Workbench
A mobile product for independent makers
A pocket studio for independent makers — invoicing, orders and inventory that respects how small teams actually work.
- Year2025
- Runs oniOS, Android
- DisciplineMobile Apps — iOS & Android
A sample brief, a real product. We wrote this brief ourselves to show how we work; the client and their story are illustrative. The product is not: it was designed and engineered here, and you can use it below. We publish results only for work a client has let us verify, so this page shows none.
The brief
Workbench wanted a mobile product that felt made for one-person businesses, not a shrunk-down enterprise tool. We designed and built it for both platforms.
The problem
Makers live on their phones between other tasks. Every flow had to be finishable in the gaps — at a market stall, on a train, one-handed.
- Cross-platform without feeling generic
- Offline-first for markets and studios
- Flows finishable in under a minute
- A look that feels crafted, not corporate
The approach
We prototyped the three flows makers do daily, tested with real sellers, then built native-feeling apps from a shared core.
- One design system, two native shells
- Local-first data with quiet sync
- Haptics and motion tuned per platform
- A weekly TestFlight the makers used for real
What shipped
- Live order feed with status advance
- Stock with low-stock alerts and reorder
- Invoice builder with a timer and GST
- Payouts
- Customers with lifetime value
- Product catalogue
- Reports and CSV
- Staff PINs and permissions
Under the surface
How it is built
One React Native + Expo codebase for both stores; Supabase provides Postgres, auth and realtime order events, Stripe Connect routes split payouts to makers, and Fastlane keeps releases boring.
- Realtime order feed via Supabase channels
- Stripe Connect Express payouts with KYC flow
- OTA updates through Expo for instant fixes
- Store releases automated with Fastlane lanes
Considered and turned down
Native twins were overkill for this surface area — Expo delivered both stores in the same sprint.
Stack
The mechanism, working
The part of Workbench that was hardest to get right, as a small model you can operate.
Realtime order feed
Orders stream to the maker’s phone over channels; status changes fan out to buyers instantly.
