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participle clause how it unfolds

unfolding in eight stages, each one leaving you holding something:

The same arc runs whether the sentence is about one form or a whole working day. Stages can be short, but none is skipped, and each one ends with something you can keep, read or use.

A long strip of blank paper folded concertina-style into eight upright panels on a dark desk, each a little taller than the last, ending at a phone whose screen glows with a simple app layout.

  1. One sentence

    You state the problem in one sentence. We reply with questions rather than a pitch: who does the work, where, and with what today.

    You hold a shared statement of the problem.

  2. Discovery

    We talk to the people doing the work and go through the current process with them, on site where we can. Every piece of information it touches is listed, with every way it can go wrong. Data protection is on that list from the start.

    You hold a written scope, in and out, a list of the data, a list of risks, and what done means.

  3. Prototype

    Clickable screens, tried by the people who will use them on their own phones. What confuses them is redrawn. Most of a prototype is thrown away; that is what it is for.

    You hold a prototype everyone has touched.

  4. Build in slices

    Short increments, each ending in a demonstration of working software. What comes next is reordered with you after every one, so the most useful part arrives first.

    You hold working software after every increment.

  5. Test

    Accessibility to WCAG 2.2 AA with a keyboard, screen readers, contrast and target size; security checks aligned with OWASP MASVS; old and new phones; and the offline cases below.

    You hold the test notes, and the fixes.

  6. Handover

    The repository moves to your account, the listing is published under your developer account, secrets are rotated, and you get a runbook and an export of your data.

    You hold everything, owned outright.

  7. Support

    An agreed support window with security updates, a published way to report a vulnerability, and at least a year’s notice before support ends.

    You hold a named support term.

  8. Retirement

    If the software is ever withdrawn, it goes with notice, a data export and a plan for removing its listing.

    You hold your data, with nothing stranded.

A gloved hand holds a rugged phone in a dim basement plant room, its screen the brightest thing in view, with pipework soft in the dark behind.

aside before you meet it

what we try to break before you do:

  • The signal drops in the middle of a save.
  • The phone restarts with changes still waiting to send.
  • Two people edit the same job while they are apart.
  • The phone’s clock is wrong.
  • The phone’s storage is nearly full.
  • The app updates while changes are queued, and the stored data has to change shape without losing anything.

vocabulary words you may hear

words you may hear on the way,

GOV.UK’s Service Manual names the same arc. We use its words because many people already know them; using them is not a claim of government work.

Discovery
learning the problem, the people, the data and the risks before designing anything
Alpha
trying ideas out with prototypes, and throwing most of them away
Beta
building the real thing in increments, with real users
Live
in use, and supported
Retirement
a planned withdrawal, with the data handed back

object what changes hands

and what the handover contains.

  • The code repository in your account, with its whole history
  • The listing under your own developer account
  • Rotated secrets every password, key and token changed, ours removed
  • A runbook how to build, release, back up and recover
  • Your data a full export in an open format
  • A component list every third-party part inside the software

Ready to start at stage one? Write your sentence

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