Mobile App UI/UX Design: Process, Timeline and Cost Drivers

You have an app idea, and a developer has quoted a figure that makes you wince. Then someone asks the awkward question: have you designed the screens yet?

It's a fair question. Building an app without a design is like building a house without a plan, and changing a wall after it's built costs far more than changing a line on paper. This is what the design phase involves and why we think it's worth doing first.

UI and UX: two different jobs

UX, user experience, is about how the app works: what happens when someone opens it, how many taps it takes to book a service or place an order, what happens when something goes wrong. UI, user interface, is how it looks: colours, type, buttons, spacing. A pretty app with confusing flow loses users. A well-planned app with an ugly look feels untrustworthy. You need both.

The stages, in order

Stage 1: Discovery

We ask who the users are, what problem the app solves, and what the first version must do. This is where scope gets decided. A common startup mistake is trying to include every feature in version one. Our advice: choose the one journey that matters most and design that well.

Stage 2: Flow and wireframes

Wireframes are plain grey layouts with no colour. They let us argue about structure cheaply. Where does the search go? Does login come before browsing or after? Changing a wireframe takes minutes.

Stage 3: Visual design

Colours, fonts, icons and components get applied to the agreed layouts. We work in Figma, so the files are easy to share with developers, who can pick out sizes, colours and spacing directly.

Stage 4: Clickable prototype

The screens are linked so you can tap through them on a phone as if the app worked. It's useful for two things: testing with a few real users before development starts, and showing investors or partners what you're building. Showing it to five people from your target group will teach you more than another week of internal debate.

Stage 5: Handover

Files are organised so a developer isn't guessing. Screens, components and the prototype link are delivered in one tidy Figma project.

What we need from you

• A short description of the app and who it's for.
• A list of must-have features, and a separate list of "later".
• Examples of apps you like, and why.
• Logo and brand colours if you have them.
• One person who can make decisions quickly. Design by committee slows everything.

What drives the cost

The number of screens is the most obvious factor, but complexity matters as much. A login screen is quick. A booking calendar with filters, a payment flow and an admin view takes longer. Other cost drivers include how much research and flow planning is needed, whether you need both Android and iOS conventions considered, and how many rounds of changes are expected.

Our App UI/UX Design service is priced at ₹35,000 and delivered in 12 days. It covers a mobile app UI of up to 12 screens in Figma with a prototype. It's one fixed-scope service, not a tiered one. If your app needs more than 12 screens, we'll say so during discovery and quote the extra on its own.

Mistakes we'd steer you away from

1. Copying a big-name app's layout without understanding why it works for them.
2. Designing only the happy path, and forgetting empty states, errors and loading screens.
3. Skipping the prototype test because "it looks fine".
4. Using tiny text and low contrast because it looks elegant on a designer's large monitor.
5. Starting development while the design is still changing.

Who it's not for

If you only want a mobile-friendly website, you don't need app design; a responsive site will do. And if you're hoping the design phase also produces a working app, it won't. The deliverable is the design and prototype, which your developers then build from.

What a good design file looks like to a developer

Developers don't only look at the pretty screens. They look for consistency: the same button style everywhere, the same spacing rules, colours named sensibly, and each screen labelled so it matches the flow. Ask any designer you hire to show you how their files are organised. If every screen uses slightly different font sizes and corner radii, your developer will either guess or keep sending questions. A tidy component library is boring to look at and saves days of build time. It also makes later changes cheaper, like adding a new screen in version two.

How we handle this at DegitalService

We start with a discovery conversation, share wireframes for your approval, then move into visual design and the prototype. You get the Figma files at the end. We'll agree on what counts as a revision versus a new feature before starting, since that's where most design projects get tense. Learn more on the App UI/UX Design service page, or write to us if you want to talk through your idea first. When you're ready, the order form is here.