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How Much Does a Mobile App Design Cost?

Design is an important aspect of any app, whether it’s web or mobile. But among the 2.87 million apps on the Google play store, 1.85 million apps are just a copy of the other. In this blog, we will cover how to estimate mobile app design costs and other app designing things you must be aware of if you want to create a mobile app that sells.

It doesn’t matter how intelligent an app you make, it would be worthless if it follows a complicated user interface. Designs should be simple yet innovative to attract new users. This is because it’s already a gruesome task to make a loyal user switch from one app to the other. And the most a user gives is 1 or 2 attempts to use your app. If they find it difficult to use, they will leave it for good.

Many people hire Android app developers to create engaging apps for the growth of their businesses. Professional designers can give beautiful look to your application with trendy features. Most eCommerce apps send push notifications that make the life of customers and app owners easy. This type of feature is integrated into most apps today.

Apart from this, designing a mobile or web app by hiring a mobile UI design company is a service that would consume a good chunk of your overall app budget. It has dedicated mobile app developers to add visual elements and make app UX designs impressive. They offer a seamless experience that’s why most businesses select software development companies for a perfect app.

This blog shares insight into the user experience and user interface design. i.e. the process and importance of designing an app for mobile devices and its development cost. So let’s get to it.

Why One Needs to Invest in Mobile App Design Service?

As per Statista, more than 25% of apps are uninstalled by the users after using them once. This is also a prime reason for the failure of 70% of all businesses. This low user retention rate is often due to poor app usability and flow of the app. To address this complicated subject of design it’s advisable to seek assistance from professional design services.

Find the best custom mobile app development company that can integrate features into your app as per the need of your business and target audience. It will make your app more engaging and increase the conversion rate.

To avoid these problems one needs to invest wisely in the initial phases of the app-building process. There are two different stages of developing an app i.e. application design and app development.

This is also a common confusion among entrepreneurs who are new to this entire development process. One must understand the difference between the two. 

Let’s learn more about the same in detail.

Application Design

Application design is a concept that has a lot to do with problem-solving. It makes common user tasks easy. The sole aim of the process is to identify and offer solutions to one of the core problems that a user has. User action is an important factor in application design and different screens.

The foremost mistake that most entrepreneurs hold is to try and copy the software solutions of their competitors without concentrating well on their app’s purpose and audience’s needs. Considering competitors’ apps for checking user interface design is good but other factors also affect the designs.

Your users expect something creative, however, designing a seamless app is a tedious process, and thus professionals come into the picture to create interactive elements.

App Development

It is the later phase of this process, where one has decided upon the features they wish to inculcate and the brand they want to create. Yet many processes have to be completed before development. Developers have to make navigation effortless so that it minimizes the user’s memory load.

One of the other questions that follow from learning the preceding is how much does mobile app design cost when done by yourself? Well, it’s way cheaper than taking top web development services but to pursue the same one would need to have expertise in the subject of app designing tools, mobile UI/UX design, and the basics of good app design.

Developers can analyze the requirements of the business and integrate features accordingly. Push notifications are important in today’s apps, so they integrate this feature impeccably. Developers first create MVP and get user feedback about the app. It helps to improve the app.

Factors Affecting the App Development Cost

Successful App development is a result of many small processes that constitute a favorable outcome. These processes must be followed using the right practices or they won’t yield fruitful results. Let’s catch a glimpse of what they are and how they affect the overall app development cost.

Research on Business & Tech Components

An intuitive app solution can only be created when one has invested well into the starting stage of a design. Usually, development teams allocate a lot of time to research the targeted niche, competitors and their services, market trends, and more. It also helps to find local designers for the project.

Without having ample knowledge one would always end up with counter-intuitive app designs. This is also known as the discovery stage where the business analyst and design team find a particular niche that will offer them different perspectives of the app. They have to follow some interaction patterns as well.

Analyzing the different views from numerous users that belong to different age groups helps determine the strong and weak areas of your app. And compels you to brainstorm solutions that build a simple and strong future app with impressive user interfaces.

• The complexity of your app.
• Hours spent researching and analyzing your business needs and competitors.
• Narrowing down the essential features.
• Platform discovery and use.
• Team meetings with UI/UX designers and team, business analysts, and more.

UI/UX Design

Since prototyping is the primary necessity, you should take responsive web design services. Whether your app needs direct creation of UX wireframes or an initial system sketch is decided on the complexity of a project. App functions are also checked while creating wireframes, UX, and UI designs.

This hugely affects the total prototype cost estimate and as a result the overall app designing cost. The prototype is built with crucial features so stakeholders can understand what is the final look of the app.

They can suggest adding features like push notifications and others in the design process. Let’s discuss in brief the factors that contribute to UI/UX design.

Sketches

One has to start from the sketching sub-stage, especially with a complex project that has a lot of features, and is difficult to navigate. One can either use app design tools such as Sketch, Balsamiq, Figma, UXPin, and more or use free-hand sketching to present the overall concept of your app.

