01
Few projects, fully owned.
We take on a small number of engagements at a time, so each one gets our full attention.
Index № 01
Studio overview
43.6532° N
79.3832° W
A Toronto software studio
Patient software, built for the long arc.
NH Cube is a small studio in Toronto that designs and engineers software for founders and product teams, from the first sketch through every release after launch.
fig. i · the cube
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MMXXVI · A studio of two disciplines
The studio: a small software design and engineering practice in Toronto
Product strategyInterface designArchitectureEngineeringLaunchPartnershipToronto, CanadaEst. 2024Product strategyInterface designArchitectureEngineeringLaunchPartnershipToronto, CanadaEst. 2024
№ 02The studio
We treat every product like a building rather than a campaign. The foundations matter as much as the façade, because the work has to hold up for years.
A small team
Senior designers and engineers do the work themselves instead of handing it to a back row.
A long horizon
We measure success in what your product is still doing two years after we wrote the first line.
Two disciplines
We treat product design and software engineering as one craft. Each side sharpens the other.
№ 03The practice
Six things we do, deeply.
We work end to end on every engagement, so the list below is less a menu than a description of how a product moves through the studio when you ask us to build it with you.
- 01
Product strategy
We sit between the business and the build. Our job is to turn ambition into a plan the team can ship. - 02
UX & interface design
We design quiet, considered interfaces. The people who draw them can also build them. - 03
Software architecture
We decide the shape of the system early, and we keep it simple enough to live in: small composable parts you can observe in production. - 04
Full-stack engineering
We build with TypeScript and modern frameworks on real infrastructure, and we write production code rather than dressed-up prototypes. - 05
Launch & iteration
We stay in the room through release week and the quieter weeks that follow it. - 06
Long-term partnership
When the engagement ends, the product still has to grow. We make ourselves easy to keep around.
№ 04The method
How a product moves through the studio.
The same four phases run through every engagement, whether we're shipping a first release or growing a product in its fifth year. The boundaries between them are deliberately soft.
- IPhase
Frame
We start by understanding the people, the problem, and the constraints. The brief comes second.
- IIPhase
Shape
Strategy turns into design and architecture decisions. We make the trade-offs on paper, where everyone can see them.
- IIIPhase
Build
We run tight engineering loops with your team in the room, and we ship small and often so each release is easy to trust.
- IVPhase
Tend
Software needs tending long after launch, so we stay on as the product grows into the shape it needed.
№ 05House beliefs
Four convictions we don't trade away.
They shape who we work with, how we estimate, and which corners we refuse to cut. Reading them is a fair way to know whether we'll work well together.
02
Boring tech, sharply applied.
We pick well-understood tools so the surprises stay where they belong: in the product itself.
03
One craft, two disciplines.
We don't draw what we can't build, or build what we haven't thought through. Design and engineering are one practice.
04
The first release is the start.
A product spends most of its life after launch, so that's what we design for. Getting to a first release is the easy part.
№ 06An invitation
Have a product in mind?
We'd love to hear about it.
We open a small number of new engagements each season. Tell us what you're building, where you are with it, and what good would look like a year from now. We read every note ourselves.
Studio
Toronto, Canada.
We work remotely with teams worldwide.
Engagements
Most run six to eighteen months.
We prefer full product partnerships.
Response
Within two business days.
Always from a person, never a queue.