What wastes your time?
- That repetitive task.
- That spreadsheet nobody likes.
- That process you’ve done the same way for years.
- That program you wish existed.
Show us the problem. We’ll see what we can do about it.
You don’t need to know what the solution is. Just tell us what’s annoying.
You don’t have to know what you need.
Nobody wakes up knowing they need an API integration. They know they’re copying the same information into three places every day.
That’s enough.
- I spend hours entering invoices.
- Our website is terrible.
- I wish these two programs talked to each other.
- This takes six hours every Friday.
- Could this be automated?
- I have an idea for a program but don't know where to start.
What a fix can look like
Same result. Far fewer steps.
Before
- Email arrives
- Download attachment
- Open PDF
- Copy information
- Open spreadsheet
- Enter information
- Repeat 187 times
After
- Email arrives
- Done.
A person still checks anything that looks odd.
- Less busywork.
- Fewer mistakes.
- More time for actual work.
An illustration, not a promise. We’ll tell you honestly what’s realistic for yours.
What can we help with?
These are just the shapes problems usually turn out to be.
Automation
Make repetitive work happen automatically.
Custom software
Build the program you wish already existed.
Websites
Create or rebuild something people actually enjoy using.
Connected systems
Help programs and services work together.
Data & documents
Reduce repetitive copying, sorting, searching and processing.
Process improvement
Sometimes the answer isn't more software. Sometimes the process itself needs fixing.
Built at GRL
Things we’ve built, starting with this one.
The form you’re about to use, and the site around it, are ours. Same standards we’d apply to your work.
You’re using it
The problem intake on this site
A form that only needs the problem in your own words, takes your screenshots safely, and puts your case in front of a person.
Built in-house
This website
Plain fast pages, no cookies of our own, no advertising, keyboard-friendly, tested at desktop and mobile sizes.
Internal, not for sale
Our own research tooling
Internal tools, including A.N.T.O.N., that help us investigate problems. People still make the decisions.
How it works
You’re in charge at every step.
Step 1: Complain
Tell us what's slow, repetitive, broken, confusing or annoying.
Step 2: We investigate
We work out what can realistically be improved and what we still need to know.
Step 3: You approve
You see the proposed solution, price, scope and expectations before any work begins.
Step 4: We build
We create it, test it, and hand back something useful.
You stay in charge
- A person reads it. Every problem is reviewed by someone at GRL, not just filed by a machine.
- You approve the scope. You see exactly what we plan to build before we build it.
- You approve the price. One clear number, agreed up front. No surprise charges.
- We test what matters. Important work is checked before it reaches you.
We usually review new problems within one or two business days.
Who’s behind GRL
Nicholas AndrewsHead of R&D, Growing Research Labs
GRL is led by Nicholas Andrews, a builder and researcher working across software, automation and experimental systems. The lab exists because too many useful ideas die somewhere between “there should be a better way” and actually building one.
Send GRL a problem and it doesn’t land in a faceless support queue. A real person reads it before anything is proposed or sent back.
The bigger lab
Some of what we build solves problems today.
Some of it explores what may be possible tomorrow: how people, software, intelligent systems and machines can work together. A.N.T.O.N., our research companion, is part of that side.
Show us what’s wasting your time.
Describe it in your own words. We usually review new problems within one or two business days.
Send your problemNo account. No commitment. Nothing is charged until you approve a proposal.