Users drop off and you do not know why
High install numbers but low retention usually means a confusing experience. Research-led UX finds the friction points and designs them out before they cost you users.
App UI/UX Design
App UI/UX Design Services
Research-led product design that makes apps a joy to use and easy to build. Wireframes, polished UI, tested prototypes and a design system, for businesses across the US, UK and Canada.
- Research-led
- Tested Prototypes
- Design Systems
- Build-ready
The cost of weak design
Is your app's design costing you users?
Design is not decoration. If any of these sound familiar, the experience is quietly losing users and ratings.
A design that looks good but works badly
Pretty screens are not enough. If the flows are confusing or tasks take too many taps, users leave. We design for how people actually use the app, not just how it looks in a portfolio.
Inconsistent screens and a patchwork look
When every screen is designed in isolation, the app feels disjointed. A proper design system keeps spacing, type, colour and components consistent everywhere.
Building before validating
Coding an unvalidated design is expensive guesswork. Prototyping and testing first means you build the right thing once, instead of rebuilding after launch.
Ignoring platform conventions
iOS and Android users expect different patterns. A design that ignores them feels foreign and frustrating. We design with platform conventions, not against them.
Accessibility treated as optional
Inaccessible apps exclude users and increasingly fail review and legal requirements. We design for contrast, touch targets, dynamic type and screen readers from the start.
Who we work with
Industries we serve
We design apps for health, finance, retail, education and on-demand businesses. We learn your users before we design for them.
Health & Fitness
FinTech
Retail & Ecommerce
Education
Startups
On-demand
Social
Travel
Enterprise
SaaS
What we deliver
Our app design services
From first research to a build-ready design system, every step is grounded in real users and engineered to ship.
UX Research & Strategy
User interviews, competitor analysis and journey mapping so the design is grounded in real user needs, not assumptions.
Information Architecture
Logical structure, navigation and flows so users always know where they are and how to get where they are going.
Wireframing
Low-fidelity layouts that lock down structure, flow and content priority before any visual design begins.
UI Design
Polished, on-brand interface design with the craft and detail that makes an app feel premium and trustworthy.
Interactive Prototyping
Clickable, animated prototypes in Figma so you can feel the app and test it with users before a line of code.
Usability Testing
Testing prototypes with real users to find friction early, then refining the design based on what actually happens.
Design Systems
A reusable library of components, tokens and patterns so the app stays consistent and future screens are fast to build.
Platform-aware Design
Designs that respect iOS Human Interface Guidelines and Android Material Design so the app feels native on each.
Accessibility Design
Colour contrast, touch targets, dynamic type and screen reader support designed in for WCAG-aligned, inclusive apps.
Motion & Microinteractions
Purposeful animation and feedback that guide users, communicate state and make the app feel alive and responsive.
App Redesign
Modernize a dated or underperforming app with a research-led redesign that lifts retention and ratings.
Developer Handoff
Clean, spec-complete Figma files, assets and documentation so developers build exactly what was designed.
Why choose us
App design done the right way
Good app design is research, testing and craft, not just pretty screens. We design for how people actually use apps, test before you build, and hand off something developers can ship. These are the standards behind every design we deliver.
Start your projectResearch before pixels
We design from real user insight and journey mapping, not guesswork, so the app solves the right problems.
We test before you build
Prototyping and usability testing find friction early, so you build the right design once instead of rebuilding later.
Design systems, not one-offs
Every project gets a reusable component library, so the app stays consistent and future work is faster and cheaper.
Platform-native feel
We design with iOS and Android conventions so the app feels at home on each platform, not ported between them.
Accessible by default
Contrast, touch targets, dynamic type and screen reader support are designed in, not bolted on before review.
Craft that earns trust
The detail and polish that make users trust an app and rate it five stars are exactly what we obsess over.
Build-ready handoff
Spec-complete Figma files and documentation so developers, ours or yours, build exactly what was designed.
We build too
Because we also develop apps, our designs are always feasible and budget-aware, never beautiful but unbuildable.
How we work
Our app design process
Eight clear stages from research to handoff, each with something you can see and sign off on before the next begins.
- 01
Research
User interviews, competitor review and journey mapping to ground the design in real needs.
