How to prepare for your first app design project.

Getting Started · 6 min read

So you've done the homework. You know your idea has legs, you know the problem's real, and you're ready to work with a designer. Nice. But what can you actually do to prepare before that first conversation?

You don't need a technical background. You don't need a spec document. But there are a few things that'll make the whole process smoother, for you and for whoever you end up working with.

Go look at apps you like

This is the most useful thing you can do before starting. Jump on Dribbble, search for app designs, and start saving ones that catch your eye. Even a Google Image search for "app design" or "mobile app UI" will give you plenty to look at.

You're not looking for your exact app. You're looking for feeling. How does it make you feel when you look at it? Clean? Premium? Playful? Trustworthy? That emotional reaction is what designers call user interface design. It's the colours, the typography, the spacing, the way everything's laid out on screen.

The difference between user experience design and user interface design is worth understanding, even loosely. User experience is about how the app works, the flow, the logic, where you tap and what happens next. User interface is about how it looks and feels, the emotion, the visual quality, the personality. Both matter. But when you're gathering inspiration, you're mostly reacting to the interface.

There's actually a well-known principle in design called the Aesthetic Usability Effect. It basically says that people perceive good-looking interfaces as easier to use, even before they've tried them. A beautiful app gets the benefit of the doubt. Users are more patient, more forgiving, and more likely to stick around when something looks polished and considered.

But here's the catch. That goodwill runs out fast if the experience underneath doesn't hold up. Think of it like a restaurant. You walk in, the lighting is perfect, the menu looks incredible, the fit-out is stunning. You're already sold. But if the food takes forty minutes, the waiter forgets your order, and your main course is cold, none of that atmosphere matters anymore. You're not coming back. An app works the same way. A beautiful interface gets people through the door, but if the flow is confusing, buttons don't do what you expect, or it takes six taps to do something that should take two, people leave. And they don't come back.

That's why good design is both. The interface pulls people in. The experience keeps them there.

Save ten or fifteen screenshots of apps you like. When your designer asks "what kind of vibe are you going for?" you'll have something to show instead of trying to describe it with words, which is always harder than people think.

Learn about monetisation strategies

This one catches people off guard. You've been so focused on what the app does that you haven't really thought about how it makes money. But your monetisation strategy affects your design, sometimes significantly.

Are you charging a subscription? Then you need onboarding that communicates enough value to justify a monthly payment. Are you using a freemium model? Then you need to design a free experience that's useful enough to keep people around but limited enough that they want to upgrade. Are you taking a commission on transactions? Then the transaction flow needs to be smooth.

There are loads of monetisation models out there: subscriptions, one-time purchases, freemium, in-app purchases, advertising, commissions, and more. Each one changes how your users experience the app and how they think about spending money inside it. You don't need to be an expert, but having a rough idea of how you want to make money before you start designing will save a lot of back-and-forth later.

Here's a real example. Marc Lou, a solo app builder, ran an experiment where he switched his products from subscriptions to one-time payments. The result? Massive increase in sales. One of his apps was making nothing at $5 a month, but when he flipped it to a $47 one-time purchase, every single user chose that option. His reasoning was simple: people are already drowning in subscriptions. Netflix, Spotify, their phone plan. When they see another monthly charge, no matter how small, it feels like a bigger commitment than it is. A one-time payment felt easier, even when the dollar amount was higher.

That's the kind of insight that only comes from knowing your users. Marc understood how his audience thought about money, and he changed his pricing to match. Your monetisation model isn't just a business decision. It's a design decision. And the better you understand your users, the easier it is to get right.

The best place to start is looking at how your competitors monetise. Go back to those apps you found when you were doing your homework. How do they charge? What's free and what's paid? What do their reviews say about pricing?

Have a go with the tools

I'm not saying you need to design your app yourself. But there's never been a better time to get a feel for how this stuff works.

Jump on a vibe coding tool, something like Bolt, Lovable, or Cursor. See what it's like to describe an app and watch it come to life. You'll quickly learn what's easy, what's hard, and where things start falling apart without proper design thinking behind them.

Even better, talk to an AI about the process. Ask it to explain what it's like to work with a senior product designer. Ask it what a developer does differently from a designer. Ask it what happens after design, when you move into development. Ask it about marketing and what you'll need to think about once the app is built.

None of this replaces working with a real designer, but it gives you context. And when you walk into that first conversation, you'll understand the language, the phases, and the moving parts, which means you'll ask better questions and make better decisions.

Know what you want to feel, even if you don't know what you want to see

The best clients I've worked with don't come in with a detailed brief. They come in with clarity on three things: the problem they're solving, who they're solving it for, and how they want the experience to feel. If you've got those three things, you're more prepared than ninety percent of people who start an app project.

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