SNIFF TEST / 01
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THE INSTRUMENT IS LISTENING
What state is the software in today?
Choose the answer closest to the real situation. The dogs can smell hedging.
SNIFF LOG
001 AWAITING SAMPLE
002 AWAITING SAMPLE
003 AWAITING SAMPLE
STUDIO INSTRUMENT / 01
Find the right build bench before the work begins.
One studio, one kind of work. Three questions tell you in thirty seconds whether this is the right place for your project.
THE PRINTED ANSWER
The fit test, without the instrument.
The interactive inspection is optional. Here is the same answer in plain language: a new, live product is a fit; ongoing systems, migrations, embedded components, and paperwork are not.
| Answer | Readout | Why |
|---|---|---|
| It doesn’t exist yet — idea, napkin, maybe a deck. | A fit | The studio is built for new software from an open starting point. |
| It exists and needs maintaining, extending, or rescuing. | Not a fit | Existing software needs a maintenance-focused shop that can stay close to its codebase. |
| It exists and needs migrating or rewriting. | Not a fit | A migration or rewrite needs a team built for modernisation work and its inherited risk. |
| A working product people can use — SaaS, web product, or something interactive. | A fit | The finish is a live product, deployed for real people to use. |
| A component or SDK inside a product someone else is building. | Not a fit | An agency with a bench is better suited to join a wider product effort around an embedded component. |
| A spec, a prototype, or a deck to raise with. | Not a fit | The studio ships working software, not paperwork. A product strategy or prototyping practice fits this output. |
| A new bet inside an established company. | A fit | A focused first version can test a serious new product without growing an engineering organisation first. |
| A funded startup’s first version. | A fit | A live first version gives a funded product a real thing to put in front of the market. |
| Homework, or something that never needs to go live. | Not a fit | Keep it with a research or learning practice, or let a future in-house team take it on when it needs to live. |
THE FIT REPORT
What an honest yes includes.
- A live, working product
- Deployed on your infrastructure for people to use, not a prototype, spec, or deck.
- Every key from day one
- Your repository, infrastructure accounts, domain, and dashboards remain in your hands.
- The finish layer
- Empty states, error copy, dark mode, loading states, and keyboard access included.
- One senior engineer, end to end
- Direct contact with the person making the decisions and building the product.
- An ending that leaves you independent
- A clean codebase and documentation that another engineer can pick up without pain.
- One build at a time
- Your product has the studio’s full attention while it is in progress.
Inspectors’ methodology: all decisions final, treats notwithstanding.
