I'd be Appy if I Could Find the Right Designer
May 30, 2013 1:07 PM Subscribe
After a lot of research, I am having trouble finding an affordable, trustworthy financial app (iPad) designer, Boston area a plus. Any suggestions?
Not to mention clarifying what you mean by "affordable."
posted by canine epigram at 1:32 PM on May 30, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by canine epigram at 1:32 PM on May 30, 2013 [1 favorite]
Are you looking for someone to do just the art and user interface graphics, someone to do all the coding and backend, or both?
Don't just look for "someone" -- you will likely have better luck if you look for a design FIRM or a development COMPANY.
posted by These Birds of a Feather at 1:44 PM on May 30, 2013
Don't just look for "someone" -- you will likely have better luck if you look for a design FIRM or a development COMPANY.
posted by These Birds of a Feather at 1:44 PM on May 30, 2013
I've been working in the financial software world as a designer for about 9 years. It's a specialty that without a doubt calls for designers with industry experience. I don't know anyone in Boston, but I do know several in Toronto who I'd be happy to refer you to if you're interested in remote work.
posted by renderthis at 1:45 PM on May 30, 2013
posted by renderthis at 1:45 PM on May 30, 2013
Response by poster: Looking for someone to do both design (which I could possibly do) and coding (which I can't). I have been looking at a bunch of design firms and development companies but have not found one that yet that met my criteria, that's why I am tapping the hive mind. I don't want to put an exact price out here but I am ready to spend " over 2,000 but not more than?? Hope that helps.
posted by Xurando at 2:28 PM on May 30, 2013
posted by Xurando at 2:28 PM on May 30, 2013
$2000 isn't even in the right order of magnitude to get a decent app of any reasonable complexity built. For that sort of cash you need to be looking to hire a student or beginning developer, and you're unlikely to get any design know-how with it.
For context, let's say an iPad developer can make $100,000 on salary in Boston (from a quick google search). Freelancer rates are usually twice what you'd make in salary, so a good freelancer should be able to charge at least $100/hr - before we consider whether he has extra design or finance skills. You can afford 20 hours of work from a decent freelancer. That's almost certainly not long enough to develop most apps even with perfect specs and all graphic design done and files included in the right format. Have a look at what gets created at a weekend hackathon, that's what you can do in 20 hours.
posted by jacalata at 2:55 PM on May 30, 2013 [1 favorite]
For context, let's say an iPad developer can make $100,000 on salary in Boston (from a quick google search). Freelancer rates are usually twice what you'd make in salary, so a good freelancer should be able to charge at least $100/hr - before we consider whether he has extra design or finance skills. You can afford 20 hours of work from a decent freelancer. That's almost certainly not long enough to develop most apps even with perfect specs and all graphic design done and files included in the right format. Have a look at what gets created at a weekend hackathon, that's what you can do in 20 hours.
posted by jacalata at 2:55 PM on May 30, 2013 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: I knew that whatever figure I put on AskMe would get dinged.$ 2,000 is my starting place and the criteria is affordable.
posted by Xurando at 3:12 PM on May 30, 2013
posted by Xurando at 3:12 PM on May 30, 2013
ok, so for clarification, you are willing to spend up to, say, $50,000?
posted by jacalata at 3:44 PM on May 30, 2013
posted by jacalata at 3:44 PM on May 30, 2013
My first thought was thoughtbot. They are based out of Boston and do amazing work; however, they may not meet your pricing needs.
posted by phil at 4:07 PM on May 30, 2013
posted by phil at 4:07 PM on May 30, 2013
I have worked on a few apps, if you want cheap but good, you have to go international.
If you only have $2K, you aren't really even in web app territory.
I have used these guys they are very good and are based in Argentina.
posted by bobdow at 4:31 PM on May 30, 2013
If you only have $2K, you aren't really even in web app territory.
I have used these guys they are very good and are based in Argentina.
posted by bobdow at 4:31 PM on May 30, 2013
Response by poster: I don't know how to make myself clearer, for many reasons, I don't want to put out exactly how much I have to spend out on the web. Apparently mistaken I thought affordable would cover it.
posted by Xurando at 4:49 PM on May 30, 2013
posted by Xurando at 4:49 PM on May 30, 2013
A financial app for $2,000!? Not even close. Unless you're talking about a single screen with a big ol' button on it that beeps when you press it, you should think somewhere along the lines of $100,000 for an app.
As mentioned above, thoughtbot is very good, but I associate them more with building Ruby on Rails websites. My company has contracted with them for that, with great success.
For specifically an iPhone or iPad app, definitely check out Intrepid Pursuits in Cambridge, an iOS consultancy. We used the for our iOS app and are very happy with the results, although you should be thinking at the very least 10x what you mentioned here.
$2,000 will get you a single good consultant engineer for, what, half a week?
