A Comprehensive Guide to Mobile App Designing Cost 2024

A study by Stanford University states that first impressions are 94% design-related. From developing an interactive UI/UX design to managing the app design cost, designing an app from scratch is a herculean task!

What’s seen is sold. Right! 

The previous statement may not be true in the past. However, we all know that today our attention spans are shrinking. This can be due to a large presence of apps providing services on similar ideas or the navigation of the app that either seems too tedious or complicated for some users.

The solution! An amazing app design. See, app design is not just about the look and feel. Instead, it also focuses on the functional approach. For instance, if we are creating a kid’s app, the app design should be kid-friendly, and the same goes for all sorts of target audiences. 

If you understand the importance of a great app, you’d most likely be learning about the cost of developing an app and most importantly, the cost of designing it. In fact, one of the best strategies to build mobile apps on a budget is to learn about important aspects of an app. And, app designing is surely one.

Taking the cost to design an app into perspective, we have tried to estimate the cost one would incur on app designing. 

Therefore in this blog, we have outlined the essential steps involved in app design. Furthermore, we have determined the actors influencing the app design cost and other necessary elements. So, let's get started but first understand what is a good design.

What is Referred to as a Good App Design?

According to Adobe, “ App design combines the user interface (UI) and user experience (UX). While UI lends itself to the overall style of the app (including the colors, fonts, and general look and feel), UX focuses on the actual functionality and usability.”

Designing an exceptional UX along with a great UI isn’t a cakewalk. It begins with “understand your user.” So, the app needs to be user-centric.

To create a good design and a high-quality app, it is important to figure out some of the necessary aspects from the perspective of users such as:

• User experience or the flow of the developed application from the first to the last page
• The existing market of the app idea and the types of designs that are popular
• Preferences and tastes of the target users in general aside from popular apps
• Latest mobile UI design trends

Different Stages of Mobile App Design - Estimating the Time Spent!

Average total number of manhours for app designing!

Note: Each of these figures are approximate value, therefore, in some cases, the difference can be huge.

“Good design is good business. “ ~ IBM

An effective app design process revolves around delivering a great user experience and problem-solving approach. In fact, the majority of app development trends dealing with app design somehow talk about improving user experience. 

The mobile app design involves research & analysis, creating information architecture & user flow, wireframing & prototyping, creating visual design, and app animation guides. 

Considering each of these stages will help us understand the total number of man-hours spent on designing each stage. So, here are the different stages of designing an incredible app:

1) Analyzing App Idea

Estimated time: 20-40 hours with a maximum of 150 hours (in a few cases)

App development starts with the app idea discovery and brainstorming. The very first step in app design is to convey the app idea correctly to the developers. Therefore, at each stage of app design, it is important to do substantial market research and study the audience well. For that, you can create user personas, segment users, analyze the actual user demographics, and

patterns. It is important to establish it as a prerequisite because it helps the designer meet the client’s requirements and no one really likes to pay the redesigning cost.

Furthermore, this stage usually involves 10-20 hours of work. However, it can depend on several factors such as:

• Complexity of the app idea
• Level of market research required
• Existing documents for clear outlines, and app concept

Here’s a breakdown of how these factors can influence the time:

• Simple App Idea: For a straightforward app idea, you might require brainstorming sessions, competitor analysis, and defining the target audience. The ideal time for this can range between 10-15 hours.
• Complex App Idea: It involves in-depth analysis of competitor analysis, user surveys, and an understanding of your niche market. Also, the analysis of the UI/UX of the popular apps in the domain can give an added advantage to bridge the gaps left open. This ideal time for this range can get closer to 20 hours and in some cases a lot more.

2) Establishing the Information Architecture and User Flow

Estimated Time: Total time for IA & UF can range from 10-20 hours.

Basic Diagram of User Flow

Information Architecture (IA) and User Flow (UF) are fundamental aspects of app design. They help in building the skeleton of a user’s experience. The reasons why they are crucial are:

• Clarity and Organization: IA defines the structure of how the information is organized within an app. It ensures that users can find what they need to foster a smooth and intuitive user experience.
• Task Completion: UF maps the steps associated with users to achieve a specific goal within an app. A well-defined user flow minimizes confusion and frustration, thereby, leading the users to efficiently reach their goals.
• Engagement and Retention: A well-designed IA and UF keep the users engaged. It is because these help in making an app easy to navigate and use.

