RYAN JEX

Independent Software & Systems Builder

I build practical software
for real-world problems.

I’m Ryan. I build reusable software products for people doing practical work—and take on select custom projects when the problem and the fit are right.

See Small Shop OS Start a conversation
Products first. Grounded in how work actually gets done.

01 / Featured product

Live pilot

Small Shop OS

Simple job management for independent shops.

A cloud-hosted application that gives each business a private workspace for customers, jobs, labor, materials, and work history. It is being built as a reusable product—not a one-off internal tool.

Pilot access is guided so I can help each shop get set up, understand the workflow, and learn from real use. There is no unrestricted public registration.

Request pilot access For independent shops evaluating a clearer way to manage work.
Status
Live pilot
Access
Guided onboarding
Format
Private cloud workspace
Small Shop OS dashboard with job status, open work, and recent activity panels using fictional account details
Small Shop OS / DashboardView full dashboard
Small Shop OS new job workspace showing fictional customer details, labor fields, and job summary
Small Shop OS / New job workspaceView full workspace

Portfolio screenshots use fictional account and customer details. Pilot access is provided directly, not through public registration.

  • 01Customer and job management
  • 02Labor and materials tracking
  • 03Configurable hourly billing profiles
  • 04Work history
  • 05Printable shop work orders
  • 06Printable customer work orders
  • 07Guided onboarding
  • 08Mobile-friendly interface

02 / Experimental technology

In development

Software work with boundaries built in.

Guild is an experimental system for governed AI-assisted software development.

Its purpose is to coordinate software work through explicit permissions, controlled execution, review, and human approval. The system is in development; it is not a finished commercial product or an independently autonomous worker.

The person authorizing the work stays in control.

Sanitized Guild interface showing work, authorization, and execution status panels
Guild / Governed work control surfaceView screenshot

Sanitized portfolio view. Internal identifiers and operational history are not shown.

03 / Selected work

Built across the
physical and digital.

Websites, technical applications, and connected systems that show the practical range behind the product work.

New Skinz Coatings / My business

A real business.
A working digital front door.

I built the customer-facing website for my powder-coating and finishing business, shaped around clear services, real project work, and a direct path to start an inquiry.

Visit live site (opens in a new tab)
New Skinz homepage with project photography and customer inquiry actions
New Skinz / Customer-facing websiteView screenshot

RIGHTPrint / Technical application

Decision support
for a physical process.

Local-first, browser-based tooling for 3D-print and manufacturability workflows. It demonstrates software built around an operator and the decisions required to make a real part.

Visit live site (opens in a new tab)
RIGHTPrint application with 3D part inspection, orientation controls, and decision support
RIGHTPrint / Manufacturing applicationView screenshot

Part-inspection detail is shown on phones. Open the screenshot to explore the complete application.

Connected sensor systems

From a sensor
to something useful.

ESP32-based experiments connecting temperature and humidity sensing with networked data, browser dashboards, and historical readings—including HVAC-related work.

  1. Physical sensing
  2. Connected data
  3. Browser dashboard

Experimental monitoring, not a commercial deployment. The published view contains no device identifiers.

Experimental browser dashboard showing recorded temperature readings from connected sensors
Connected systems / Sensor dashboardView screenshot

04 / Outside the workshop

Not everything I build is meant to solve a problem.

Some things are meant to explore one.

OFF BY ONE

Music, film & experimentation

An independent creative project exploring identity, repetition, conformity, and the moments when something familiar starts to feel wrong.

Through music, visual storytelling, and AI-assisted filmmaking, I explore ideas that don't always translate neatly into words.

Explore the Signal Archive (opens in a new tab)
TEETH film still showing four people seated around a conference table

05 / Selective custom development

Focused software
when it should exist.

Products are my primary direction. I also consider custom work when a practical business problem deserves focused software and the project fits how I work.

Experience with industrial automation and hands-on mechanical work shapes how I approach software: understand the process, respect the operator, and make the result useful in the real world.

Understand the operation

Start with how the business works today, where the friction lives, and who has to use the result.

Check the tools that already exist

Good custom software starts by evaluating whether an existing product can solve the problem before building something new.

Build the focused solution

When a real gap remains, create the smallest useful system, test it against actual use, and keep the person doing the work in control.

06 / Start a conversation

Pilot access, a practical problem,
or a collaboration?

Ask about Small Shop OS pilot access, tell me about a workflow that is getting in the way, or get in touch about building something useful together.

  • Small Shop OS pilot access
  • A practical software problem
  • Product or technical collaboration

Contact Ryan

Direct contact details are coming soon. If we’ve already connected, reply to my message.

Project screenshot

Use Zoom in for detail, then scroll the image. Escape closes this view.