--- title: "Mobile App Design for Startups in Ontario | UXPro" description: "iOS and Android app design for startups and small businesses: onboarding, core flows, high-fidelity screens and a component set developers build from." type: service serviceType: "Mobile app user experience and interface design" reviewed: 2026-10-17 canonical: https://uxpro.ca/services/mobile-app-design publisher: "UXPro Design Studio" license: "Quote freely with a link to the canonical URL." --- # Mobile app design Reviewed 17 October 2026. Canonical page: https://uxpro.ca/services/mobile-app-design We design your app at phone size: onboarding, the core flows, every empty, loading and error state, and a component set your developers can build from. **From $4,500 CAD, plus HST.** Quoted after a 30-minute call for work outside a package ## At a glance - **Who it is for:** Startups and small businesses with an app to ship, or a live app whose first minutes are losing people. - **What you get:** Flows, onboarding, phone screens with every state, a component set and a developer handoff. - **Timeline:** Agreed in the written quote ## Apps, labelled for what they are. A paid engagement re-drawn at the client's request, a studio concept nobody has used, and an app under NDA. - **Stride, an anonymised study-habit app** (Client work, anonymised, Product design): A returning student reaches one scoped, timed study session in four questions, on the first screen. [Case study](https://uxpro.ca/work/stride) - **Tandem** (Concept, Travel / consumer app): Dates, budgets and a yes from everyone, on one phone screen at a time. A concept: nothing shipped, nothing measured. [Case study](https://uxpro.ca/work/tandem) - **Mental-health app** (client work under NDA; no name, screenshot or figure): Brand and app UI — tone, colour and interface for a product people open on a bad day. Stage: pre-launch. Every project is labelled before you see it: client, client work anonymised, studio concept or practice. ## What the app design covers. Onboarding, the core flows, every state a screen can be in, and a component set your developers can build from. We design the app; your developers, or the ones you hire, build it. 1. Onboarding that earns the second session: The first screens, written and designed together, so a new user knows what to do next. 2. Core flows, end to end: The journeys that carry the app, including the paths where something goes wrong. 3. High-fidelity screens at phone size: Real content, thumb-reachable actions and text that reads at arm's length. 4. Every state, written down: Empty, loading, error and success, so nothing is guessed in code. 5. A component set: Buttons, cards, inputs and navigation decided once, on one spacing grid. 6. Developer handoff: Tokens, specs and a walkthrough call with whoever builds it. You probably need this if: - People install the app and never open it twice. The first minute does not show them what the app is for. - Your developers are inventing screens as they build. It ships, then the tenth screen contradicts the first three. - You have a web product and need it on a phone. Shrinking the desktop is not a mobile design; the job changes at thumb size. ## From the one thing the app is for, outwards. From the one thing the app is for, outwards. Platforms and screen count are named in the quote. 1. **Name the one job.** *Before the quote.* A call about who the app is for, what it must do first, the platforms and who will build it. You receive: A written scope naming flows, screens and platforms, and one fixed quote. 2. **Map the flows.** *First.* Onboarding and the core flows end to end, including what happens when there is no data yet, no signal or an error. You review: Flows and wireframes at thumb size. 3. **Design every state.** *Then.* High-fidelity screens at phone size on a consistent spacing grid, following each platform's conventions where they differ. You review: Screens with every state, on your own phone. 4. **Hand it over.** *At handover.* Tokens, specs and states written down, plus a walkthrough call, in an order your developers can ship. You keep: The files, the component set and the handoff notes. ## Scoped by flows and screens. Two packages with published prices: the design of a first version, and a sprint on an app that is already live. The MVP figure is a floor; the quote names flows, screens and platforms. ### MVP app design **From $7,500 CAD per project, plus HST.** Founders and small businesses designing a first version of an app to build and ship. Included: - Onboarding and the core flows, end to end - Phone screens with every empty, loading and error state - A component set on a consistent spacing grid - Platform conventions followed where iOS and Android differ - A developer handoff and a walkthrough call Not included: - App development - App store submission - Back-end and data design Timeline: Agreed in the written quote ### App design sprint **$4,500 CAD per two-week sprint, plus HST.** A live app that needs a flow fixed or a feature designed, without a whole new version. Included: - One flow or feature, agreed at the start of the sprint - Phone screens with every state - Updates to your existing component set - A developer handoff and a walkthrough call Not included: - App development - App store submission - A full redesign of the app First sprint: Agreed in the written quote | Fact | Value | |---|---| | Deliverables | Flows, onboarding, phone screens, component set | | Platforms | iOS, Android or both, agreed in the scope | | Engagement | Fixed-scope project, or per sprint | | Handoff | Tokens, specs, states, walkthrough call | | Who it suits | Startups and small businesses with an app to ship | | Price | MVP app design, from $7,500 CAD per project, plus HST; App design sprint, $4,500 CAD per two-week sprint, plus HST | | Not included | App development and store submission | | What moves the quote | How many flows and screens the first version needs. One platform, or both. Whether a design system exists, or has to be built. Research depth: reading your data, or talking to your users. | | Quoted separately, or not ours | App development, back end and app store submission. Ongoing product management. User testing recruitment fees and incentives. | | Terms | Canadian dollars, plus HST. One project, one fixed quote, agreed before any work starts. | ## Where we are not the right fit - You need the app developed or submitted to the stores. That is not part of the design work. - You do not yet know who the app is for. Start with a call; a product design sprint may come first. ## Before you commission app design. ### Do you build the app as well? We design it and hand off to your developers, or work alongside them. If you have no developers yet, say so on the call and we will be straight about what we can and cannot cover. ### iOS, Android, or both? Whatever your users carry. The scope names the platform before we start; designing for both means the screens follow each platform's own conventions where they differ. ### Can you redesign an app that's already live? Yes, and it is often the better job: there is real usage to read. We start from your analytics and support tickets, redesign the flows that lose people first, and hand the changes over in an order your developers can ship without a big-bang release. ### How much does mobile app design cost? MVP app design: From $7,500 CAD per project, plus HST. App design sprint: $4,500 CAD per two-week sprint, plus HST. The MVP figure is a starting point: it moves with the number of flows and screens, the platforms, and whether a component set already exists. Quoted after a 30-minute call. ### Do you submit the app to the App Store or Google Play? No. App development and store submission are not part of the design work. We design to each platform's own interface conventions and hand over the files, states and specs your developers need to build and submit it. ### Can we see app work you have done? Stride is a paid engagement re-drawn at the client's request, so the name and interface are ours, not theirs. Tandem is a studio concept that nobody has used. A mental-health app is under NDA. Each is labelled before you see it. ### Do you test the designs with users? Research is sized to the decision and named in the quote. Where testing with your users is part of the scope, we run it; recruitment fees and participant incentives are not included. ## Guides - [What Is a UX Audit and What Do You Actually Get?](https://uxpro.ca/blog/what-is-a-ux-audit) - [How Much Does a UX Agency Cost in Canada?](https://uxpro.ca/blog/ux-agency-cost-canada) ## Related services - [UX and UI product design](https://uxpro.ca/services/ux-ui-design) - [Branding and identity](https://uxpro.ca/services/branding) --- Read the illustrated page: [Mobile app design](https://uxpro.ca/services/mobile-app-design)