your team.
| Stage | What changes | What Shorter Loop does |
|---|---|---|
| 0 · Change nothing | Nothing. Keep your contracts and your delivery process. | Create a product per client and upload the brief, the spec and any research. Sage lists the claims in them and shows which have evidence behind them. Invite the client team: users are unlimited. |
| 1 · Raise the guesses early | Before signing the scope, review the unsupported requirements with the client. | Each claim shows its status and its source document, so the conversation is about the client’s own material. |
| 2 · Test before building | For the riskiest guesses, talk to five users or run a quick test first. | Interview notes and call transcripts attach as evidence. Experiments are planned against the claim they test. |
| 3 · Measure after launch | Agree the outcome the build should move, and check it with the client after launch. | Releases stay “In Assessment” until the result is in. The client sees what the work achieved, and the next phase starts from that. |
What stays the same
The client owns the vision. The agency brings the evidence.
- Contracts, estimates and delivery stay as they are.
- Each client gets its own product, separate from the others.
- Stage 0 starts with documents the client already sent you.
Start at stage 0.
Upload a client brief in the trial and see which requirements are guesses.
✓ Free 14-day trial✓ No credit card required