Case Study: Avoiding Over-Engineering Through Smart Scoping & AI-Driven Research
All Heights - Telecommunications, Steelwork & Civil Infrastructure
Overview
All Heights, led by Matt Siddells is a Christchurch contractor specialising in telecommunications infrastructure, steel fabrication and erection, and full civil site works - supported by their own fleet, lifting capability and in-house fabrication. Their work ranges from greenfield telecom builds to structural upgrades, decommissions and bespoke steelwork projects.
All Heights manages a high volume of on-site work that requires clear documentation and regular photographic updates for clients. Their existing process for capturing, organising and sharing job-site photos had become clunky and time-consuming. Matt approached Binary Refinery with a clear brief and an initial assumption that the solution would be a custom AI-powered app.
Instead, the project revealed something more valuable: sometimes the most strategic decision is not to build at all.
The Challenge
All Heights needed a more efficient, consistent and reliable way to:
Capture progress photos on site.
Add supporting information easily.
Organise everything by job.
Provide clients with clean, professional updates.
Access job records from both mobile and desktop.
The initial concept was a bespoke app that automated parts of the workflow and produced polished outputs like PDFs or web galleries. Matt could clearly picture how AI and automation might streamline everything.
But before committing to development, we entered the most important part of any tech project: scoping.
Sharpening the Axe: The Importance of Proper Scoping
Abraham Lincoln famously said: "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe."
Scoping is the sharpening.
Many organisations do this step, but very few do it thoroughly enough. Proper scoping is where you uncover true requirements, hidden assumptions, workflow realities and the smartest path forward. It also prevents overbuilding, overpaying and overcomplicating.
During scoping we worked with Matt to map:
Functional requirements.
Ideal user experience.
Workflow design.
Privacy and sharing needs.
Long-term sustainability considerations.
The early conclusion was that a custom AI-powered app was technically possible and would create efficiencies. But the question remained:
Is a custom build the smartest approach?
The Turning Point: Using AI to Explore Non-AI Solutions
Rather than rush toward development, we used AI as a research partner:
A full description of the workflow, features and needs was fed into AI-powered search tools to surface software that might already solve most or all of the requirements.
Traditional searching had come up empty because this niche type of tool is not described with any consistent terminology online.
The AI-driven search uncovered several specialised platforms built specifically for trades and field-service documentation workflows. These options did not appear in standard search results, but they offered:
Mobile photo capture with metadata.
Clean client-facing sharing options.
Job-based organisation.
Template-driven reporting.
Role-based user views.
Minimal setup and maintenance.
One solution in particular aligned extremely closely with All Heights' needs.
The Recommendation: Use an Existing Platform, Not Custom AI
After comparing features, workflow fit and sustainability, the most cost-effective and time-efficient approach was clear:
Adopt a purpose-built off-the-shelf platform instead of developing a custom AI-powered app.
This approach offered:
Faster implementation.
Lower risk.
Zero technical debt.
No ongoing maintenance burden.
A proven, stable workflow matched to the industry.
Immediate value for both Matt and his clients.
Most importantly, it prevented a costly build that wasn't necessary to achieve the desired outcome.
The Outcome
By taking a thorough, strategic approach to scoping and evaluating options, All Heights:
Avoided $30k+ in unnecessary development costs.
Found a fit-for-purpose platform that solved the core problems immediately.
Eliminated the need for custom code or AI development.
Gained a reliable, professional, low-friction way to deliver client updates.
Secured a solution that is scalable, mobile-ready and easy to maintain.
The biggest win: The smartest solution required no AI at all.
Our job is not to push technology for the sake of it. Our job is to understand the real problem and recommend the smartest, most sustainable solution - even when that solution is surprisingly simple.
Want the same clarity?
If you are exploring an idea, uncertain whether to build, buy or wait, we can help you:
Scope your needs properly.
Stress-test your assumptions.
Identify the simplest path to value.
Avoid unnecessary cost and complexity.
