How we work
AI runs the engine.Humans run the method.
Diagnosis first. Clear decisions. Focused sprints. One team, from the first question to your brand, website or digital product.
Phase 01 2–3 weeks
Diagnosis
Interviews, audit, synthesis. The terrain before the map.
Phase 02 3–4 weeks
Prototype
Smallest shippable thing that proves the bet.
Phase 03 6–12 weeks
Build & launch
One pod ships. Brand, product, engineering in parallel.
Phase 04 Ongoing
Stewardship
We stay. Systems get sharper, not staler.
01 // AI in our work
Every studio’s running AI.Very few are driving it.
The difference between using AI and being used by it is who’s making the decisions. Half the market has let the tool set the direction, prompt in, ship out, hope it lands. We use AI heavily, but we’re the ones with our hands on the wheel. The diagnosis is ours. The taste is ours. The call on what leaves the studio is ours. AI accelerates. Humans decide.
The machine
The engine.
Compresses time, draft volume, repetition.
The human
The driver.
Holds the direction, the standard, the call.
The rule
The tool doesn’t set the direction.
We do.
01 // How we engage
Four sprints. One pod.Nothing handed off.
Four sprints.One pod.Nothing handed off.
Every engagement moves through the same four sprints, diagnosis, prototype, build, stewardship. Same pod, same standard, no re-onboarding between phases. Explore any sprint to see what actually happens inside it.
01 // Sprint 01
Diagnosis Sprint
// Find the real problem before committing to a solution.
A fixed-scope sprint to understand the problem before any work begins. Interviews with key people. Audit of brand, product, stack, market. Written diagnosis with problems, ruled-out options, and next steps. Most fail because this sprint is skipped. Ours starts here.
Pod //
Strategist · Researcher · Discipline lead
What you see //
- Kick-off intensive (half-day, one room)
- Interviews with 4–8 stakeholders
- Weekly working sessions, not status updates
- Draft diagnosis
- Final diagnosis + decision log readout
What you leave with //
A written diagnosis document: named problems, ruled-out options, and a recommendation for the next sprint, signed off by the room that made it. Whatever happens next, every downstream decision can point back to a reason written here.
02 // Sprint 02
Prototype Sprint
// Build the smallest thing that proves the bet.
The smallest shippable artefact that tests the diagnosis. Not a deck, mood-board, or mockup. Something real to hold, click, and stress-test. If the prototype fails, better to know in week five than fifteen. If it holds, we’ve de-risked the build before coding starts.
Pod //
Strategist · Designer · Engineer · Brand
What you see //
- Prototype scope defined in week 1
- Design × engineering paired daily
- Working build by end of week 3
- Internal pressure-test session with your team
- Go / no-go decision on full build
What you leave with //
A working prototype, a sharpened thesis, and a written scope for the full build, or a clean, cheap reason not to build it yet. Either outcome is a win. Both save quarters.
03 // Sprint 03
Build & Launch Sprint
// Full delivery. One pod, shipping in parallel.
The full build: brand, product, and engineering ship together. The strategist stays involved. The designer writes the shipping spec. The engineer writes production code. Decisions from week one continue through week ten. Nothing is lost because there’s no translation layer.
Pod //
Strategist · Designer · Engineer · Brand · Systems
What you see //
- Weekly build reviews with live product
- Brand, product, and engineering in the standup
- AI accelerates the work. Humans review all.
- Staged launches, soft launch, then public
- Shipping spec becomes living documentation
What you leave with //
A live product. A brand that holds together across every surface. A documented stack your team can run. No black-box code, no undocumented integrations, no “you’ll need to ask the agency” moments in month four.
04 // Sprint 04
Stewardship Sprint
// We stay. The system gets sharper, not staler.
We stay after launch. Most agency work ends by month six, code stops being maintained, brand drifts, team inherits what they can’t own. Stewardship is the retainer keeping the same pod on work post-launch. What launched as product becomes infrastructure your team builds on.
Pod //
Same people who built it
What you see //
- Monthly rolling retainer, not an hourly rate
- Shared backlog, shared ownership
- Automated workflows taking over repeat work
- Quarterly strategic reviews
- The same pod, every quarter
What you leave with //
A product that’s still your pod’s responsibility a year later. A brand that holds at the hundredth touchpoint. A team that’s inherited infrastructure, not a maintenance bill. The longer it runs, the sharper it gets.
