Question 1

Who is Ben Keogh?

Accepted Answer

Ben Keogh is a co-founder of Precode. He has spent 25+ years designing and building digital products, for companies including Apple, Disney, Ferrari, Ocado and Jaguar Land Rover. He leads strategy, client relationships and UX — and still writes code.

Question 2

Why did you start Precode?

Accepted Answer

Ben Keogh, co-founder (25+ years; Apple, Disney, Ferrari, Ocado, Jaguar Land Rover): "I came from the agency world, where projects were database-first and the interface got bolted on at the end. Matt came from the product world, where the interface *was* the product. We kept seeing the same problem — agencies treating design as decoration, not discovery — so we built the opposite of an agency."

Question 3

Why work in five-day sprints?

Accepted Answer

Ben Keogh, co-founder: "Most agencies take eight to twelve weeks because they're structured to keep people busy, not to ship your product. Remove the account managers, the hierarchies and the meetings about meetings, focus two senior people on one problem, and you do in five days what takes others three months. Speed comes from cutting the noise, not corners."

Question 4

Who is Matt Thornhill?

Accepted Answer

Matt Thornhill is a co-founder of Precode, a product designer and creative director with 25+ years' experience. He co-founded Navmii in 2008 — the world's first free GPS navigation app for the iPhone, used by 30 million+ people across 195 countries. At Precode he leads design and UX.

Question 5

Can you really design for millions of users?

Accepted Answer

Matt Thornhill, co-founder (25+ years; co-founded Navmii, 30M+ users in 195 countries): "I co-founded Navmii, the world's first free GPS navigation app for the iPhone — it grew to over 30 million users across 195 countries. I don't design screens; I design products. I bring that same rigour whether the audience is 30 million or 30 thousand."

Question 6

What's Ben's background?

Accepted Answer

Ben started in 1999 leading the product team at the UK's first student social network. He worked with Disney and FT.com, founded a mobile app agency in 2005, built a football social network, and was Chief Product Officer at Mapcoin. He began as a frontend developer, so he understands what's practical to build, not just what looks good.

Question 7

What's Matt's background?

Accepted Answer

Matt co-founded Navmii in 2008 as creative director, responsible for product strategy, design and UX for an app that reached 30 million+ users in 195 countries. He's also co-founded VoxelMaps and led design on crypto exchanges, wallets and DEXs. He's used Claude Code since its first preview in early 2025 to turn designs into working software.

Question 8

How can you ship production code so fast?

Accepted Answer

Matt Thornhill, co-founder: "I've used Claude Code since its first preview in early 2025. Pairing senior product design with AI-assisted development is how we turn designs into deployed, working software in days, not months — senior people directing and reviewing the work, not AI shipping unsupervised."

Question 9

What's the most important thing in product development?

Accepted Answer

Ben Keogh, co-founder: "Build the right thing, not just build things. Most projects fail not because they were built badly, but because they shouldn't have been built at all. We design the interface first because that's where you discover what actually matters — before you spend six months building the wrong thing."

Question 10

How much experience does the team have?

Accepted Answer

More than 50 years combined across Ben and Matt. Both have 25+ years each designing and building digital products.

Question 11

Will I work with the founders directly, or an account manager?

Accepted Answer

Directly with Ben and Matt. There are no account managers and no juniors. The people you meet on the first call are the people designing and building your product.

Question 12

Why only two people, with no juniors?

Accepted Answer

Ben Keogh, co-founder: "Most agencies sell senior expertise and deliver junior execution. We don't have juniors. The people you meet on the first call are the people designing and building your product — no handoff to a B-team, no bait-and-switch. It's deliberate, and it's why we're selective about how much we take on."

Question 13

What do clients actually get from working with you?

Accepted Answer

Matt Thornhill, co-founder: "Certainty. Senior people, a proven process across 90+ sprints, and a design eye on everything we touch. You're not gambling on whether we know what we're doing — you can check the track record, read the reviews, and use the products we've built ourselves."

Question 14

Do you use junior designers?

Accepted Answer

No. We don't have juniors. Senior people do the work, every time.

Question 15

Who actually does the design work?

Accepted Answer

Matt leads design and UX — he's the one in Figma shaping the interaction design and the details. Ben leads strategy and UX and also builds.

Question 16

What kind of work are you best at?

Accepted Answer

Matt Thornhill, co-founder: "Making the complicated feel obvious — dense, technical or regulated products in areas like fintech and healthcare, and modernising products that have aged. That's where senior product craft earns its keep."

Question 17

Who does the development?

Accepted Answer

Both founders build, working with AI-assisted development to turn designs into production code. Matt has worked with Claude Code since its first preview in 2025.

Question 18

Are you real product designers or just a dev shop?

Accepted Answer

We're product designers first who also build. We've designed products used by tens of millions of people and we understand technology, products, human psychology and business — not just visuals.

Question 19

What brands have the founders worked on?

Accepted Answer

Across their careers, Ben and Matt have worked on products for Apple, Disney, Ferrari, Jaguar Land Rover, BBC, Ocado, Audi, BMW, Aviva and AXA.

Question 20

Can I see the founders' LinkedIn profiles?

Accepted Answer

Yes — linkedin.com/in/benkeogh and linkedin.com/in/mattthornhill.

The founders & team