Launching a Wealth Management Mobile App to 1000s of Users

One of Canada’s largest independent financial advisory firms reached out to us to build and launch a mobile app for their thousands of clients to view and manage their portfolio. The firm’s internal engineering team was already focused on building high-priority features, which left them without the bandwidth to staff a new project from scratch. They needed to move quickly to launch before their yearly conference, so rather than trying to hire a new team in a tight window, they brought us in to build and ship it for them.

Refining the vision

The firm had already created some initial concepts for the app with the help of a design agency. We worked with them directly to flesh out those ideas into scoped features, improve the user experience, and finalize the project requirements and timeline. By working closely with the design team to iron out these details early on, we could fully focus on building once we moved onto the development phase.

Building for the long term

From day one, we know that we’d eventually be handing this project off to the internal engineering team. So, we focused on making the app easy for the team to maintain and build on once handed off.

This started with building a standardized design system: a library of reusable components that act like building blocks for the app. Instead of starting from scratch for every new update, their team can now use these existing pieces to ship new features much faster.

We also worked side-by-side with their engineers to design and build a new API. We documented the system thoroughly and architected it to be flexible enough to support more than just the mobile app. By building it this way, the firm now has a scalable foundation that can power a revamped web platform or any other future requirements.

By building for the longer, we ensured the firm wasn’t just receiving an app, but a foundation they could build on for years.

Transitioning ownership

After successfully launching the app, we stayed on for several weeks to ensure a smooth rollout and ship incremental improvements. Once the internal engineering team was ready to take over, we spent several days working directly alongside them. We walked through the codebase, the design system, and the API architecture together. By ensuring they were comfortable with the tools and logic behind the app, we left the team fully equipped to maintain and grow the product on their own.