Is It Out of Scope? — Web design
Is building a mobile app version out of scope for a web design project?
Yes. A native or cross-platform app is a different medium with its own interaction patterns and platform guidelines — not a responsive breakpoint on the website, even when the client thinks of it as "the same design, just for phones."
The site was designed responsively — it already looks and works well on phones in a browser. The client then asks about "the app version," sometimes assuming this is mostly done already since the responsive design exists. It isn't: an app follows a completely different design language (iOS Human Interface Guidelines or Android's Material Design), different navigation patterns (tab bars, native gestures), and different screen sizes and states than a responsive website ever had to account for.
Is it out of scope?
Yes. A mobile app is a distinct deliverable requiring its own UI/UX design work grounded in platform-specific conventions, not a resize of the existing site design. The responsive web design is a real head start on brand and content direction, but the actual screen-by-screen app design is new work.
Clause typically implicated
Clause typically implicated
Deliverables clause→ — Scopes the project to a specific medium — a responsive website — that doesn't extend to a native or cross-platform app's distinct design requirements.
Example contract wording
Example contract wording (illustrative, not legal advice)
The current scope covers the responsive website — it works well on mobile browsers, but a mobile app is a different medium with its own design conventions (platform navigation patterns, native components, app-specific states). I can use the brand and content direction we've established as a starting point, but the app UI/UX itself would be a new project. Want me to put together a quote?
How MarginFlow flags it
MarginFlow reads "mobile app" against the extracted deliverables rather than matching on the word "mobile" alone, since a request about the site's mobile responsiveness is very different from a request to build an app. Once it identifies this as an app request against a web-design-only scope, it flags outside_scope with an explanation naming the medium mismatch and a suggested charge for a new design engagement.