Technical Philosophy
We use technology to extend human capability, not to replace it. Every technical choice is filtered through the question: Does this give people more control, clarity, or care?
Core Principles
Start Simple
- Choose the calmest tool that satisfies the need.
- Avoid premature optimisation and unnecessary abstraction.
- Document why we declined more complex options.
Secure by Design
- Threat modelling begins with people, data, and place.
- Zero-trust patterns, access reviews, and incident drills are routine.
- Security notes live alongside code and stay understandable to non-specialists.
Measure What Matters
- User experience and environmental impact guide performance work.
- Metrics are transparent, version-controlled, and revisited regularly.
- We stop collecting data when it no longer serves people.
Maintainable by Humans
- Code is self-documenting, linted, and covered by meaningful tests.
- Runbooks and handover guides publish with every release.
- We budget time for refactoring and debt, not just new features.
Ways of Working
Code Quality
- Peer review on every change, including documentation.
- Static analysis and tests run automatically, with failures treated as teaching moments.
- Architecture decisions logged in ADRs or lightweight memos.
Deployment & Reliability
- Feature flags and gradual rollouts protect users.
- Observability dashboards include plain-language summaries.
- We rehearse failure scenarios and share the learnings openly.
Continuous Improvement
- Quarterly architecture reviews identify simplification opportunities.
- Technology radars highlight what we are adopting, watching, or pausing.
- Post-incident reports focus on systems, not blame.
Interested in the people behind these practices?
Meet Our Teamor explore the Optional Reading section.