We’re all yours
We’re your ready-made, self-managed team, totally focused on you and your product. We’ve already spent years building a group of specialists carefully chosen to work perfectly together, using processes, tools and techniques we know get great results. Which means you can skip the costly set-up and get straight to the talent.
80+
experts working together to achieve great things.
11
years of hard work, always pushing for excellence.
30M
app downloads for products we helped create.
Here’s why it works so well …
Your DECODE team works for nobody else.
We completely immerse ourselves in your world, laser-focused on your goals. From the moment we start working together, we’re never distracted by other clients. It’s all about you.
You’ll feel like we’re your in-house team.
You’ll have full control and transparency. If inspiration hits and you want to add a new feature, we can react quickly without additional contracts and authorized change requests. It should feel effortless. It should feel in-house.
We’re transparent
to a fault.
You’ll have complete communication access to every team member working on your project. You’ll also know exactly who’s doing what, when, why, and at what cost.
We act with agility.
We operate with real efficiency. Whether it’s the agile methodologies we use to run our projects, or simply the attitude we take as a team, we’re quick to react and adapt to whatever you need.
It’s your code.
If there’s one thing investors love, it’s IP, so we have watertight agreements covered by the strong legal framework of the EU. It’s 100% yours and yours alone.
There when you need us, not when you don’t.
We can be a big team during intensive product development, then quickly scale down when version 1.0 is released. Why pay for resources you don’t need?
Trusted by
the best.
Working on projects for giants such as Microsoft, Royal Caribbean, and AT&T makes us uniquely prepared to handle even the hardest of challenges.
Understanding the bigger picture
Shake – our entire process in action
Our sister company Shake is a great example of how our process comes together. We came up with the idea, carried out market research, then assembled the initial team to make it a reality. This shows how DECODE can do far more than only execute tasks for others’ projects.
We led through innovation, helping Shake with prototyping, product development, testing and ongoing updates. And it gets results — their users now rate Shake on a par with leading Apple and Google products.
Before we get Started
You need to make sure we’re the right people for the job, and we want to be certain we can give you everything you need. We only take on projects we have the capacity to deliver to exceptional standards – and we never abandon you part-way through – so there are a few things to discuss before anything formal is agreed.
- Over a relaxed call or two, we like to hear as much as possible about the project (fully NDA’d of course).
- This information means we can estimate roughly how long the project would take, the shape of the team you’d need, and how much it is likely to cost.
- If everything sounds good to you, and we have the availability to do a great job, we’re ready to get going…
The Process — How we get you from day one to launch and beyond.
01
Discovery
The more we understand, the better the product will be. We want to know it all – who your users are, what you want them to experience, the killer features that will raise you above the competition, and all the challenges you need to overcome. We’ll collaborate closely with stakeholders, and there’s no such thing as too much information. Tell us everything.
The result is an outline of product features with highlighted priorities, defined technologies, clear estimated timescales and all the detail needed to map next steps.
Learn more →
02
Wireframing and Prototyping
What will your software or app feel like to use, from first interaction to final tap or click? Our UI/UX designers will dive deep into the potential user journey to create a wireframe that visualises every step. This will map out all the essential features you’ll need, but just as importantly, highlight where people could get lost.
Users are unpredictable, but by looking at things from every angle, we design out the dead-ends for a really smooth experience. By the end of this stage you’ll have a set of prototypes so you can clearly see how everything works and what needs to be built.
03
Design
You want your product to look as good as it feels to use. If the wireframe is the skeleton, then this is where we flesh out the visual design. If you already have a brand identity, we’ll build everything around your company guidelines to create something completely consistent with your established look and feel.
But don’t worry if you haven’t got a brand identity – we can work with you to develop one that positions you strongly alongside your competitors, appeals to your audience and meets all industry standards. By the end of the design phase we’ll produce final product designs for all screens, states and visual experiences.
04
Development and Quality assurance
This is always the lion’s share of a project, but that doesn’t mean the previous stages have been anything less than essential. Because while this step is certainly the longest in terms of hours, it’s built on the foundations of everything before it.
We keep up a constantly high level of care and attention to detail throughout because we know you can only create excellent products by running dedicated quality assurance from the very start and in parallel with development. We set the bar extremely high at the beginning, then rigorously test for responsiveness, scalability, resource usage and stability. It’s the only way to give you the performance you deserve.
We like to work with agility and we build our development process around Scrum:
We break down even the most complex challenges into manageable tasks, track every idea, and highlight every obstacle so everyone always understands what needs to be done. We split work into sprints lasting two to four weeks, and at the end of each one we present our latest progress. You always know what to expect and when we’ll deliver it. Daily check-ins with each other keep you up to speed. And by working in cycles, we’re constantly fine-tuning our workflow, adapting to new challenges and looking ahead so we’re prepared for the unexpected. We think this is by far the best way to run a project, building agile principles into how we work and communicate.
You can read more about Scrum methodology and why it’s so effective.
05
Launch and Grow
Building is just the beginning. When your product is ready for the world, we’ll help you release it smoothly, track its performance, run support and maintenance, and be on hand to continue its evolution so it stays indispensable.
We know how to manage the App Store approval process for optimal adoption so we’ll handle all that for you. By carefully planning analytics in advance, we can start collecting data the moment your product reaches the public, and combined with detailed analysis of user feedback, we’ll know just which features to focus on next. This is where our own feedback and monitoring tool Shake → comes into its own, showing exactly how your product behaves in the real world.
Making Unified Communications a functioning reality.
DECODE worked closely with Metaswitch’s in-house engineers to develop a seamless cross-device experience.
Tools of the Trade
We’re engineers so it’s not surprising we know how to get the most out of digital tools. Here’s a snapshot of what we use and why:
Slack for communication
Our favourite option for quick messaging, with channels and private groups to avoid information overload. We can use Microsoft Teams too if that’s better for you.
Jira and the Atlassian suite for collaboration
Jira is really robust for project management, and after using it for a long time, we know it inside out. We use Confluence for document management, alongside G-Suite apps, though happy to use alternatives like Asana, Trello or Microsoft Teams if they’re your choice.
Google Meet for calls
That’s how we like to chat, but happy to Zoom or jump on a Teams call too. What’s most important to us here is regular catch-ups – the more we talk the better we work together.
Bitbucket for code
It’s always stored in a Git repository, ideally hosted by Bitbucket, but just let us know if you’d prefer Github, your own Gitlab, or through Microsoft Teams. And of course, you can have access to the repository to track progress in real-time.
Bitrise for continuous integration and deployment
It’s all about automation. We want to deliver web, mobile and backend applications at the touch of a button and Bitrise is our go-to here, alongside Jenkins, CircleCi and Bitbucket pipelines. Microsoft DevOps too, if needed.
Figma for design
Our preference over Sketch, with Zeplin providing the pixel-perfect bridge between designers and software developers. Figma handles our prototyping and wireframing too, though Invision is great for fast turnaround presentations.
Read more about the services we specialize in:
The DECODErs
A team of more than 80 ambitious individuals fired up by shared values, vision and mission.
Our areas of expertise
Native or cross-platform, iOS or Android. We’ve got a lot of skills. And we like to use them.