Can we pause the project partway through?

Written by

Contic

Date

A month ago

Read time

2 minutes

A man contemplating pause

We understand that sometimes life or business priorities shift. If you need to pause the project, we’ll work with you—but there are a few things to keep in mind to avoid delays or rework when you return.


You can pause between phases

You’re free to take a break between project phases. For example:

    After Discovery, before Design or Build

    After Design, before Build begins

We’ll preserve everything we’ve created up to that point—documents, plans, prototypes, or technical set-up—so we can pick up where we left off when you're ready.


Your Discovery plan is locked in

The plan we create during Discovery is locked when that phase is complete. That includes:

    Your defined goals and launch criteria

    Your prioritised feature set

    The scope, budget, and timeline we agreed on

This allows us to proceed confidently into design and development without risk of scope creep.


What if things change while you’re on pause?

If you come back after a pause and want to change direction, that’s totally fine—but we’ll need to restart Discovery and re-scope the project. This ensures the product we build still aligns with your goals, users, and budget.

Think of it like recalibrating the map before a new journey.


Best practices for pausing

If you know a pause is coming:

    Let us know early so we can structure the phase to wrap cleanly

    Be clear on whether the direction is likely to shift during the pause

    If you're unsure about timing or team availability, it may be better to delay the start of the project

We’re flexible—but structured. That’s how we deliver consistently, even when plans evolve.


Summary

You can pause between phases, but the plan we agree on during Discovery is locked. If you return with a new direction, we’ll need to re-scope before continuing. Just keep us in the loop—we’re here to help you stay on track, even if the journey takes a detour.