Independent digital lab
Pigeons is my personal space for making things: a small independent studio founded by Santiago LISBOA. I develop useful, human and accessible web apps, including EXCI for the French civic exam and Aicha for learning to read in French.
Behind Pigeons
After five years studying computer science and several years of professional experience, my path led me back to working in a kitchen. I never really left code behind. Pigeons is where those two worlds now meet.
Santiago LISBOAThe Pigeons projects
From kitchen encounters to the first digital tools, each project begins with a real need and the desire to help.
EXCI helps people prepare for the French civic exam with practice questions, quizzes and personal progress tracking.
Inspired by reading and writing lessons shared with Aisha, Aicha is an app in development to help adults learn to read and write in French and become more independent.
The app is taking shape step by step. The release date will be announced here.
Discover AichaMijote helps professional kitchens manage recipes, production, prep lists, inventory, supplier orders and temperature logs in one place.
Why I created Pigeons
I expected to carry on with a career in tech. After graduating, though, I could no longer find my place in the industry. I went back to working in a kitchen, a job I already knew and which supports me today.
But I never really left computing behind.
Back in the kitchen
I met people from many different countries in the kitchen. Their stories, plans and difficulties changed the questions I asked whenever I sat down at a computer.
That is where coding found a tangible purpose again.
One encounter, then EXCI
Several colleagues were studying for the civic exam on their path towards French citizenship. Talking with them showed me how difficult calm, effective practice could be.
Why not use what I know to build something that could help them?Then I met Aisha
Aisha is from Côte d’Ivoire. She never had the opportunity to study, yet her determination to move forward is remarkable. During a quieter summer, I began helping her learn to read and write.
Those lessons sparked a new idea: a tool that would let her continue at her own pace and become more independent.
Pigeons takes shape
EXCI, Aisha and whatever comes next do not need to look like products from a large company. They need a reason to exist and the freedom to evolve.
I realised Pigeons could be that space: personal, experimental and grounded in real life.
So, what is Pigeons?
It is where I turn an encounter, a problem, a wish or sometimes a slightly odd idea into a real project. I build to help, to keep coding, to discover new technologies and to share what I learn.
I’m Santiago LISBOA, and Pigeons is where I build all of it.
My compass
Someone to help, a problem to solve or something I genuinely want to learn.
Plain words and journeys that do not require an instruction manual.
I design from lived situations, with all their constraints and nuances.
Trying, getting things wrong, learning and starting again are part of the work.