Note: Information Architecture comprises several parts like Content Inventory, Sitemaps, user flow, etc., i.e., User Flow is a part of Information Architecture.

Here’s a breakdown of time spent in coming up with an Information Architecture:

1) Content Inventory and Sitemapping:

• Time: 5-10 hours
• Involves listing all the content within the app (text, images, videos).
• Organizing the content into a logical structure using a sitemap, which acts like a blueprint for the app's navigation.

2) User Flow Diagramming:

• Time: 5-10 hours
• Visually mapping out the steps users take to complete key tasks within the app. This helps identify potential roadblocks and optimize the flow.

3) Work on the Wireframe and Prototype

Estimated Time: 15-50 hours with a maximum of 140 hours

Now that you are ready with the information architecture and the app’s user flow, it is time to establish a wireframe and create a prototype.

To further cater to this stage, it includes low-fidelity app sketching, UI/UX wireframing, and creating a prototype.

Sketches

To design a great mobile app, sketches are used to display complicated app mechanisms. The majority of the time these app sketches are not created with too much detail. It is because these are created to deliver the initial ideas and concepts around the app layout. Some of the popular sketching tools are:

• Sketch
• Buildfire
• Adobe XD

UI/UX Wireframing

These are interactive layouts created by designers to structure the app screens and showcase app screen connectivity. These take the help of the best mobile UI design tools.

UI/UX Wireframing ensures that the app’s flow and delivers the visual concept of your application. Basically, the designer provides a general understanding of the app’s interface and the integration of its functions.

Some of the special tools used for the process are:

• MARVEL
• Balsamiq
• Photoshop

Creating a Prototype for App Design

Prototyping plays a substantial role in the cost of designing an app. It is considering the fact that a prototype can only be created once all the earlier steps are completed. Also, there are several other reasons why it is considered crucial:

• It helps in the early testing of the app’s look before coding
• A prototype provides a much more realistic clickable outlook of the app idea in comparison to a rough sketch
• It acts as a clear communication between designers, developers, and stakeholders
• It can be tested with real users to understand the pain points

Overall, a prototype is a playable model of your application. It helps you iron out the creases in your app and helps create a smooth and enjoyable user experience. This is the case even before the application is developed.

4) Creating a Visual Design 

Estimated Time: Between 80 to 320 hours for creating the final product design.

For mobile app development companies, the visual design consists of UI mockups, that help users to understand the basic idea behind the app. It gives a clear idea of different approaches to style, use of different elements, forms, shades, color schemes, and others.

Branding as a Part of Visual Design:

Estimated Time: 6-8 hours of creating the mood board and deciding on elements for branding.

It’s important to know that visual design and branding are interrelated. Visual design is about creating a cohesive product style that includes an app’s logo, a mobile app icon, and screens.

Branding is another essential stage of mobile app interface design as it includes the creation of logos, fonts, and brand illustrations. Branding begins with mood board creation and then shifts to logo design.

5) App Animation Guide

Estimated Time: 20-50+ hours depending on the app's complexity

App animation guides are secret weapons in the mobile app design arsenal. It includes animation goals, types of animations, animation style, etc. This ensures that animations are strategically placed to enhance user experience. Some of the reasons why an animation guide is important are:

• Helps in delivering a consistent user experience
• Usability benefits like providing user feedback, guiding users through the process, etc.
• Provides a reference point for designers and developers
• Helps in optimizing the animation performance

By incorporating these essential parts, your app animation guide will become a valuable tool for creating a visually engaging and user-friendly mobile app experience.

Factors Estimating the Cost of Designing an App!

There are app design companies that solely dedicate their effort to creating an exceptional UI/UX design. Ideally, the cost associated with these companies lies between $5,000 to $35,000. However, in some cases, it can go beyond 35,000+. 

Furthermore, determining the cost of designing an app is not absolute. Instead, it depends on multiple factors. So, here are the factors that can help you determine the mobile app UI design cost.

1) App Complexity

The more unique and intricate your design is, the more time and effort it will require to get completed. It includes factors like custom animations, illustrations, and UI elements. Here’s a table explaining the complexity in terms of element creation:

Note: The app design cost can vary significantly based on factors. For example, project scope, designer experience, and geographic location.

