Today we are going to talk about the average cost of app design, something that will promote your business and attract people 24/7, a powerful marketing tool.
What will we start with when we are setting foot on the path of creating custom applications? Just like planning a trip, start with a plan! A project design, a concept development.
The cost of designing an application comprises many nuances, each of which must be considered individually at each stage of design creation.
What are these stages?
1. Data collection and analysis.
When you outline a strategy for the main purpose of your app, this automatically determines the UX/UI design needs that will be implemented.
Deliverables:
• Set objectives and define the problem, for which an application must provide a solution. To determine and simplify the best features and design features for your app, establish a clear business objective.
• Definition of audience. The key question here is “Who are we doing this for?” In this stage, market and consumer studies are carried out, and discussions with interested parties are carried out.
• Identification of user roles, creation of use cases, behavior scenarios and collection of user stories.
Influencer #1. hours spent In some cases, a fixed budget scheme is used, but alternatively, when working on complex design projects, it is reasonable to take into account the number of screens rendered. All the same, all cases are discussed individually, so that all the advantages of this or that type of payment are used.
Influencer #2: Choice of platforms and mobile devices. In many cases, Android apps take longer (15-20%) to develop compared to iPhone apps. Consequently, in this case you would have to be willing to pay more for the designers’ time.
Approximate Estimated Time: 20 to 40 hours.
What do we get at this stage? This is where we find out what the customer wants and make all the necessary preparations to start fulfilling their request.
2. Prototypes
Deliverables:
• At this stage, we develop and validate concepts, create workflows, and perform usability testing. This is where user experience (UX) design begins to become a reality. The entire app idea passes a feasibility test.
Don’t rush. You need to decide how many screens your app will need. This not only becomes a starting point for the designers you hire, but also directly influences the potential price for designing a mobile app.
Influencer #3: A simple dependency: the more screens, the higher the cost.
Influencer #4: You may want to design different interfaces for various screen sizes or set a limit and stick to a specific screen size for a smartphone or tablet.
Influencing factors #5: Native, web or hybrid application.
Approximate estimated time: 40 to 80 hours.
What do we get at this stage? Prototyping is all about taking your idea and incorporating it into the app with some basic functionality. A prototype is essential, allowing your potential customers to see the tangible benefits of your product instead of getting a sparse product display and description. A good prototype provides half the design progress of your project.
Prototyping and iteration may take longer than initially expected. However, good prototyping can indeed save your budget. How is that? What happens is that with prototyping, the team already has all the structure needed to start working on the features, when the project moves to the development stage. This also minimizes the risk of changes in user requirements that can occur in the life cycle of a project.
Influencer #6: Changes in user requirements.
You should always work together with the client to avoid or eliminate all possible misunderstandings and save time and budget, so that the final product exceeds your mutual expectations.
3. Incorporation of visual design (UI)
If the previous stages answered the question “Why are we doing this?”, the design answers the question “How are we doing this?”
Deliverables:
• At this stage, all screens in the application are rendered and the content and elements for each screen are arranged based on the pre-approved color scheme.
• The visual layout shows you how the product will work as the user moves from one screen to another.
• Wireframes, skeletons of future design, are created. They serve to add functionality to each screen and to demonstrate the dependency between the screens: just gray boxes with parent elements. Therefore, wireframes are representations of design elements, private to the interactive component. Its function lies in communication and documentation.
• When a wireframe begins to be interactive, it becomes a prototype, an interactive representation of the final product. What is the role of a prototype? It models the user experience, simulates user interface design, and helps conduct extensive user testing. It allows interested parties to review a solution, so it is tested with users before spending money on coding.
Approximate estimated time: 40 to 200+ hours
What do we get at this stage? We get the essence, feel and look of the product. This means choosing the colors, shapes, fonts, frames, etc. correct. The final product design, including the logo, all icons, screens, pictures and images are sent to the client, packaged in PSD (or .png) files.
How much does it cost to design a mobile app depending on a global location?
is in fact a influencer #6.
The following are hourly rates for design services in various countries:
• US and Canada – $50-150 per hour
• Western Europe and UK – $65-130 per hour
• Eastern Europe – $30-50 per hour
• Indian – $5-25
It’s not obvious, but it’s essential.
Many customers, realizing the benefits of having a business app, go to mobile app development companies inspired by some ideas, taken from competing companies. We do not recommend this approach, since without a deep analysis of the competition, it is not possible to estimate the effectiveness of this or that function. It means that a person might wish to copy trading mechanisms and functions that are, in fact, ineffective.
However, blindly rushing to the front line, chasing some “breakthrough ideas” (such a buzzword combination!) is also not a good strategy. There is no need to reinvent the wheel. You just need to do a thorough market analysis to see what the competitors missed and catch up on these missed opportunities. This will give your client what he really needed.
In summary, the cost of designing an Android app or an iOS app depends on the following:
• Complexity of the application and number of custom elements
• A type and number of platforms and devices on which the application would be used
• Number of implemented functions and rendered screens
• Competence and experience of the designers
• Geographical location of the design services company
• Possible changes in user requirements
Effective marketing starts with effective design, as a well-constructed UX design is a determining factor in promoting your product.