Before discussing the cost of mobile app design directly, let’s first find out what app designing involves. Design is not only the appearance of the product. However, it also defines how app functions and how happy the user is while using it. There are various stages of app designing. The product design firstly starts with an idea.

A good designer will first take time to evaluate the idea and in making the necessary changes in that idea. A complete understanding of the concept is very important and for that, it is essential that developers, designers and customers share the same vision of the product.

Idea evaluation

The stage is very important so that you can get your team on board. You should be able to define the problems that your app should be able to solve. The main task is to deeply understand the idea of the clients and gather more information about it. The stage involves brainstorming sessions and conversations with the client.

The main challenge of this stage is to ensure that the development team’s vision aligns with the vision of the client. The stage is for the necessary preparation. In this stage, you need to find out what your product is going to solve and who your target audience is. The main aim is to find a unique feature for your product so that your app stands out. You should also find out the marketing channels to promote your app so that it can reach to your target audience.

You should also know how your app is going to make money. Are you going to charge for app download, or there will be subscriptions or advertisements? In addition, you should also determine the resources needed for your project, for which you need to assess the costs rationally properly.

Market research

In this stage, you should research the market leaders and new trends. The number one thing to keep in mind is that the product should give the best user experience. The mobile app should be comfortable for reading books, posts and articles.

The market is now loaded with frameless devices so let your users enjoy the high definition images and videos. Due to the growing trend of retina screens and OLED, you should focus on using vibrant colors. You should also make sure to add a communication channel to your product.

Planning through Mind Map

After brainstorming everything related to your project, it’s time to create a mind map for it. A mind map is a pictorial presentation of the components of the project. Mind Map is an easy way to make your unstructured thoughts structured. While creating a mind map, make sure to keep the problem in the center of the map and keep other segments of the goals around it.

Finding the audience

The stage includes finding the right audience who is interested in your application. You should consider demographic data, behavioral model, and social standing in this stage.

Prototype

A low fidelity prototype is needed to design perfect navigation between the screens according to the platform that you have to build for iOS and Android. Low fidelity prototype helps in designing complex concepts. The best part of the prototype is that it boosts teamwork. Team members collaborate to design a prototype.

MLP and MVP

A minimum viable product (MVP) contains fewer features that favor the quick testing of a hypothesis. This is suitable only when you are developing a new product in the market and have no other options available. On the other hand, a Minimum lovable product (MLP) is a complete version of the product.

MLP allows you to test the quality which is necessary to move to the next stage which is UX design. As today the mobile applications have crowded the market, new products can only offer the newer version or upgraded features in the existing products. Therefore a user expects to experience more than an application with limited functionality.

User experience

This stage includes creating a new detailed interface of the product, which is essential for further development. A detailed description of user experience, along with a high-fidelity prototype, is needed. The prototype is mainly to run the tests and take the feedback from the audience. The next stage includes project estimation and cost.

UI design

This final stage is needed to add visual elements to the product. Another very essential part that is done in this stage is making the logo for your product. Before starting development, make sure that you complete your design. The challenge of the designer includes combining UI and UX solutions to build a final product.

Costing

All the above-given stages are necessary for app development; therefore, app designers work a lot hard to make their product a success. As developing an app requires a lot of work, the cost of its development depends on the project scale, the hourly rate charged by the design team and the platform on which the app is developed.

Designing an app for a complex platform will need a different amount of time; therefore, it costs heavier. Take, for example, App developers India charges for designing an on-demand food delivery app differently than a messaging app like WhatsApp as the former takes 150 hours in development and later takes almost 250 hours.

The cost of designing an app also depends on the team that you have hired. The team has good credibility, and experience will charge a decent amount. Another factor that determines the cost of app development is the location of the development team. App developers India will charge differently than App developers Melbourne.

Conclusion

Designing is a very important part of app development. Designing is not about drawing and adding images in the app; rather, it is about making interactions between different screens and creating the user experience which is extraordinary. However, it is only possible when a developmental team and client have a similar vision for the project.

Author Bio

Working as CTO at Rushkar Information Technology LLP. Having 9+ years of experience in IT industry, I’m dealing with major technology platforms – Java, C#.NET, IoT, Raspberry PI, etc. Served 300+ local, international satisfied clients. Firm Believer in learning new technologies and apply in real life scenarios. Photography and Designing are something I do for creativity and mind exercise.