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Mainsail WorksOpen to projects

Software small enough to care about.

Mainsail Works is the independent practice of Matt Howe. I design and build products end to end - my own, and a small number for other people.

Practice
Independent · one person
Focus
Product design & full-stack engineering
Status
Open to select projects

Things I've made

Own products · 02

01 / Shipped

Hidden Australia

A field guide to the country's best local cafes, stays, wineries, national parks and hidden gems - over 25,000 spots across every state and territory.

Built to be the single reference for the spots worth the detour, not another lifestyle feed to scroll past.

25,000+ spots mapped

Explore the app

Where it's up to

  1. Sketch
  2. Building
  3. Beta
  4. ShippedNow

02 / Beta

Patch Quest

An eye-patching app that turns daily treatment into a heroic quest - kids earn the reward you set as they hit their patching goals.

Built to make the least fun part of a day feel like the most fun part.

Explore the concept

Where it's up to

  1. Sketch
  2. Building
  3. BetaNow
  4. Shipped

In the works

A few more small tools are taking shape. One useful idea at a time.

About

Built by one person, on purpose.

I design, build, and ship every product myself - which means fewer meetings, fewer handoffs, and a much shorter distance between an idea and something you can actually use. Patch Quest and Hidden Australia are the proof: both designed, built, and shipped solo, end to end.

That same practice is available to a small number of outside projects each year - a fixed-scope build, a stretch of part-time engineering, or a close read of something that already exists.

Product design
Interface, interaction, and the words in between.
Full-stack engineering
The screen, the server, and the unglamorous parts that hold it together.
Mobile & web
Native where it earns its keep, web where it doesn't.
Systems that age well
Written to be read by whoever picks it up next.

Services

A few ways to work together.

  1. 01

    Product builds

    A focused app or feature, scoped and shipped end to end - from the first sketch to something real in people's hands.

    Good forFounders and small teams with a defined idea

    ProofThis is exactly how Patch Quest and Hidden Australia got made - solo, sketch to shipped.

  2. 02

    Part-time engineering

    Ongoing senior help on a set number of days a month, for teams who need steady hands without committing to a full-time hire.

    Good forTeams between hires, or without a senior lead

    ProofSame judgment I use running my own products day to day, on your schedule.

  3. 03

    Audits & second opinions

    A close look at an existing product or codebase, with clear, honest notes on what to fix first and why.

    Good forAnyone inheriting something they didn't write

    ProofThe same standard I hold my own shipped work to, turned on yours.

Not sure which of these fits, or something else in mind? Send a short note - what it is, roughly when, and any budget you have in mind - and I'll tell you plainly if it's a fit. Tell me about it ↗