Information architecture & data models
Clear, extensible information models and data flows that keep teams aligned and systems adaptable as needs change. The model is usually where the real work lives.
The Jam Labs
Simplifying systems, empowering people, driving change.
The Jam Labs is an independent software studio. We design and build the unglamorous backbone of good organisations: the information models, operational systems and KPIs that make services run. Everything we ship is accessible by default and open where it matters.
What we do
The work behind good organisations
The Jam Labs is a UK limited company and independent studio led by James Woodruff. We build the systems that quiet, well-run organisations run on, and we design them for the people who use them, not the vendor who sells them.
SharePoint & Microsoft 365 modernisation
Modern, graph-backed SharePoint Online list applications, with safe sync, permission validation and migration policies you can actually trust.
AI-era custom software
Practical custom software that puts AI to work alongside people. It is accessible, maintainable, and honest about what it can and can’t do.
Operational systems & KPIs
Operational dashboards and KPIs that surface what matters, from SafeCheck-style safety monitoring in hospices to service-wide reporting.
Open data & reproducible analysis
Low-cost, reproducible analysis from open data, with methods anyone can audit, rerun and build on.
Private cloud & data sovereignty
Private cloud and data-sovereign hosting, so your data stays under your control. In your jurisdiction, on your terms.
Projects
Work we’re proud of
A small, focused portfolio. We ship things we’d want to use ourselves, and open-source the pieces that should belong to everyone.
Shipshape
shipshapegame.appA daily shipping-forecast codebreaker, Wordle-style, for people who love the sea. Six clues, six guesses: decode the sea state, wind, weather and visibility for real sea areas.
Visit shipshapegame.app (opens in a new tab)JamLabs.SharePoint.Lists
github.com/TheJamLabsGraph-backed building blocks for SharePoint Online list applications in .NET: typed lists, safe sync, permission validation and migration policies designed to be trusted in production.
View on GitHub (opens in a new tab)
Writing
Notes on software, data & doing good
Essays and posts by James Woodruff on information models, AI-era software, open data and data sovereignty, published on LinkedIn.
Why I Keep Coming Back to Information Models
On the quiet discipline of designing data that survives change, and why the model is usually where the real work lives.
Read on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)Developing an ORM in the Age of AI
What it takes to build an object-relational mapper when AI writes a lot of the code, and what still needs a human’s judgement.
Read on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)Open Data, Properly Used
A reproducible, low-cost way to turn open data into place-level insight, without a data team or a budget to match.
Read on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)The Return of Custom Software in the Age of AI
Why the cost curve of building your own software has flipped, and what that means for organisations tired of SaaS compromise.
Read on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)AI-Generated Content Should Be Open Source and Non-Profit
If AI generates the content, who owns it? An argument for keeping machine-made content in the commons.
Read on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)Cloud Lockouts & Data Sovereignty
When a platform takes your data hostage, what are the options? Notes on escape routes and staying in control.
Read on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)More new writing lands on LinkedIn first.
Follow on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)
Values
What we stand for
Accessible by default
Every build targets WCAG 2.2 AA. If a screen reader can’t use it, it isn’t finished.
Open source & open data
We prefer code you can audit and data you can rerun: knowledge that belongs to everyone.
Data sovereignty
Your data, your jurisdiction, your rules. We design systems that keep organisations in control.
Skills for good
Technology is a tool for people. We point it at problems that make life better.
Contact
Get in touch
Have a system that needs simplifying, a SharePoint estate that needs modernising, or an idea worth building? Tell us about it. We usually reply within two working days.
Email
hello@thejamlabs.com
LinkedIn
The Jam Labs (opens in a new tab)
GitHub
TheJamLabs (opens in a new tab)
Prefer the short version: email us what you’re trying to build or fix, roughly what it serves, and who it’s for. We’ll answer honestly. If we can’t help, we’ll say who can.
The Jam Labs Ltd
United Kingdom