Independent software practice · Bakersfield

Make an important workflow easier to run.

I’m Nathan Mayer. Through KitFox Labs, I help teams build operational software and make decisions about the systems they already use.

The work starts with the process: who needs to do what, which records matter, and what happens when something goes wrong.

Tell me about the problem See ways to work

A system decision, a workflow to improve, or a small test worth making.

My background includes industrial software and artificial-lift analytics at Theta Oilfield Services, Inc., payment systems at Amazon, and agency grant and claims workflows through Linean.

Meet Nathan

Three ways to work

A clear question. A bounded piece of work.

Proposed first scopes for a system decision, a workflow improvement, or a focused test.

Review an existing system

One working week

For a business owner, operations director, or technical lead.

A rewrite, migration, or hosting decision is unclear.

What we agree to produce A decision memo with options, tradeoffs, and a phased next step.

Scope and time One application or hosting stack, examined read-only. One working week from the agreed kickoff and necessary access.

How to start Email a description of the system and the decision you need to make.

Discuss a system review See an example review scope

Improve one workflow

Three working weeks

For an agency or program manager, billing lead, or operations team.

Repeated data entry, unclear approvals, or difficult record handling.

What we agree to produce A process map, a working first increment, and handoff notes.

Scope and time One workflow and one agreed first increment, with acceptance criteria set before implementation. Three working weeks from the agreed kickoff and necessary access.

How to start Email the steps people follow today and where work gets stuck.

Discuss a workflow

Test one useful AI feature

Two working weeks

For an operations or technical lead.

People spend time collecting evidence or explaining exceptions; an AI feature might help.

What we agree to produce A small prototype, test findings, and a continue/change/stop recommendation.

Scope and time One feature tested on an agreed set of authorized examples, with human review and comparison to the current process. Two working weeks from the agreed kickoff and authorized examples.

How to start Email the task, the current process, and the examples that may be used.

Discuss a small test

These timeboxes describe proposed first scopes, not current availability. We agree on access, scope, acceptance criteria, fee, and schedule before work starts. Any larger implementation is scoped separately.

Selected experience

Work with records, rules, and people.

These are completed engagements through Linean. They describe my contribution; client names and implementation details are kept private.

My engagements are finished. These summaries do not assert a client launch or a measured business result.

Research / prototype

Water records and reconciliation.

I’m exploring software for water records, reconciliation, and reporting. I’ve explored double-entry water-accounting prototypes, and I’m interested in understanding the actual accounting work with the people responsible for it.

This is research, with questions still to test about the records, rules, and review process.

Read about the research

How an engagement works

Start small enough to judge.

Make the decision and the handoff part of the scope from the beginning.

  1. Understand the process

    Walk through a real example. Identify the people, source records, exceptions, and decision you need to make. Agree on what information can be shared.

  2. Agree on the first scope

    Choose a review, a workflow change, or a test. Write down the deliverables, acceptance criteria, fee, and checkpoints before starting.

  3. Review and hand over

    Evaluate the work against the agreed criteria. Leave the decisions, remaining questions, and operating notes with the people who will use them.

The person behind the practice

I’m Nathan Mayer, a software architect in Bakersfield.

I’m Principal Engineer at KitFox Labs, my independent software practice. My software engineering experience goes back to 2016, with work in industrial analytics, payments, and agency workflows.

I’m interested in useful projects where people are working around disconnected data, old software, or rules that are hard to get right.

More about my background and work

Start a conversation

What needs to work better?

A brief description is enough to start. Tell me what the process or system does today and what you need to decide or change.

Email me about a project
Prefer a call? Open the 30-minute calendar (opens a new tab)

Helpful context for an introduction

  1. What is the workflow or system?
  2. Where do people get stuck, and who is affected?
  3. What decision or change do you need?

For a call, bring one example you can talk through. Keep sensitive records out of the initial email. Scope and location are agreed per project.