Business
Pricing a two-week sprint
Why I stopped charging by the hour, and the three numbers I check before I send a quote.
6 min read
For five years I billed hours. Clients hated the surprise and I hated the timesheets, so in 2024 I moved everything to fixed two-week sprints.
A sprint has one outcome we agree on up front: a tested prototype, a design system starter, or a shipped feature. The price covers ten working days, two reviews and a handover call.
Before I quote, I check three numbers: how many screens or states are really in scope, how many people must approve, and whether the code has to land in someone else’s repository. Each one moves the price more than the design work itself.
Written at the desk on the penthouse floor. Reply to any issue of Small Batch Notes and it comes straight to me.
Next note on the board
The smallest useful design system
Eight colours, six text styles and nine components. Everything else can wait until the second product.