Blog
Notes On Building Software Products
Practical writing on product development, engineering decisions and what we learn shipping our own applications.
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Why we build our own products — and what it teaches us
Shipping the BackTheme Marketplace, CricoScore and BongoKhata changed how we approach client work. Here is what running our own products taught us about scope, support and quality.
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Choosing a stack that will still make sense in three years
React, Laravel, Next.js, Node — the list is long and the trade-offs are real. A practical framework for picking technology you will not regret maintaining.
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What makes an Android app people actually keep installed
Performance, offline behaviour and a first run that makes sense. Lessons from building consumer and business Android apps.
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Scoping an MVP you can actually ship in twelve weeks
The first release is a decision about what to leave out. How we cut scope without cutting the thing that makes the product worth using.
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Designing dashboards people read at a glance
Most dashboards show everything and say nothing. A few rules we follow to make the important number the one you actually see first.
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Why we write the documentation before the release
Documentation written after launch describes what you built. Written before, it tells you what you should have built. The order matters.
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What software actually costs — and why estimates move
Where the money goes in a build, which parts are genuinely hard to price, and what makes an estimate change once work has started.
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Offline-first: building apps for unreliable connections
BongoKhata is used in shops with patchy signal. Designing for that from the start changes your data layer, not just your error messages.
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Maintaining software after launch is the real work
Launch is the cheapest day of a product’s life. What we plan for on day one so that year two does not become a rewrite.
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