Skip to content
Kai MacannIndependent builder Get in touch

Sydney, Australia · Building with purpose

I turn difficult questions into things people can explore, test, and use.

I’m Kai — a founder and software engineering student making complex ideas feel tangible, from learning experiences to tools for culture and community.

600+interactive lessons
at Terra Symposium
Ideas
into action
from first question
to real-world use
Field guide / 01From question to consequence
The Inquiry AtlasA winding path connects four stages: ask a better question, make a prototype, bring people into it, and learn from the consequences.01Ask a betterquestion02Make aprototype03Bring peopleinto it04Learn fromthe consequencesA PRACTICE OF MAKING THINGS REALKM · 01
THE INQUIRY ATLASIdeas don’t stay on the page.
01 — Selected workProjects with people at the centre

A few things I’ve helped bring to life

Work that starts
with a why.

Each project begins with a human question. The work is finding the right form for it — and staying curious about what happens next.

Students and a facilitator sharing ideas during a Terra Symposium workshopMade for
the room
01 / Learning & technology
Founder-led

Terra Symposium

A philosophy club becomes a living world of ideas.

Terra began with a question in a high-school philosophy club: what if students could test their ideas inside the problems they were discussing? I taught myself to build the answer — interactive scenarios where choices unfold into consequences.

600+interactive lessons
2022AIIA iAwards People’s Choice
Read the Terra case studyVisit Terra Symposium
02 / Cultural preservation
Research & design

Saibai Corpus

A digital home for language, stories, and connection.

A corpus experience shaped around the care involved in bringing together language, stories, recordings, and family connections.

Read the Saibai case studyOpen the Saibai Corpus
A little competition
goes a long way.
03 / Community & play
Full-stack app

Strike Counter

A shared scoreboard for the people who make the game.

Account-based baseball scoreboards that friends can share and update together — with a bit of hand-drawn personality built in.

Read the Strike Counter case studyOpen Strike Counter
01A — Small experimentsLearning in public

Side projects & coursework

Small builds.
Sharp questions.

A few compact experiments in language design, security, and compression — useful glimpses into how I learn by making.

02 — How I workGood questions are a beginning

A practice, not a formula

Start with people.
Make it real.

I move between big-picture questions and small, testable details — listening, making, and learning in the open.

  1. 01

    Listen for the real question

    Find the human tension beneath the brief. The useful problem is often hiding one layer down.

    Curiosity first
  2. 02

    Make an idea tangible

    Build the smallest experience that lets people see, try, and respond to an idea.

    Prototype early
  3. 03

    Learn from what happens

    Notice who the work serves, what it changes, and where the next question leads.

    Stay accountable
03 — In the conversationSelected mentions & listening

A few outside perspectives

The work, out in the world.

Stories about bringing philosophy, learning, and technology into the same room.

Browse talks, press, and recognition

Have a good question?

Let’s make something matter.

I’m interested in thoughtful collaborations, ambitious prototypes, and ideas that deserve a life beyond the page.