Knowledge base
Software & apps
Custom software, MVPs, and mobile apps. Build versus buy, what an MVP really is, integrations, portals, and getting into the app stores.
64 articles
Articles in Software & apps
Accessibility in applications, not just websites
Why the same accessibility standard applies to the software your staff and customers log into, and where applications fail most.
3 min read
APIs: how your software talks to other systems
Every application is connected to others. What an API is in plain terms, how the conversation works, and what to ask before relying on one.
3 min read
Audit logs: who did what and when
An audit log records every significant action in a system with actor, time and change. What to log, how to keep it, and why it protects everyone.
3 min read
Authentication: logins, roles and permissions done properly
Who a user is, what they may do, and how that is enforced on every request. The pieces of a proper login system and why we never build our own.
3 min read
Automations inside your software: where AI fits
Most automation inside an application is rules and events. Where a model adds value, where it does not, and how to place it.
3 min read
Backups and recovery for your application data
Application data needs more than a nightly database dump. What to back up, how often, where, and how to prove it can be restored.
3 min read
Code ownership and escrow: protecting your investment
What owning the code means in a contract, when escrow adds protection, and why the repository in your account beats both.
3 min read
Dashboards: what people actually look at
Dashboards get admired once and then ignored. What the ones people return to have in common, and how to design for a decision instead of a display.
3 min read
Design before code: why we start with screens
Code is the most expensive place to discover a misunderstanding. Why we start every project with screens people can click.
3 min read
Feature flags: turning things on for some users first
How software ships new features switched off, turns them on for a few people, and rolls back with a switch instead of a deploy.
3 min read
File uploads and document management in custom software
Documents in business software need storage, security, versions, search and retention. What to decide before building it.
3 min read
Fixed price versus time and materials for software
Fixed price moves risk to the builder; time and materials moves it to you. When each fits, the hybrid we use, and the clauses that make either fair.
3 min read
GDPR in custom software: data minimisation by design
How data protection requirements shape the design of custom software, and the decisions that are cheap at the start and expensive later.
4 min read
Hosting custom software: cost, scaling and responsibility
Where custom software runs, what it costs to run, how it grows, and who is responsible for each layer.
3 min read
Integrations with accounting, CRM and payment systems
The three integrations almost every business application needs, what each involves, and where they go wrong.
3 min read
Internal tools: the fastest return on custom software
Why the software that pays back fastest is the unglamorous tool your team uses all day, and how to build one in weeks.
3 min read
Legacy software: modernise, rewrite or replace?
The three options for an old system the business depends on, the questions that decide between them, and the staged path that usually wins.
3 min read
Localisation: building software for more than one language
What it takes to make software work in several languages and regions, why it is cheap at the start and expensive later, and what to decide first.
3 min read
Migrating data from an old system: the part everyone underestimates
Why moving data between systems takes longer than building the new one, and the process that makes it predictable.
3 min read
Mobile apps for field teams: forms, photos and offline
What a field app must do to be trusted in a van, a basement or a rooftop, and how to choose between web, hybrid and native for it.
3 min read
Monitoring and error tracking: how we know before users complain
What is watched on a live application, how errors reach a person with context, and why users should rarely be the ones reporting problems.
3 min read
Multi-tenant software: one system, many clients
How one application serves many organisations while keeping their data apart, and the decisions that get it right or wrong.
3 min read
Next.js for applications: why we use it for software and Astro for websites
Two frameworks, two jobs. Why content sites get Astro, logged-in software gets Next.js, and what each choice buys you.
3 min read
Notifications: email, push and in-app, without annoying users
Notifications are the feature users turn off first. How to design them so people keep them on and act on them.
3 min read
Offline support: when your app must work without a connection
Field teams, warehouses and basements lose connectivity. What offline support really involves, and when it is worth the cost.
3 min read
Open source in your software: licences explained
What the common open source licences require, why the distinction between permissive and copyleft matters for your product, and how to keep an inventory.
4 min read
Our take: the best custom software replaces a spreadsheet
Why the most valuable software we build starts from a workbook somebody built out of necessity, and how to recognise yours.
3 min read
Performance in web applications: where slowness comes from
Slow applications lose users quietly. The five places slowness hides, how to find which one, and what fixes each.
3 min read
Quality assurance: how we test before you see it
What happens between a feature being built and you being asked to look at it, and why you should rarely find bugs.
3 min read
Releases and versioning: how new features reach users safely
How changes to software move from finished to in use, in small steps, with a version number, release notes and a way back.
3 min read
Reporting features: why exports matter more than charts
The most used reporting feature in most business software is the export button. Why that is fine, and how to build it well.
3 min read
Scaling from ten users to ten thousand
What actually changes as software grows a thousandfold, what to build in from the start, and what to leave until the numbers demand it.
3 min read
Search inside your application
Users expect to type a few words and find the record. What application search needs, and when a database query is not enough.
