Studio186
What we do, and how.
Four areas of practice. Each engagement is scoped to a specific outcome, not a time-and-materials retainer, not a deliverables checklist. Work with us when you need a decision made or a product built.
01
AI-Native Product Design
Software where AI is the substrate, not the feature.
Designing the products where AI capability meets human oversight. Command surfaces, intent orchestration, governance scaffolding, and the trust-building interactions that make AI systems usable at enterprise scale.
Deliverables
- AI command surface design
- Human-AI interaction patterns
- Governance and oversight interfaces
- Confidence and uncertainty signaling
- Approval workflow design
- Design system components for AI-augmented products
Engagement shape
Embedded or advisory. Works best alongside product and engineering teams building new AI capabilities. 8–24 weeks.
02
Strategic Clarity Through Design
Workshops and engagements that produce decisions, not decks.
From ambiguous product problem to scoped, aligned direction, quickly. Structured working sessions that move a leadership team from competing intuitions to a shared frame, with artifacts that hold the decision through execution.
Deliverables
- Problem framing and scope definition
- Structured design workshops (in-person or remote)
- Competitive and user research synthesis
- Product strategy and principles documentation
- Prioritized opportunity space map
- Stakeholder alignment artifacts
Engagement shape
Intensive sprint format. Two to four weeks of focused work. Designed to produce a decision, not a report.
03
Native Apps
iOS, iPadOS, and macOS products built with genuine platform craft.
Apps designed to feel inevitable on Apple hardware, not web-wrapper thinking, not cross-platform compromise. Deep knowledge of HIG, platform conventions, and the details that separate a good native app from a great one.
Deliverables
- iOS and iPadOS app design
- macOS app design
- Platform-native interaction design
- SwiftUI-ready component specifications
- App Store asset design
- Accessibility and Dynamic Type compliance
Engagement shape
Project or embedded. Works well with small iOS/macOS engineering teams who want a design partner, not a handoff vendor. 6–16 weeks.
04
Web Applications That Feel Like Products
Complex web apps designed with the same rigor as native software.
Enterprise and professional web applications where the design problem is genuinely hard, complex data models, dense information architecture, multi-role workflows. Products that users actually understand, even when the underlying system is not simple.
Deliverables
- Information architecture and navigation design
- Complex workflow and data-dense interface design
- Design system creation or extension
- Interaction specifications for engineering
- User research and usability testing
- Responsive and cross-browser design
Engagement shape
Embedded or project. Best fit for B2B SaaS, developer tools, and internal enterprise products. 8–20 weeks.
Ready to start?
Tell us what you're working on. We'll let you know if we're the right fit and what an engagement might look like.