Five steps, the same on every project. The worked example is the Dashcam Library case study, a three-milestone fixed-price engagement from scoping to handover.
Discovery
A call and a written brief: who uses it, what success looks like, what's out of scope.
Scope
A milestone plan with acceptance criteria, agreed in writing before any code.
Build
Weekly demos on a live staging link, so you see progress rather than hear about it.
Test
Every acceptance criterion checked against real data: yours, not samples.
Launch
Deployment, handover docs and a walkthrough, then support while it beds in.
Questions
Fixed price or hourly?
Fixed price per milestone for a defined build with written acceptance criteria. Hourly or a monthly retainer for ongoing support that cannot be scoped in advance.
When do payments happen?
Payments follow accepted milestones, not calendar dates.
How will I see progress?
On a live staging link you can open any day, with a regular demo.
What happens when I ask for a change mid-build?
It is written down and estimated, and we agree whether it replaces something or adds to the price before any work starts.
What does handover include?
A written handover document, a walkthrough call, environment variables and secrets transferred securely, and access removed when you choose.
The questions worth asking any freelance developer are in this guide.