You could try hitting up college students trying to pad their resume, but no guarantees on quality.
posted by losvedir at 5:10 PM on May 30, 2013
As mentioned above, thoughtbot is very good, but I associate them more with building Ruby on Rails websites. My company has contracted with them for that, with great success.
For specifically an iPhone or iPad app, definitely check out Intrepid Pursuits in Cambridge, an iOS consultancy. We used the for our iOS app and are very happy with the results, although you should be thinking at the very least 10x what you mentioned here.
$2,000 will get you a single good consultant engineer for, what, half a week?
You could try hitting up college students trying to pad their resume, but no guarantees on quality.
posted by losvedir at 5:10 PM on May 30, 2013
It sounds like you're a newbie to app development and production, because if you weren't, you'd know that your budget is going to determine who any of us can reasonably reccommend. Affordable is certainly completely relative, but if $2k is really your starting point we can tell you that you aren't setting out with a reasonable mindset, and that's going to factor in to whether your search is successful or not in the region you're targeting. Additionally, you should be prepared to be met with a fair amount of derision even if you approach certain indie app developers with a $2k price point, so just be aware that you may be setting yourself up for an unpleasant experience if you're standing firm on that price (unless working with a student is up your alley, but my friends who are developers-in-training would easily charge 5 times that, if not more).
posted by These Birds of a Feather at 5:11 PM on May 30, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by These Birds of a Feather at 5:11 PM on May 30, 2013 [1 favorite]
Not to pile on, but part of the reason you aren't getting the answer you want is that your low number is so far below the low end of reasonable for what you seem to want that no one can even guess what you consider "affordable."
I'm not even sure $2k would reasonably cover the communication needed to get to a finished app that was well speced, much less the actual work of designing it and coding it.
I'd guess that a competent domestic iOS developer could pull in at least $3K a week in pay and benefits, working a job. If they are independent and have to drum up their own business, they are probably going to need to bill at 2x that rate to cover overhead. So, $2k buys about 13 hours. I'd guess you'd want at least 2 hours for a kickoff meeting. Two efficient, business-like design/prototype reviews would be 2 more hours. A couple rounds of email feedback, another 2 hours. A couple rounds of review meetings, another 2 hours. That's 8 hours right there.
So, ok, I was wrong, $2k might cover the communication on a small straightforward project, but that only leaves 5 hours for design and implementation. That isn't going to be enough. Hard to say, but 10x that is probably a lot more reasonable. And that's just to get to a first release without any user testing or the resulting revision.
And honestly, anyone who can produce a suitable result on that kind of schedule and budget should be billing a higher rate.
posted by Good Brain at 8:06 PM on May 30, 2013
I'm not even sure $2k would reasonably cover the communication needed to get to a finished app that was well speced, much less the actual work of designing it and coding it.
I'd guess that a competent domestic iOS developer could pull in at least $3K a week in pay and benefits, working a job. If they are independent and have to drum up their own business, they are probably going to need to bill at 2x that rate to cover overhead. So, $2k buys about 13 hours. I'd guess you'd want at least 2 hours for a kickoff meeting. Two efficient, business-like design/prototype reviews would be 2 more hours. A couple rounds of email feedback, another 2 hours. A couple rounds of review meetings, another 2 hours. That's 8 hours right there.
So, ok, I was wrong, $2k might cover the communication on a small straightforward project, but that only leaves 5 hours for design and implementation. That isn't going to be enough. Hard to say, but 10x that is probably a lot more reasonable. And that's just to get to a first release without any user testing or the resulting revision.
And honestly, anyone who can produce a suitable result on that kind of schedule and budget should be billing a higher rate.
posted by Good Brain at 8:06 PM on May 30, 2013
Have you read App Savvy? It has a chapter on hiring help and I think the whole book is very useful. I see that Amazon has more books on the business side of app development, they may be worth looking into as well.
FWIW, App Savvy gives $10.000 as a reasonable figure for a quality app, but also mentions ways to save money on the process.
posted by blub at 3:46 AM on May 31, 2013
FWIW, App Savvy gives $10.000 as a reasonable figure for a quality app, but also mentions ways to save money on the process.
posted by blub at 3:46 AM on May 31, 2013
I work for mobile development company and from what I've seen - to make a simple neat looking app for Ipad will take at least 15K+
Of course you may try Elance and oDesk and find freelancers there with rates as low as 15 usd/h.
With some luck it's possible to get a result, but that's a risky way.
posted by lostapiv at 4:10 AM on June 2, 2013
Of course you may try Elance and oDesk and find freelancers there with rates as low as 15 usd/h.
With some luck it's possible to get a result, but that's a risky way.
posted by lostapiv at 4:10 AM on June 2, 2013
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posted by Dansaman at 1:21 PM on May 30, 2013