App UI/UX Design Services in Cambridge

UX (user experience) is the structural discipline — how flows are organised, how navigation works, what information lives where, how users move through the product to complete their goals. UI (user interface) is the visual layer applied on top — typography, colour, iconography, motion, the look and feel. They overlap but aren't interchangeable. A great UI on poor UX produces an attractive product nobody can use; great UX with weak UI produces a usable product that feels generic. Both matter, and we deliver both.

Because users have learned them, and learned conventions reduce friction far more than novelty for its own sake. iOS users expect modal sheets to swipe down, back gestures to work from the screen edge, SF Symbols to look the way they look. Android users expect material motion, back-button behaviour, and Material You theming integration. Apps that respect these conventions feel correct without users being able to articulate why; apps that ignore them feel wrong in the same intangible way.

Figma is our default — design and prototyping in one tool, real-time collaboration, mature plugin ecosystem, and excellent handoff via Dev Mode. Where animation specifications matter, we use Figma's built-in interactive components plus Lottie for complex motion. For developer handoff, we configure Figma with engineering tokens, component documentation, and state coverage so the implementation matches the design without ambiguity.

Yes. Mobile design with platform-aware iOS and Android variants where conventions diverge, responsive web design for SaaS dashboards and marketing surfaces, and tablet adaptations where the product needs them. Shared design tokens across platforms keep the brand consistent; platform-specific component variants keep the interactions native-feeling.

Yes — and this is a common project type. We audit the existing design honestly (information architecture, visual consistency, accessibility, platform alignment), identify which elements work and which need to change, and propose either a targeted refresh or a full redesign depending on the state of the existing design and your business priorities. We are explicit about what's worth preserving versus what's worth rebuilding.

Yes, from the start rather than as a retrofit. WCAG-aware colour contrast, focus states, screen-reader semantics via proper labels and roles, touch-target sizing, and motion-reduction support are designed into the design system itself. For products that need to satisfy a formal accessibility audit, we configure the design and component documentation to surface accessibility metadata that auditors can verify.

Three layers. First, the Figma file is structured with components, tokens, and named states that map cleanly to React Native, Tailwind, or your engineering system. Second, Dev Mode is configured with spacing, typography, and colour tokens so the developer sees specs not estimates. Third, we run a handover walkthrough with the engineering team to answer questions before implementation begins. The goal is no ambiguity at build time.

Yes. High-fidelity Figma prototypes that demonstrate the full flow end-to-end with real navigation, real interactions, and the kind of motion that conveys how the app will actually feel. Stakeholders review the experience, not static screens — which surfaces feedback far earlier than waiting until build.

Moderated sessions with target users (typically 5-8 sessions to surface the majority of usability issues), unmoderated remote testing via Maze or UserTesting for broader coverage, or guerrilla testing on prototypes when the team needs quick directional feedback. We recommend usability testing when the stakes warrant it — early-stage products where assumptions about user behaviour might be wrong, complex flows where friction is hard to predict, or redesigns where existing user habits need to be respected.