The Branch team spends a lot of time thinking about UX (too much, maybe), but nobody has designed an iOS app before. Would you recommend hiring an experienced mobile UX Designer, on contract, as we begin to build Branch's iPhone app?

It's clear that talented mobile UX folk, who have built native iOS apps before, are worth their weight in gold. But does it make sense for a scrappy startup, which has winged it with everything else thus far, to bring on external help?

Keep in mind, Branch has not launched to the general public yet yet (t-minus six weeks), and there's a good chance that our product will chance significantly after we do.

Thanks in advance for the time and insights!

People focus on novelty in iOS design (e.g. "pull-to-refresh," Path's clock, Paper's focus on gestures), but I think a lot of what they really are responding to in many widely admired iOS designs is that they feel like native iOS apps and strike the right balance among identity, novelty, and platform conventions. My own Twitter app, Birdfeed, developed a following without actually having a lot of flash--people liked it because it felt like a real iOS app. Square is a great example of design that has a strong identity yet feels solidly "of the platform."

I find apps designed by web companies often lack a satisfying iOS feel because they're not used to working within a platform as a framework. This might be a good reason to get outside help.

A good UX designer should be able to design beautifully on multiple platforms. The problems you are solving are essentially the same- regardless of if you are designing for a mobile device, the web, or any other platform. Your current designers may have to learn a little about mobile, but your new contractor will have to learn all about your product and the dynamics of your team. If you already have a designer that is on your team and passionate about mobile-- give them a chance. As long as communication is good between your engineers and what they need from the mobile spec the designer creates- you should get great results. Plus you have tons of resources at betaworks for mobile design feedback!

@summer I agree that bringing on a contractor for this kind of work may be more trouble than it's worth if you already have a great designer who knows the Branch brand. Typically I would bring in a contractor for doing production level work to help lessen the load of a large project, but designing one of your core products seams like a much bigger challenge.

You get what you pay for.

How important is winning on iOS?

Can you afford to simply "pass" on any platform?

A mentor from Foursquare shared a great point:

"Getting to learn and build a product, especially in an area of expertise you are unfamiliar with, is a rare opportunity and you should cherish it."

Everybody was a rookie at some point, everyone started somewhere. Jason and Summer, as you said, we have a talented designer and we are passionate about the challenge so I am inclined to go for it internally.

Maybe bringing on an experienced [iOS] advisor would be beneficial though?

I disagree that you're solving the same problem no matter what context you're designing for. The root problem may be the same, but mobile in particular presents a lot of unique design challenges due to its many constraints. Very often, thinking like a web or desktop designer will result in a less than awesome mobile experience.

There's also the issue of having a sensibility for platform-specific, native-feeling visual design. I usually find it's fairly obvious when an app was designed by a web designer vs. a traditional Mac or iOS designer.

This is not to say that people can't be great at both, but in my experience it's rare. How many web-oriented companies have apps people love the way they love Square or Path? I can't think of many.

I think that is a problem that all of us who cut our teeth on web design face now that we are moving off the desktop and onto mobile, but I don't think it's an insurmountable challenge. Anyone who was in print and moved onto web faced similar problems but we figured it out.

I think the real unicorn is finding someone who can develop and design. I can think of about 3 people I have ever met who can pull that off well.

I think Jason has a great point in that it's far more likely that on the web side to find designers who do a bit of front-end implementation. With native iOS stuff, if you don't have either an engineer with an unusually good design sensibility or a designer who is really good at working with the engineers, the process can be hard and the end result disappointing. Web designers I've worked with seem to be accustomed to sort of designing in the browser or solving design unforeseen design problems as they encounter them in the implementation. When that's no longer an option, it requires either a lot of detailed thought in advance on the part of the designer, or a tight working relationship and understanding between designer and engineer.

If you've got infinite time and cash, you can roll the dice on a web designer and hope they make something that passes. If they want to learn this skillset, more power to them- not going to happen over the weekend.

The last thing the world needs is another mediocre iPhone app. Anything worth doing is worth doing right, falling short adds to the noise.

I've interviewed over 100 people trying to get into the business of iOS design, I've been doing it for 3 years- I run a team of 22 people that only do native mobile interaction design- not in a vacuum- but with engineers, QA, and the spectrum of clients.

There's a lot to know, and the subtleties are vast and crucial. An idea is one thing, execution is what will keeps you on the home screen

Every new design problem has a learning curve, whether it's interior design or app design. Assuming that your in-house web designer is smart and that they use an iphone on a daily basis, it's pretty safe to assume they will figure it out. There are bound to be some bumps along the way, but I don't know one app designer that didn't start off as a web designer. And most web designers (at least those born before 1980) started off as print designers.

Some advice: Look to the best apps out there for inspiration and guidance on how you should solve common problems. No reason to reinvent the wheel.

Buzz mentioned that, "it's fairly obvious when an app was designed by a web designer vs. a traditional Mac or iOS designer."

What are a few examples of this? What are the "best apps" out there, from a UX perspective?

I know plenty of app designers who didn't start off as web designers at all--and they usually tend to be the best in the field. Mike Matas (who designed much of the original iOS UI) came straight from an old school indie Mac app design background, as did Robert Andersen, Square's creative lead (full disclosure: he's my brother).

I agree that web designers can pick up the native/"app-ey" sensibility I'm talking about, and I'm actually not suggesting that Josh & Co. should get another designer. But I disagree with all the "You're basically doing the same thing, design is design" kind of talk. Web designers who want to do great app design need to take it seriously as a different discipline, but in the big UX picture and in the visual details.

To answer Josh's question, I want to write a blog post about this, but here are a few critiques of well-regarded apps I use daily:

- Twitter: Visually (the colors/gradients, the grouped timeline with a border around the edge) it feels like Web 2.0 design transposed into an iPhone app.

- Svpply: Flat, minimal design feels web-ish. Mental model feels off due to the spatially confusing nav bar.

- Path: Visuals feel native and iOS-like, but busy timeline layout and use of floating "windows" (clock, the smiley/comment HUD) makes it feel like a shrunken desktop app.

- Facebook: As with Path, busy timeline with lots of tiny tap targets feels like a shrunken web app. Timeline feels flat and page-like in contrast to nav bar and source list.