- 02
Architecture
Information architecture, navigation and core flows defined and agreed.
- 03
Wireframes
Low-fidelity layouts to lock structure and content before visual design.
- 04
UI Design
Polished, on-brand visual design across all screens and states.
- 05
Prototype
Interactive, animated prototype you can click through and feel.
- 06
Testing
Usability testing with real users and refinement based on findings.
- 07
Design System
A reusable component library and tokens for consistency at scale.
- 08
Handoff
Spec-complete files, assets and documentation ready for development.
What is included
Pretty screens are not product design
The difference between decoration and design that lifts retention is everything below. Here is what comes standard with us.
What you get Just a designer Devlon StedyDesk
UX research & journey mapping
Interactive prototyping
Usability testing with users
Reusable design system
Platform-aware (iOS & Android)
Accessibility (WCAG-aligned)
Motion & microinteractions
Nice-looking screens
Figma source files
Spec-complete developer handoff
Client words
Trusted by teams that care about experience
They researched our users before designing anything and it showed. Retention jumped after launch because the flows finally made sense. The prototype let us test with real users and fix problems before we spent a dollar on development.
The design system they delivered means every new feature now looks consistent and ships faster. The handoff files were the cleanest our developers had ever seen, with every state and spec documented.
Our app went from a 3.6 to a 4.7 rating after their redesign. They understood the difference between pretty and usable, and designed for both. The microinteractions make the whole thing feel premium.
Built with proven tools
Our design toolkit
We work in modern, collaborative design tools and hand off in formats developers love.
- Figma
- FigJam
- Prototyping
- Design Tokens
- Material Design
- iOS HIG
- Lottie
- Maze
- Storybook
- Auto Layout
- Variables
- Accessibility
Questions, answered
App UI/UX design FAQs
How much does app UI/UX design cost?
Most app design projects land between $6,000 and $50,000. A focused app sits at the lower end; a complex product with extensive research, testing and a full design system sits higher. Every quote is scoped and itemized before work begins.
What is the difference between UI and UX?
UX (user experience) is how the app works: the research, structure, flows and usability that make it easy and satisfying to use. UI (user interface) is how it looks: the visual design, layout, colour, type and polish. Good apps need both, and we do both together.
How long does app design take?
A focused app design typically takes 4 to 10 weeks including research, wireframes, UI, prototyping and testing. Larger products with a full design system run longer. You review and sign off at each stage.
Do you do user research and testing?
Yes. We run user interviews, competitor analysis and journey mapping up front, and usability testing on prototypes before development. Testing early is far cheaper than fixing a built app, and it leads to better products.
Will you design for both iOS and Android?
Yes. We design platform-aware interfaces that follow iOS Human Interface Guidelines and Android Material Design, so the app feels native on each, while keeping your brand consistent across both.
Do you build a design system?
Yes. We deliver a reusable design system of components, tokens and patterns in Figma. It keeps the app consistent, speeds up future design and development, and scales as your product grows.
Can you redesign our existing app?
Yes. We audit the current app, research where users struggle, and deliver a research-led redesign that improves usability, retention and ratings while respecting your brand and constraints.
Do you provide developer-ready files?
Yes. We hand off clean, spec-complete Figma files with documented states, components, assets and specifications, so developers build exactly what was designed with no guesswork.
Do you design accessibility in?
Yes. We design for sufficient colour contrast, adequate touch targets, dynamic type, clear focus states and screen reader support, aligned with WCAG, so the app is usable by everyone and ready for review.
Can you also build the app you design?
Yes. We are a full app development team, so we can take your design straight into native or cross-platform development. Because we build too, our designs are always feasible and budget-aware.
What tools do you use?
We design and prototype in Figma, with FigJam for collaboration, Lottie for animation specs and tools like Maze for usability testing. Our deliverables are organized, version-controlled and easy to hand off.
What do we get at the end?
A complete, tested design: research findings, wireframes, polished UI for all screens and states, an interactive prototype, a design system and developer-ready handoff files with documentation.
Ready to design an app people love to use?
Tell us about your app and your users. We will map the right design approach, cost and timeline, usually within one business day.