About
A boutique technical studio based in Melbourne.
We work with small and medium-sized businesses on the full range of technical problems — from building products from scratch to automating the workflows that are quietly eating their team's time.
We operate as a studio: lean by design, with a trusted network of designers and specialist engineers we bring in when a project calls for it. You'll always have a direct line to the person leading the work — no account managers, no handoffs.
I'm Kalana, the founder. I'm a full-stack software engineer and I've spent the last ten years building software — from early-stage products to internal tools to systems that run quietly in the background of businesses you'd probably recognise.
I started Figment Labs because I kept noticing the same pattern: growing businesses with real operational pain, looking for technical help, and struggling to find someone who could both understand the problem and actually build the solution. Big agencies are expensive and slow. Junior freelancers can build, but can't advise. There wasn't much in between.
That's the gap we work in.
What we actually believe
The bits that make a boutique feel like a boutique.
Most business software problems are simpler than they're made out to be.
Not easy — but simpler. The right solution is usually 20% of what a large agency would scope, and does 80% of the work the business actually needs. We're not in the business of building things bigger than they need to be.
We'd rather tell you something isn't worth building than take the project.
If the problem you're describing can be solved with an existing tool, a configuration change, or a process tweak — we'll tell you. That conversation doesn't cost you anything.
The best technical solutions are invisible.
If the thing we've built is causing friction or needs a manual to operate, we haven't done our job properly.
Background
Our background is primarily in full-stack web and mobile development. We've built iOS apps, web platforms, internal tooling, data pipelines, and AI-powered workflows across a range of industries — most recently in Australian real estate and property services through ongoing contract work with a leading property consultancy. We're also currently building our own product, Pindrop.
Outside work, I'm usually somewhere outdoors or buried in a side project. When you work with Figment Labs, you'll deal directly with me.