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Process and communication

Software, AI and data

Where to start with AI, quality and accuracy, accessibility, speed, app store releases and migrations without downtime.

14 questions

Where should we start with AI?

Start with a task that happens often, has a clear right answer most of the time, and costs real effort today, such as classifying requests or extracting data from documents. Avoid starting with the hardest or most visible problem. We help you list candidates, score them on value, data readiness and risk, and pick one that can show results on its own. Our AI readiness assessment does this in a structured way.

How do you make sure the numbers are right?

Every load runs automated checks for completeness, duplicates, freshness and business rules, such as debits matching credits. Before a report replaces an existing one, we reconcile its figures against the source system and the old report with your finance or operations owner. A failed check stops bad data reaching dashboards and alerts the team.

What if the extraction is wrong?

The system scores its confidence for each field. Fields below the threshold you set, and documents that fail a business rule, go to a person for review rather than being posted. Validation against your ERP catches many errors automatically, such as a total that does not match the purchase order. Corrections are recorded and used to improve later runs.

How do you make sure the software works?

Every change is reviewed by another engineer and covered by automated tests before it is merged. QA tests each increment against its acceptance criteria, and you see it working at the demonstration. Performance, security and accessibility checks are part of the pipeline, not a phase at the end, so problems surface while they are still cheap to fix.

What if our requirements change during the project?

They usually do, and the process expects it. The backlog is reviewed with you at every iteration, and new or changed items are estimated and prioritised against the rest. On a fixed-scope project, a change is agreed in writing, with its effect on cost and dates, before work on it begins.

Will the application be accessible?

We design and build to WCAG 2.2 AA. That covers keyboard use, screen readers, colour contrast, focus order, text resizing and clear error messages. Automated checks run on every change, and we test the key journeys by hand with assistive technology before each release. If your organisation follows a stricter standard, we work to that one.

How do you keep the application fast?

We agree a performance budget at the start, covering page weight and load time on a typical phone and connection, and check it automatically on every change. Pages render on the server where that helps, images and scripts load only when they are needed, and data is cached close to users. Real-user monitoring after launch shows where the application slows down.

Do you handle App Store and Google Play releases?

Yes. We prepare the listings, manage signing keys and certificates, submit builds for review and release in stages, so a problem reaches few users. The developer accounts stay in your organisation’s name, so you own the apps and their listings. We work under your accounts with access that you grant and can revoke.

Will moving to the cloud cause downtime?

We plan each move to avoid it, or to keep it short and scheduled. Workloads move one at a time, data is synchronised before the switch, and every step has a rollback path. Where an application cannot run in two places at once, we agree a maintenance window with you in advance and rehearse the switch first.

Should we automate all our tests?

No. Automate what runs often and must give the same answer every time: unit tests, API tests and the end-to-end journeys that matter most. Keep people for exploratory testing, usability and new features that are still changing. A smaller suite that runs on every change and never fails at random is worth more than a large one nobody trusts.

Do we need user research if we already know our users?

You know a great deal, and research builds on it. It tests assumptions with the people who do the work, and often reveals steps, workarounds and terms that never reach a requirements document. Even a small round of interviews and prototype tests before the build costs less than changing software after it ships.

How do you make designs accessible?

We design to WCAG 2.2 AA from the first wireframe: enough colour contrast, visible focus, a logical reading order, touch targets large enough to use, and a label for every control. We check designs before handover and test the built product with a keyboard and screen readers. Accessibility designed in costs little. Added later, it costs a great deal.

Why not rewrite the whole system at once?

Because a full rewrite must match years of behaviour before it can replace anything, while the business keeps changing around it. Such projects often run long and launch with gaps. Replacing one capability at a time delivers value early, keeps the old system as a safety net, and lets you stop or change direction at any step.

Will the business have to stop during the migration?

The approach is designed so that it does not. The old system keeps running while each new part is built and proven in parallel. Work moves to the new part gradually, and can move back if something is wrong. Where a data migration needs a switch-over, we rehearse it first and schedule it with you.

Tell us what you need to build or connect.

Describe the systems, the timeline and the constraints. The right engineers take it from there.