How we work

Engineered like someone else will inherit it.

We research before we build, write down every significant decision, and ship behind automated performance, accessibility and security checks, in any language and on any cloud. The result is software your next team can pick up without a rewrite, whether that team is us or not.

Evidence before code.

The most expensive software mistakes are made before the first line of code: a wrong assumption about users, a platform that doesn’t fit, an estimate nobody checked. We spend the first weeks testing those assumptions, and we write the answers down.

  1. 01 · Weeks 1–2

    Research

    We study your users, systems and constraints, and verify every claim the plan depends on.

  2. 02 · Weeks 2–3

    Decide

    Architecture, stack and hosting decisions are written down, challenged and signed off before we build.

  3. 03 · Week 3 onward

    Build with gates

    Automated gates on every change, the same on any stack.

  4. 04 · Ongoing

    Evolve

    We measure in production and improve what the data supports, not what we assume.

Decisions on paper

Every significant choice (language, framework, cloud, data model, platform) gets a short decision record: the options, the trade-offs and why one won. You can read them, challenge them and keep them.

ADR-004ProposedExample

One availability service for every client

Options
Booking logic per platform · one shared API
Decision
Web, WordPress and both apps read time slots from one API.
Verified by
Contract tests on every change.
Challenged
Objections and answers kept in the record.
Example architecture decision record

Gates, not good intentions.

Tests, performance budgets, accessibility checks and security scans run automatically on every change. The gates are the same whether the code is .NET on Azure, PHP on WordPress or TypeScript on AWS.

Merge gate · every changeExample
  1. Types: passed
  2. Tests: passed
  3. axe · AA: passed
  4. Perf budget: passed
  5. Security: passed
A change that fails the performance, accessibility or security checks doesn’t merge.

Anatomy of a build

Six layers, one standard. The gates run under every one of them.

  1. Interface

    React, Vue or Angular on the web; Swift, Kotlin or React Native on phones.

  2. APIs

    Designed and documented before they are built, versioned so they can change.

  3. Services

    TypeScript, C# and .NET, or PHP and Laravel, chosen for the problem.

  4. Data

    Modeled and decided on paper, with tenant isolation where it matters.

  5. Cloud infrastructure

    In your own AWS, Azure or Google Cloud account, repeatable and documented.

  6. Quality gates

    Tests, performance, accessibility and security checks on every change.

Your stack, or the right one

We work in the stack you already run, or the one the problem needs. An existing .NET, PHP or JavaScript system gets modernized in steps, with tests around the behavior that matters, instead of being replaced in one risky rewrite. When a new stack is the better call, we recommend one in writing and explain the trade-offs before you commit.

The same goes for what sits underneath. APIs are designed and documented before they are built. Cloud infrastructure on AWS, Azure or Google Cloud is set up in your own account, repeatable and documented, so hosting and releases get the same scrutiny as the application code.

Progress you can see, every week

During a build you see working software every week: a demo you can click through, on real devices for mobile apps, with test builds through TestFlight and Google Play test tracks. Decision records are shared as they are written, so you can challenge a choice before anything is built on it. When the plan has to change, you hear it from the engineer leading the work, in writing, with the options.

This site is held to the same gates.How this site is built

One engineer accountable. Set up for continuity.

Three fair questions to ask any studio: who will work on your project, what happens if someone is unavailable, and whether there is room for it. Here is how we’re set up to answer them.

This is how we set up our engagements. The commitments for your project, including who works on it, confidentiality and ownership, are in the agreement we both sign, and that agreement governs.

Start a project

The first step is a 30-minute call with the engineer who would lead the work.

Scoped before it’s quoted

Every engagement is scoped in writing before it is quoted: a short discovery sprint, a full build, or ongoing engineering once the software is live.

  1. Fixed scope, usually 2–3 weeks

    Discovery

    When it fits

    Larger builds, before you commit to the full project.

