How We Work
Our process is designed to balance speed with sustainability. We move quickly when appropriate and slow down when decisions matter. The goal is always the same: build systems that solve real problems and can evolve as your needs change.
Discovery with Intent
Before we write a line of code or recommend a technology, we invest in understanding your situation deeply. This isn't about lengthy discovery phases or exhaustive documentation—it's about asking the right questions and synthesizing answers into clear direction.
- We map the problem space, identifying constraints and success criteria that will guide every subsequent decision.
- We interview stakeholders to understand not just what they want built, but why they want it and how they'll measure success.
- We analyze existing systems, data, and workflows to understand what we're working with and around.
- We identify risks early—technical, organizational, and market—so we can plan accordingly.
Outcome
A shared understanding of the problem and a clear thesis about how to solve it.
Architecture Before Tooling
Technology decisions should follow from architectural decisions, not precede them. We design systems that solve today's problems while preserving tomorrow's options.
- We define system boundaries and interfaces before selecting specific tools or platforms.
- We identify which decisions are reversible and which will be expensive to change later.
- We document architectural decisions and their rationale, creating a record that will guide future evolution.
- We consider operational requirements—deployment, monitoring, scaling—as first-class architectural concerns.
Outcome
An architecture that enables rapid development while avoiding lock-in to decisions you'll regret.
Build with Exit Paths
We build systems designed to be handed off, evolved, or replaced. Every project ends with you in control, not dependent on us.
- We write code that's readable and maintainable by developers who weren't part of the original build.
- We use standard patterns and widely-adopted technologies over clever optimizations that require specialized knowledge.
- We document not just what we built, but why we made the decisions we made.
- We ship incrementally, validating assumptions and adjusting course based on real feedback.
Outcome
A codebase you can maintain, extend, or hand off to any competent development team.
Operate with Visibility
Production systems need oversight. We build in the monitoring, alerting, and operational tooling that lets you understand how your systems are performing.
- We instrument applications for observability from the start, not as an afterthought.
- We create runbooks for common operational tasks and incident response.
- We establish baselines and alerts so you know when something needs attention.
- We plan for graceful degradation, ensuring problems don't cascade into outages.
Outcome
Systems you can operate confidently, with early warning when things need attention.
Ready to work together?
Let's discuss your project and see if our approach is a good fit for your needs.