Broken by Design

Know the rules
well enough to
break oneIntentional.
on purpose.

Broken by Design is a studio of senior engineers with deep, hands-on experience. We design systems, grow engineering teams, and get AI-built products ready for real users.

Book a 30-minute architecture reviewSee how we design

Architecture is a craft

We make decisions you can defend, and write down why. Backend and APIs, data models, cloud and Kubernetes, AI systems, legacy migrations.

Decision record

Legacy migrationfor system designers

Run the old and new systems side by side for a month.

Context

The legacy system was Python 2, with logic nobody could fully describe.

The rule we broke

Keep one source of truth.

Trade-off

Double the running cost and a daily diff to review. We cut over on evidence, not hope.

Engineers who can design, not only build

Architecture clinics
Bring a design. Leave knowing its weak points and the trade-offs behind them.
Embedded with your team
Pairing, reviews, and the habits that stay after we leave.
Staff-engineer coaching
One-to-one, on the decisions you are facing now.

Vibe-coded to production-grade.

Your AI-built app proved the idea. We keep the code that is sound and harden the rest.

What the AI gave you

Auth that works on the happy path
Tables that grew by accident
No tests
Runs on your laptop

What ships

Roles, sessions and secrets handled
A data model with migrations
Tests on the paths that move money
CI/CD, staging and monitoring

Design is not a layer on top. Interfaces, brand and prototypes come from the same people who draw the architecture.

Send us the problem

Tell us what you're building or growing. We reply within one working day.