Your department doesn't need another 18-month vendor implementation.

defriction builds the small apps, dashboards, and web pages your institution actually needs — in days, not semesters, for a fraction of what you're paying now.

You know the tool you wish existed. The one no vendor makes because your department's workflow isn't big enough to be a market.

So you've been getting by. Spreadsheets where there should be a system. A $50,000/year platform where you use maybe 20% of the features. A workaround your team invented three years ago that everyone just kind of lives with.

You've thought about asking IT. The backlog is measured in semesters. You've looked at vendors. The RFP alone would take longer than building the thing.

Meanwhile the budget is tightening and someone is going to ask why you're spending $60k on software your team barely uses.

Not a massive enterprise system. Not a new SIS or ERP. The smaller stuff — the departmental tools that no vendor builds because your needs are too specific.

A dashboard that actually shows your team what matters. A small departmental app that matches how your office actually operates. A program landing page or website that can launch before the semester changes again.

Student-facing work is still on the table when it's the right answer — but the sweet spot is administrative, departmental, and close to the staff doing the work.

Built in days or weeks. For a one-time cost that fits under your procurement threshold.

Dashboard Requests Sites Reports
Program Launches
Intake Requests
Advising Ops
Student Success
Faculty Support
Budget Review
1
Intake
2
Scope
3
Build
4
Review
5
Launch
Department Projects — Fall 2026
Program Microsite WEB-014
Office Continuing Ed
Need Landing page
Status Ready
Advising Dashboard DASH-027
Office Student Success
Need Weekly view
Status In Review
Event Intake App APP-033
Office Advancement
Need Routing flow
Status Live
Student Portal Idea STU-009
Office Student Affairs
Need Validate fit
Status Possible

How it works.

Step 1

Discovery sprint — $500

A call + working prototype same day. No procurement process needed at this price.

Step 2

Build — $1,000/day

Real progress every day. Clock stops for internal review. Typical project: a few thousand total.

Step 3

Launch

Your tool, owned by your institution. No vendor lock-in. No annual contract.

$500.

$500 is under most departmental procurement thresholds. No committee. No RFP.

Book a discovery sprint

defriction was built inside higher education. We know the constraints — governance, accessibility requirements, FERPA, institutional branding, the pace at which decisions get made.

We also know that most of what slows your institution down isn't the technology. It's the process around the technology.

WCAG accessibility built in from day one
FERPA compliance by design
Institutional SSO support (SAML, CAS, Shibboleth)

Questions.

Small departmental apps, internal dashboards, program landing pages or websites, reporting tools, and student-facing experiences when they are the right fit.

WCAG compliance built in from the start.

Built with FERPA requirements in mind.

Yes. SAML, CAS, Shibboleth.

Same rate, no retainer.

No RFP. No six-month timeline. No vendor lock-in.

$500. One day. A working prototype of the tool your department actually needs.

Book a discovery sprint — $500