Sketches are most suitable to portray complicated and important app mechanisms. Designers can improve sketches with valuable feedback. Also, think about how many screens you are going to use to test designs.

UX Wireframes

One would need to know mobile application design tools to create UX wireframes. With these tools, you can create a visual structure of how various screens of your app should look, navigate to different pages, and the mechanics behind the same.

You can consider a UX wireframe as the skeleton of your core features which will be now transformed into the final UI mobile interface. Hire the best developers within your budget for iOS app or Android app users. Professionals can enable in-app notifications.

Wireframes with Native UI Elements

While designing UI components, you can add specific design structures like buttons, control styles, fonts, and more. Mobile app designer marks changes in other native UI components. A designer is assigned a relevant task as per his expertise.

If you have a small project a design can be considered equivalent to your basic app interface. You have to consider os design guidelines for a better user journey. It can also work well for MVPs or primary product versions with a fully-functional system.

The preceding if done following the right practices and approach, will significantly decrease the total app design cost. There are certain limitations that designers have to overcome such as designing UI components from scratch. For instance, icons, diagrams, graphs, and more.

Using a mobile app development framework can reduce your hard work significantly. Here we move to the visual design phase, wherein the actual user interface is created so that real users can attract to it.

Visual Design

Visual design refers to visual solutions i.e. a great idea to communicate with the users and paint your idea of the product into their imagination. UI mockups are inspired by UX wireframes to demonstrate the styled design of an app. This process helps one identify the uniqueness of their app when compared to other competitors.

UI design services are responsible for internal layers, overall appearance, color schemes, branding, and more. Mobile app designers also have to think about how to represent content, font size, and how designs will look on a mobile screen. So that they can make an app a perfect product to serve people and lead business growth.

This requires experience and creativity. Before the design team finalizes the UI design, it develops a couple of UI mockups that show different approaches to elements, style, color schemes, forms, and more.

How much does a Mobile App Design Cost?

Mobile usage has increased exponentially in recent times. Most of your audience is available on mobiles. So, you have to create a beautiful and engaging app to make mobile users download your app.

Designs can leave more impact if they render an emotional connection. Many factors divide the UI design cost. From food, finance, communication, fitness app, and other apps designs vary. Let’s catch a brief look at the factors affecting the cost.

App Complexity

Complexity assessment is needed for both user engagement, design, and mobile forms. The following aspects decide on the app’s complexity.

• Customization standards.
• Platforms you wish to create an app for i.e. Android or iOS.
• Needs and niche requirements of end-users.
• Performance and complexity of the performance.
• Type of app i.e. MVP or fully-functional app and the number of users.

There are 3 levels into which the complexity of an app is divided i.e. simple, moderate, and complex apps. This division helps to find actual progress. The continually evolving project also increases the complexity level.

Number of Platforms

There are different objectives and needs related to platforms like iOS and an Android operating system. An Android app requires extensive testing with different formats and resolutions due to such wide availability of devices. While iOS apps need a seamless UI and graphic elements.

Due to these reasons, Android apps are costlier than iOS apps. You should try a mobile app development guide to know the specifics of this process. Designers consider user input to improve designs.

You also have to decide whether you wish to create an app for a single platform or both iOS and Android. The total design cost would differ based on the number of platforms you select and the resources you use for user research.

Development Region/Location

There can be a huge difference in price depending on the development location you choose. As different areas of the world have numerous hourly development rates depending on the mobile design, variation in the price is obvious.

Therefore this task when done by a USA designer and an Indian designer can cause you a great difference in price. The price difference is also a result of the different app design tools and working processes.

Designer Expertise

The cost of employing designers is decided by the expertise and experience they have. They focus on the user flow while working on designs. Designers are professionals that you can review based on filters such as pay, scale, platform, experience, and more. Similar to every other industry professionals charge more than newcomers.

Here’s an average bifurcation of various design costs along with the time it takes for those phases to be completed.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How long does it take to design an app?

As we learned above, many factors such as the complexity of an app, the number of apps (Android, iOS, Windows), the experience and expertise of the design team or individual, and more account for the total time. The team has to design UI and UX keeping mobile usability in mind.

How much do UI/UX designers charge?

Depending on the development region one chooses, there can be a difference in the hourly development rate. The hourly development rate in India ranges between 30 USD- 70 USD. Well, building successful apps is difficult because not only developers but also other professionals also work to complete it.

How to find a reliable app design company?

You can first note down your requirements or goals with your app. Now, research thoroughly for an IT service company that offers your desired services at your price point. Professional developers in any firm also follow the user testing process. You can go through the prior projects, case studies, client testimonials, approach to app design, and more to make a wise decision. And hire the best team to build an amazing app for mobile users.

Why is design such an important aspect of creating an app?

As Steve Jobs once said, “The design is not just what it looks like and feels like. The design is how it works”. Therefore, it’s an integral part of any web or mobile app that you wish to create. That's why designers have to focus on all the interface elements of the app.

Which aspects are the major contributors to the cost of designing an app?

The major contributors to this cost are app complexity, planning, analysis, design, no. of platforms, and development region. They affect the mobile design cost.