Our approach

Software projects are different with us – visibly so. You can walk into a ThoughtWorks project room and see exactly where we are at in a single glance – whether we are consulting on test strategy or your customer experience, building an application or simply helping make a tough decision. We’ve taken best practices of collaboration, feedback, transparency, and testing and built them into the fabric of the way we work. We see software as an ecosystem - of customers, processes, technology, developers - and our projects are never done within the confines of an IT-only force-field.

A fast start

Our delivery work typically starts with a time-boxed Inception, engaging every key stakeholder group right from day 1. This defines high-level requirements and initial release plans, together with the technical architecture and any significant risks, issues and constraints. It builds consensus and provides an invigorating start to projects.

Building momentum

We then get on with delivering working software as quickly as possible. Our goal is to deliver real value, fast. Projects are organized in iterations of 1 or 2 weeks, aiming to produce product-ready code each and every iteration. We guide users to create and prioritize complete “stories” – scenarios with a beginning, middle and end that address a real business issue - anything from paying an invoice to a customer completing an online application.

The team decides at the start of every iteration which stories add the greatest value for users or customers at this moment. Our focus on this is relentless, and our people are perfectly willing to rock the boat a bit (or more!) to challenge the way things have always been done, eliminate potential waste, and consider alternatives.

The right tools, the right attitude

We work fast. Our experts know the latest and most appropriate tools for the job, from test automation to simulation to systems integration. We produce or contribute to many of the best tools available today. We automate wherever it makes sense, keeping people away from repetitive tasks, so they can add the most value possible. And testing isn’t a “Phase” for us. It happens every step of the way, which means that when it comes time to deploy, we’re ready. No last-minute surprises.

We've spent years, and many early mistakes, building a set of ThoughtWorks capabilities and reusable approaches which combine Agile and Lean intelligently. But one size most definitely doesn’t fit all. Each client and project is unique, and we adapt. At the end of the day, what drives us isn’t dedication to an approach. It’s dedication to creating and evolving uniquely valuable software (or simply the right answer to a pressing problem) for our customers, without waste, as fast as possible.