Software design studio
Software should know what it is for.
Higher Standards is a studio for products that need more than a template — mobile apps, commerce flows, educator tools, and brand-forward web experiences. We embed with your team, understand what you actually need, push back on feature bloat, and build bespoke software that executes efficiently. Your users get something effortless — where the interface and the intent stay in conversation.
Selected work
Projects held to a higher bar
Mobile · 2026
Letters with Love
Correspondence that cannot be rushed
A React Native app for slow letter-writing — pen pals, scheduled delivery, and ember letters that vanish after reading. Built to feel native on iOS.
3 screens to explore
Platform · 2026
Graider
Grading at the speed of a classroom
A grading platform built for teachers who work in stacks — mobile capture, batch processing, and background workers that keep up.
Live siteHow we work
Taste, practicality, and craft.
We build software for founders and small teams who care how a product feels day to day — real workflows, human copy, loading states that tell the truth.
Fewer engagements, more attention per pixel. If you want a team that pushes back on feature bloat and sweats the details, we should talk.
Six principles that guide every projectWe work with founders and small teams on products where the details matter. If that sounds like yours, we'd like to hear about it.
David Mackay