3 min read
Security in custom software: the checklist we build against
The twenty controls we apply to every application, grouped by what they protect, so you can ask about each.
4 min read
Software for agencies: project and client management done your way
Why agencies outgrow generic tools, what custom agency software usually covers, and how to build it without rebuilding a product that exists.
3 min read
Software for clinics: privacy, audit trails and integrations
What custom software for a clinic or care provider must get right: health data handling, who saw what, and connecting to the systems already in place.
4 min read
Software for logistics: tracking, planning and the real-time trap
What logistics software has to handle, where real-time is worth its cost and where it is not, and how to build for the messy reality of moving things.
3 min read
Software for municipalities: procurement, accessibility and open standards
What changes when the client is a public organisation: how it buys, what it must comply with, and what it should insist on owning.
3 min read
Software for real estate: listings, CRM and portals
What property businesses actually need from custom software, how listings, leads and portals fit together, and where off-the-shelf stops.
3 min read
Software glossary: 40 terms in one sentence each
The forty software terms a business owner meets when commissioning, running or taking over custom software, each explained in one plain sentence.
6 min read
Software project checklist: 25 questions before you start
The twenty-five questions to answer before commissioning custom software, covering the problem, the users, the data, the build, the running and the money.
5 min read
Support after launch: what a maintenance contract should cover
Launch is the start of a software system's life. The nine things a maintenance contract must cover, and the ones most often missing.
3 min read
Taking over someone else's software: the rescue process
How we take over an application built by a previous team, from securing access to deciding what to keep, in six stages.
3 min read
Technical documentation: what you should receive with your software
The eight documents that let a competent stranger run, change and extend your software, and the test that shows whether they are complete.
3 min read
Testing software: unit, integration, end-to-end in plain terms
Three kinds of automated test, what each catches, and why a project needs all three in the right proportions.
3 min read
Total cost of ownership over five years: how to estimate
The build price is a third of what software costs over its life. The five lines to estimate, how to weight them, and the comparison that matters.
3 min read
User stories: how we turn your wishes into buildable work
A wish list is not a plan. User stories describe who needs what and why, small enough to build in days. The format and what makes a good one.
3 min read
Vendor lock-in in SaaS: reading the exit clause
Before signing up for a product your business will depend on, read how you would leave. The six questions and what acceptable answers look like.
3 min read
When to stop building and buy
The signs that a custom system should give way to a product, how to make the switch without losing what worked, and what to keep custom.
3 min read
Why software projects run late, and how we plan against it
Late software is the norm and the causes repeat. Six reasons, the planning habit that counters each, and what a realistic schedule contains.
3 min read
App maintenance: what breaks every year without you touching it
An app that is never updated stops working within a couple of years. The yearly forces that break it, what maintenance must cover, and how to budget for it.
3 min read
iOS and Android app stores: what it takes to get approved
Getting an app into the stores means accounts, reviews and recurring rules. What to prepare, what gets apps rejected, and what continues after launch.
3 min read
Building a client portal: what to include first
A client portal succeeds when it replaces the three emails clients send most. How to pick the first features, what to leave out, and what must be right first.
3 min read
Choosing a tech stack for your software: what matters and what does not
The stack is the technology your software is built on. Six criteria that should decide it, three that usually do and should not, and our choice.
3 min read
Custom software or off-the-shelf SaaS: how to decide
Buy when your process is standard. Build when it is your advantage, or when spreadsheets glue three tools together. The questions that settle it.
3 min read
From idea to working software: the process, step by step
From a sentence to working software in seven stages: scope, design, build, test, launch, learn, maintain. What happens in each, and where projects go wrong.
4 min read
Native, hybrid or progressive web app: the honest comparison
Native, hybrid or progressive web app: what each means, what it costs to build and maintain, and a decision table for the app you are considering.
3 min read
Prototypes and clickable mockups: why we show before we build
Changing a decision costs minutes in a sketch and weeks after launch. What a clickable prototype is, what it proves, and how it shortens a project.
3 min read
Web app, mobile app or both? How to choose
Ask for an app, need a web application: how to tell which you need, when both make sense, and how to avoid building two of everything.
3 min read
What a database is and why your spreadsheet is becoming one
A spreadsheet several people edit, with rules nobody dares change, is a database without the safety. What a database adds, and when to switch.
3 min read
What a progressive web app is and who it is right for
A progressive web app is a website that installs, works offline and sends notifications, with no app store. What it can do, its limits, and who benefits most.
3 min read
What an MVP is and why yours should be smaller
A minimum viable product proves one thing with the least software. Why most first versions are too big, how to cut scope, and what a good MVP looks like.
3 min read
What drives the cost of custom software, and why estimates vary so much
No prices, on purpose. The seven factors that move the cost of custom software, why two honest estimates can differ by a factor of three, and how to narrow it.
3 min read
Writing a software brief that gets you a real quote
A two-line email gets five guesses. A one-page brief gets comparable quotes and a smaller first version. The eight sections, in order, with what each prevents.
3 min read