• The examples provided are only for illustrative purposes and may not represent the app’s complexity.

Additional Considerations While Determining App Complexity:

• The complexity of an app is subjective, therefore, its impact on the cost of designing an app is also subjective. However, there can be some overlaps between categories based on the specific app.
• The estimated time is based on minimal revisions. Additional iterations will likely increase the time and cost.

2) Platform

The number of platforms for which the app is developed, i.e., iOS, Android, and Web determines the cost. 

Targeting multiple platforms means designing for different interfaces and functionalities which increases the cost. So, we have provided a table for different platforms and the level of design efforts required:

3) Expertise of the Designers

The level of experience required plays a huge role in the cost!

Highly-regarded designers with a proven track record will have a premium over less experienced ones. For better clarity, we decided to provide a table to help you understand the relationship between expertise and cost:

4) Type of Team

The cost of hiring a designer depends on your budget and pocket. However, to hire a senior designer, the app design cost per hour can go up to $150 per hour (in the US) or even more. But, the average cost to design an app for a decent app designer starts from $45/hour. 

In fact, there are numerous top mobile app design companies and software development companies in the USA and in other corners of the world. These companies have an incredible design portfolio that starts charging from $45/per hour to higher end.

5) Location

If you are looking to outsource your application then the cost to design an app can vary depending on the location. Therefore, we have listed out the average cost to design a good-looking app from the most common hourly rates for design in US dollars.

Difference Locations and their Average Cost of Hiring an App Designer:

• Average Design Cost in the US: $100-$149 per hour
• App Design Cost in the UK: $150-$199 per hour
• Cost to Design an App in Germany: $80-$120 per hour
• Cost of Designing an App in Ukraine: $50-$90 per hour
• App Design Cost in India: $25-$50 per hour

6) Additional Factors

Do you need a design team to create things like marketing materials or app icons? If yes then there is a cost associated with additional services too. 

Here’s a table showing different additional services required during development:

Tips on Choosing the Right App Design Partner

There are no fixed criteria to choose a partner with credibility. However, there are certain key points that one can research about to come up with a decision. These are:

• Existing Portfolio: Every design agency has a portfolio of app designs they’ve worked on. Checking out the existing portfolio will help you decide whether the agency is worth it or not.
• Age of the company: The older the company, the better. With age comes experience and it is true for every facet be it business, work, or app design. Older companies are experienced with complicated designs and technologies. It gives them an added advantage and the capability to handle unique requirements.
• Revenue: Learning about the worth of a company is essential. A 20-year-old company that doesn’t have a value of $100,000 is definitely not a good pick. Think about this, the more business one acquires, the more experienced they are.
• Number of employees: Looking for a company with a higher number isn’t always a must. However, it is important to learn whether the design agency has resources to allocate to your project or not.
• Technological expertise: Technologies used for coming up with a design are different while making them functional is different. A great UI UX designer can create an app design on tools such as Figma, Marvel, Sketch, etc. However to turn them functional one requires mobile app development frameworks such as Flutter, React Native, Kotlin, etc. Understand your requirements and choose whether the design agency has previous experience with it or not.
• One-on-one discussion: There is no better way to understand someone other than direct communication. All the pointers mentioned above are mere filters. However, to truly understand the capability, have a detailed discussion about the requirements.

Looking for an App Design Team

Finding the right app design company for your product can be a hassle!

Worry Not! As we have made the job easier for you. Our directory of mobile app design companies comprises more than 750+ options. In this listicle, you can find:

• App design companies ranging from low-to-high-budget
• Different team strengths and expertise of each company
• Locations of the companies for outsourcing, onshoring, and offshoring needs
• Past clients of the app design company

Also, if the extensive list feels overwhelming, simply ‘Leave a Query’, share your requirements, and we will connect you with a relevant company.

To sum up!

IBM says, “Every dollar invested in ease of use returns $10 to $100“. 

Unequivocally, the design of an app is crucial in terms of getting engagement and recurring customers on your app because app design decides the ease of usage. So, it becomes empirically important for anyone to understand the cost of designing an app. 

With an effective understanding of the accumulated cost of a design, you can decide the level of work, the type of company to hire, and more. Therefore, with this article, we hope we may have provided you with a blueprint to negotiate with an app design company and get an app developed that entices customers.