Eliminate operational friction so design teams can focus on craft.
Sarah Chen and Tom Vance diagnose broken studio handoffs, fragmented tools, and messy documentation. We run time-boxed two-week sprints that leave your team with clean, documented operational habits.
Key service facts
- Format
- Time-boxed 2-week diagnostic sprints
- Deliverables
- Working runbooks, tool templates, and async video walk-throughs
- Retainers
- No open-ended retainers — internal leads trained to own the system
- Location
- Clerkenwell London studio or remote across UK
What we need from you:
- Primary operational friction
- Team scale
- Engagement model
- What have you already tried? (optional)
- Your name & role
- Studio email
- Phone (optional)
Diagnostic sprints & advisory
Fixed-scope operational engagements designed to solve specific bottlenecks without open-ended billing.
| Job | Typical time | From |
|---|---|---|
|
Two-week diagnostic sprint
Deep-dive audit into design-to-engineering handoffs, tool sprawl, and designer onboarding friction with working runbooks |
2 weeks | £4,200 |
|
Six-week system overhaul
Complete restructuring of issue tracking, component governance, delivery runbooks, and cross-functional team habits |
6 weeks | £9,800 |
|
Tooling consolidation sprint
Audit and consolidation of fragmented software stacks across Notion, Linear, Figma, and Slack into unified conventions |
10 days | £3,600 |
|
Design onboarding architecture
Structured 30-day onboarding pathways, role-based checklists, and video walkthrough libraries reducing ramp time |
1 week | £2,400 |
|
Quarterly advisory review
Monthly 90-minute operational retrospectives and async architecture review for studio design leaders |
3 months | £1,200 / mo |
Note: All sprints have agreed start and end dates with tangible deliverables. No slide decks that sit unread.
How a two-week sprint runs
-
1
Diagnostic intake
You share your current tool stack, team scale, and primary handoff bottlenecks via our intake form.
-
2
Workspace access & interviews
We conduct four 30-minute discovery interviews across design, product, and engineering.
-
3
Live architecture sprint
We map information flows, eliminate duplicate tooling, and draft concrete runbooks in your production workspaces.
-
4
Team walkthrough & champion handover
We lead a practical 60-minute handover session, publish async walkthroughs, and equip your internal lead.
Recent work (example)
Whiteboard with neatly taped index cards, wireframe sketches, and column outlines under warm studio lights
Two colleagues reviewing a laptop screen at a standing timber bench with pens and swatches
Operating Terms & Policies
The deliverable is working software, not slides
We do not leave you with a 90-page report. We build working Linear templates, Notion team runbooks, and three-minute video guides tested with your actual practitioners.
Prerequisites before kickoff
We require read access to your workspace tools and four 30-minute interviews with practicing designers and engineers. If access cannot be granted, we postpone the sprint.
No perpetual retainers
Our goal is to make ourselves unnecessary within six weeks. We train an internal workflow champion who maintains the conventions long after our engagement concludes.
Async-first communication
We work alongside your team in your existing tools with structured weekly demo video updates, avoiding disruptive all-hands meetings.
Engineers & Team
Ten years structuring delivery pipelines and tooling handoffs for digital product teams.
Specialises in reducing tool sprawl, building runbooks, and internal team enablement.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much of our team's time will the sprint take?
Around four hours total per participant across the fortnight: one 30-minute discovery interview, one 45-minute draft review, and the final 60-minute handover walkthrough.
Which tool ecosystems do you work across?
Primarily Figma, Linear, Notion, GitHub, Slack, and Jira. We focus on clear conventions and connection points between tools rather than forcing tool migrations.
What happens if our team needs adjustments after the sprint?
Every sprint includes two weeks of asynchronous support via Slack or email to tweak templates and answer edge cases during live adoption.
What size team is this best suited for?
Studios and in-house product design teams between 5 and 40 practitioners experiencing friction between fast shipping and clear documentation.
Depot & Contact Details
Operational Hours
| Monday – Friday | 09:00 – 17:30 |
|---|---|
| Saturday & Sunday | Closed |