Client App Scope Triage (Onboarding)
A checklist with 7 steps: Classify the requested app against four build archetypes before opening any builder account.
By InnovaAI ResearchPublished
What are the steps?
Client App Scope Triage (Onboarding)
- 01
Classify the requested app against four build archetypes before opening any builder account
Tag it as content wrapper, storefront extension, workflow tool, or custom logic. The archetype decides whether a visual builder fits at all, and it prevents a scoping conversation from drifting into feature promises the platform cannot keep.
- 02
Score the feature list for native dependency
Flag anything needing background location, Bluetooth peripherals, offline sync, or heavy real-time collaboration. These are the requirements where visual builders hit their ceiling and where a client retainer gets burned by rework.
- 03
Confirm the client's app store ownership path
Ask who holds the Apple Developer and Google Play accounts and whether the client expects to own the binary. Reseller programs vary widely here, so settle it in writing before the proposal goes out.
- 04
Map data residency and integration endpoints
List every system the app must read or write (CRM, inventory, payment processor) and note which ones the chosen platform supports natively versus through a connector. Hosted database options differ across the roster, and a missing integration surfaces as a change order later.
- 05
Set a customization ceiling in the statement of work
Write down the specific screens and interactions covered, plus the change-order rate for anything beyond them. Agencies that skip this line absorb scope creep on fixed-fee app builds.
- 06
Run a two-day throwaway prototype on the leading candidate
Build only the two hardest screens, not the pretty ones. If the prototype stalls on a core interaction, the platform choice is wrong regardless of how the marketing site looks.
- 07
Document the dependency risk in the client-facing proposal
Name the platform, its pricing tier, and the migration cost if the relationship ends. Clients accept platform dependency when it is disclosed; they litigate it when it is discovered at renewal.