Service (03)

Custom Software Engineering

Senior product teams that design and ship web platforms, APIs, and internal tools — end to end.

(The problem)

You need to ship a product or internal platform, but hiring a full senior team takes months and the deadline is now. Off-the-shelf tools have stopped fitting and spreadsheets have become critical infrastructure.

Software built to be maintained

The cost of software is not the first version. It is every version after it. We optimise for the codebase your team will live with in three years: clear boundaries, tested critical paths, and dependencies you can reason about.

That means we are opinionated. Type safety over convenience. Server-rendered HTML over client-side hydration where it does not earn its cost. Boring, well-understood technology over novelty. Accessibility as a requirement, not a phase two.

How we work

  • Discovery first. We scope with the people who will maintain the result, and we write down what we learn.
  • Ship weekly. Every iteration ends in a deployed, observable increment.
  • Instrument from the start. Analytics, error tracking, and performance budgets are part of the definition of done.
  • Review together. Pull requests get real review, and pairing is normal, not exceptional.

Accessible and fast by default

Accessibility and performance are engineering constraints, not polish. We enforce a performance budget in CI, test with keyboards and screen readers, and respect prefers-reduced-motion in every animation we ship. A site that excludes users is a site that is not finished.

Handover is the deliverable

We consider an engagement complete when your engineers can extend the system without us. You get architecture decision records, API documentation, runbooks, and live pairing. If you want us to stay, it should be by choice — not by lock-in.

(Deliverables)

What you receive.

  1. 01

    Working software

    Shipped increments against a real environment from week one, not a demo at the end.

  2. 02

    A design system

    Reusable, token-driven components so your product stays consistent as it grows.

  3. 03

    Test coverage that matters

    Tests focused on behaviour and critical paths, integrated into CI so regressions are caught before release.

  4. 04

    Documentation and handover

    Architecture decision records, API docs, and pairing sessions so your team can take over confidently.

(Outcomes)

What this practice is measured against.

Targets are agreed with your team at the start of an engagement. These are the levers we optimise.

Time to first release
2–4 weeks
Accessibility
WCAG 2.1 AA
Test coverage on critical paths
> 85%
Performance budget
enforced in CI

(FAQ)

Common questions about Custom Software.

01 Do you work with our in-house engineers?

Yes, and it is our preferred model. We embed in your repositories and ceremonies, review each other's code, and deliberately transfer context. The goal is a stronger team at the end, not a permanent dependency.

02 What does a typical engagement look like?

We staff a small senior squad — usually two to four engineers plus a lead — against a defined problem. Work runs in one- or two-week increments with a working release at the end of each, and a written plan you keep regardless of what happens next.

03 Can you take over an existing codebase?

Frequently yes. We start with a short audit to assess architecture, test coverage, and delivery risk, then propose a stabilisation and delivery plan before committing to feature work.

(Start here)

Ready to fix your Custom Software?

A 30-minute call with a senior engineer. We'll give you a straight answer on scope, sequence, and whether we're the right fit.

Book a call