    What you leave with

    • Technical and user research
    • Architecture decision records
    • A written plan and quote
  2. Scoped and quoted after discovery

    Build

    When it fits

    Once the plan is agreed. Senior‑led delivery, with weekly demos on real devices.

    What you leave with

    • Software that passed performance, accessibility and security gates
    • Accounts and repositories in your name from day one; the code and documentation yours under the signed agreement
  3. Monthly

    Ongoing engineering

    When it fits

    Software in production that needs to keep improving.

    What you leave with

    • Roadmap and releases
    • Monitoring, fixes and upgrades
    • A monthly metrics review

Written planContents

What the written plan covers

It’s written so another team could quote and build from it. That’s what “yours to take to any team” means.

  1. The problem, who it’s for and what a successful first release does.
  2. The assumptions we tested, how we tested them and what we found, from a clickable prototype and customer interviews where the product calls for them.
  3. Decision records for the stack, hosting and data model, plus tenancy and billing for a SaaS product, each with the options and trade-offs.
  4. The first release: what’s in, what’s out, and the reason for each.
  5. Risks and open questions, ranked.
  6. The build’s scope, timeline and price.

Start small:Start with a discovery sprint Start with an audit

Questions about how we work

How is a software project priced?

We quote every project individually, because the price follows from a few cost drivers rather than a rate card: how many systems it connects to, how many user roles and new workflows it introduces, which platforms it runs on, how much data has to move, and the level of security review it needs. Larger builds start with a discovery sprint, so the quote rests on written decisions rather than guesses. The smallest way to start is a fixed-scope discovery sprint or a modernization audit. We don’t publish rates.

Can you work alongside our in-house team?

Yes, we can work alongside an in-house team. Your engineers work in the same codebase, can read and challenge every decision record, and keep the runbooks and documentation, so the system stays theirs to run whenever our part ends.

Who will work on my project?

A senior engineer leads every project: the one you speak to first, from the first call through handover. When it needs other skills, such as design, mobile or a security review, we bring in independent specialists and agencies, chosen for each project. We tell you who is working on it, and each works to our standards and is bound by written confidentiality terms at least as protective as ours with you. This is how we set up our engagements. The commitments for your project, including who works on it, confidentiality and ownership, are in the agreement we both sign, and that agreement governs.

What happens if you’re unavailable?

We set projects up so they don’t depend on one person. Repositories, cloud accounts and domains are in your name from day one, and decisions and runbooks are written down as we go. If the engineer leading your project becomes unavailable, we tell you in writing and propose another senior engineer we work with to pick up from the record, or your own team or another one can take it on. This is how we set up our engagements. The commitments for your project, including who works on it, confidentiality and ownership, are in the agreement we both sign, and that agreement governs.

What if we want to stop partway?

Every project is scoped and quoted in writing before work starts. A discovery sprint ends with decision records, plus a written plan and quote, all yours to take to any team; and modernization runs in stages, each scoped and quoted before it starts, so you can stop or change course between them. The accounts and repositories are in your name from day one, and the code and documentation are yours under the signed agreement, so stopping doesn’t mean starting over.

Do you use AI tools in delivery?

Yes, carefully. Our engineers use AI-assisted tools, with a senior engineer reviewing the output, and every change passes the same quality gates as any other: tests, performance budgets, accessibility checks and security scans. We use only AI tools whose terms or settings keep client code and data out of model training, we can tell you which tools we use, and if your agreement limits AI tools, we follow it.

Every build, any stack

One standard.

  1. Performance

    A performance budget is set before launch and enforced on every change.

  2. Accessibility

    Built to WCAG 2.2 AA and tested against it, with automated checks and manual keyboard and screen-reader passes on client builds.

  3. Security

    Least-privilege access, secrets kept out of code, dependencies monitored and security headers configured.

  4. Handover

    Accounts and repositories in your name from day one. The code and documentation are yours under the signed agreement, written so another team could take over.

Start a project

Want this on your project?

We reply within one business day, with questions or a time to talk.

Pittsburgh, PA · Since 2015 · First step: a 30-minute call