Useful resources
The pantry: help yourself
Free, practical bits for anyone about to commission software. No email address required, no newsletter ambush.
Jargon decoder
Tap a term to reveal what it means in normal words.
The smallest version of a product that is genuinely useful to real people. Not the cheapest; the smallest useful.
Shortcuts that save time today and cost time later, like interest on a loan.
A doorway that lets one piece of software ask another for data or actions.
One codebase that produces both iOS and Android apps.
A short, fixed period of work that ends with something reviewable.
When a change breaks something that used to work.
A private copy of your product for testing before changes go live.
A shared kit of interface parts and rules so screens stay consistent.
Pre-brief checklist
- Who will use this first, specifically?
- What do they do today instead?
- What is the one thing it must do on day one?
- What personal data would it handle?
- What budget range is realistic?
- When do you need a first version, and why then?
- Who looks after it once it is live?
Answer even half of these and your first conversation with any studio — including us — will be twice as useful.
Reading worth your time
- GOV.UK Service Manual — excellent, free guidance on designing services.
- W3C introduction to accessibility
- ICO guidance for organisations
- Apple App Store Review Guidelines
- Google Play developer policy
About our photos
Photographs on this site are illustrative stock images sourced from Unsplash and Pexels under their licences. They do not depict Pickleworks staff, premises or projects.