octoque.com
Octoque
LiveThe social scheduler that posts at golden hour and never fails silently.
- Product
- Design
- Engineering
- SaaS
- Billing
Design-led · research-driven studio
We design around how people actually think.
dfirst is a design-led studio rooted in human psychology and research. We shape the experience around real behaviour, then build and grow it end to end — to a standard most studios only talk about.
Six products, live on the App Store. Designed, built and shipped end to end.
- Design
- Product
- Web
- Apps
- Video
- Growth
Brand identityProduct designWeb appsMobile & TVVideo & filmShort-formDesign systemsGo-to-marketSaaSMotionBrand identityProduct designWeb appsMobile & TVVideo & filmShort-formDesign systemsGo-to-marketSaaSMotion
Experience behind the studio
Selected work
A few things we made
Products and brands we designed, built and launched — each one a different slice of what the studio does.
octoque.com
Octoque2026A social scheduler that earns trust
Design, product and engineering for a social scheduling platform — from first sketch to a live, billable product people can rely on.
- Product
- Design
- Engineering
- Growth
Zen Slate2026A note app rebuilt from nothing
A complete native rewrite of a notes, writing and drawing app for iPhone, iPad and Mac — fast enough to disappear, deep enough to live in.
- Product
- Design
- Engineering
Our products
We build our own, too
We run the whole studio process on our own products first — design, engineering, launch — and ship them to the App Store. By the time we do it for you, it's been proven in the open.
Zen Slate
LiveA place to write that stays out of the way — notes, drawing and to-dos in one.
- Product
- Design
- Engineering
- iOS · iPad · Mac
Zen Teleprompter
LiveThe script moves only as you say the words — read, record, cut and caption in one app.
- Product
- Design
- Engineering
- On-device AI
- Video
What we do
Five ways we can help
A full-service studio under one roof. Take one line or the whole stack — it's the same team either way.
- 01
Design
Identity and interface, grounded in how people perceive, read and decide. The part people feel before they can name it.
Explore Design - 02
Product & Strategy
Deciding what to build and why — through research into real behaviour, so the thing that ships is the thing worth shipping.
Explore Product & Strategy - 03
Engineering
Web and native apps built to last — typed, tested, fast, and shipped on infrastructure that won't surprise you.
Explore Engineering - 04
Content & Video
The full video pipeline — write, shoot direction, edit, grade, graphics — plus photography. Story first, polish throughout.
Explore Content & Video - 05
Marketing & Growth
Getting the work in front of the right people, on a cadence you can keep — and measuring what actually moves.
Explore Marketing & Growth
How we work
Design first, all the way through
The same four beats on every project, whether it's a logo or a launch.
- 01
Understand
We study the people it's for — their goals, context and behaviour — through research and psychology, before a single pixel. The brief gets sharper before anything gets made.
- 02
Design
Design leads. We shape the thing — brand, interface, story — until it's right in principle, then prove it with real screens and real words.
- 03
Build
We build it properly: typed, fast, accessible, secure. The polish you see is matched by the parts you don't.
- 04
Grow
A launch is a beginning. We set up the content, the funnels and the measurement so the work keeps earning after it ships.
Questions
Good to know
The things people ask before they get in touch.
We start from people, not screens — their psychology, their context, and real research into how they think and decide. The design follows that evidence, and engineering and growth follow the design.
Of course. Take a single service or the whole stack — it's the same team either way, and the hand-offs disappear when it's all under one roof.
Yes. We ship real products — native iOS and Mac apps, web platforms, billing, security — typed, tested, fast and live on the App Store. The polish you see is matched by the parts you don't.
Tell us what you're working on. We come back with how we'd approach it and whether we're the right studio — no pressure, no lock-in.
It depends on scope, but we'll give you a clear, honest range before anything starts. Small brand jobs and full product builds are very different numbers.
Let's build
Have something worth making well?
Tell us what you're working on. We'll come back with how we'd approach it — and whether we're the right studio for it.