An independent
app studio.
Small, focused apps. Designed and built with care, one at a time. Nothing you didn’t ask for.
In the works.
Three projects in the ground. Each one ships when it’s ready, and not a day before.
Project Marigold
The studio's first app. A focused utility, in build now. Designed end to end, then engineered to match.
Project Fern
Second in the yard. Every screen is drawn and pressure-tested before a line of code is written.
Projects carry plant codenames until they ship. Real names at launch.
Small by design.
Side Yard Studio is the independent app practice of Grant McCauley, a Sr. Principal Product Designer with two decades shipping hardware, mobile apps, and design systems, plus six granted patents along the way. The studio is where he builds the small, sharp tools that don’t get made inside big companies.
1
Designer, builder, owner
20
Years of product craft
3
Apps taking root
From seed to shipped.
The same three rules shape every app in the yard, from first sketch to the App Store.
One at a time
Each app gets full attention until it ships and settles. No portfolio of half-finished ideas.
Design first
Every product is designed end to end before it is engineered. The craft is the feature.
Built to last
No dark patterns, no data harvesting, no engagement traps. Tools that respect your time.
Over the fence.
Questions about an app, press, or partnership. The studio reads everything.
Say hello
One address, straight to the studio. Replies come from a person, not a system.
Need help with an app? Every app page has its own support link.