SFCD is a digital product agency that combines strategy, design and engineering to create world-class mobile and web apps.

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Top App Designers & Developers

in New York City

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Smart, creative, and a little quirky, SFCD is a mobile app and web development company headquartered in NYC.

We design with innovation while solving real-world problems — continuing until we meet our clients’ business goals and users’ needs. Utility is just as important as the engagement and beauty of a digital experience to us.

Who we are

We ideate, problem-solve, design, iterate, beautify, develop, test, and launch — all while keeping users in mind when building digital products.

We’ve designed and developed mobile applications and websites for enterprises, leading brands and startups — many of which are in New York City.

As a small agency comprised of a dedicated team of professional product strategists, designers and developers, we hone in on any design challenge and subject matter our clients call on us for.

We’ve created mobile and web apps for media, fashion, education, mHealth, social networking, travel, utilities, human capital management (HCM), photography, and finance industries. The size of our company also allows for personalized collaboration. We’ve organized and participated in design workshops with clients and hold weekly meetings to invite feedback during the design stage.

NYC is Where the Ideas and Opportunities Are

Our steadily growing NYC client base and the city’s thriving tech scene inspired us to set up our headquarters here. We wanted to feel closer to the no-holds-barred ideas, the tirelessly creative energy, and the entrepreneurial spirit the city is known for. We recognized room for business growth opportunities with enterprises and the diverse talent spanning established industries in design, media, and fashion.

NYC’s melting pot of culture and innovation in a “city-that-never-sleeps” model breeds a unique way of working — where creativity and the sharing of ideas happen 24/7. We not only wanted to be a part of this infrastructure — but to also be contributing to it.

How we design
& build mobile apps

  1. Form and function are equally important to us. Our team is comprised of senior-level visual designers, UX designers, and developers, but most importantly — they’re passionate and invested in every product they work on and have expertise in designing iOS and Android applications.

  2. We begin with client kickoff meetings to learn about their business goals, followed by user research and competitive analysis. Research is done early on to establish market and user needs so we can define core problems, come up with targeted solutions, and determine key features to create a minimum viable product (MVP). This approach allows clients to maximize their resources, saving time and money in the long run.

  3. During the design phase, we build interactive prototypes for clients and users to test so that we can get feedback to continually enhance the product’s usability before going into development. We continue to iterate until the product is intuitive and user-friendly, then we apply the client’s brand — or define the brand identity if none exists yet — as the finishing touch.

  4. The product goes into the development phase, followed by quality assurance testing. After thorough trials of testing, we launch the app in the iTunes App Store and/or Google Play. Our support continues even after the launch as we stay in touch with clients and offer ongoing maintenance in response to their needs and market trends.

Mobile Development for Startups

Personalization is key, which is why we assign a specialized team and SFCD co-founder to work with each client. Our full-service model also allows us to work with startups of all sizes, with varying needs. Our end-to-end services are smartly designed solutions that link startups up with customers, resulting in sales boosts and more engaging customer-business relationships.

We help startups gain new insights on how their customers interact with and perceive their brand through digital applications.

We create interactive mobile prototypes for clients and users to engage with during the design stage so they, too, can be a part of the process. We invite and encourage them to test the prototypes themselves and with users so we work in feedback before going into development.

Enterprise UX Design and Development

Ask users about their experience with enterprise software and most of them will likely say it’s confusing, cluttered, boring, unsightly, outdated, not user-friendly, nor intuitive.

One of the reasons enterprise applications have come to be what they are, is because they’re sold to buyers who don’t use the product at all. The actual end users, on the other hand, are typically required to use it for 40 to 60 hours a week, oftentimes finding loopholes through other consumer-friendly applications like Dropbox for storing documents, Google Docs for collaborating, Basecamp for project management, and Slack for office communications — just to get around the poor design of enterprise software.

We recognize a huge void and opportunity in this sphere as there are many ways to effectively design for consumer expectations and their emotional experiences. Features are important, but how a product makes users feel is also essential to a successful design. We would apply the same approach to enterprise software as if we were designing other consumer-based apps: through user-centered design and research — because enterprise employees are consumers, too.

Digital Production Partner for Global Agencies

We’ve worked with NYC’s top-tiered advertising agencies including Saatchi & Saatchi, Droga5, Fjord, and Wieden+Kennedy.

We worked on their digital campaigns — helping brands engage with their audiences in ways that TV and print media aren’t able to. We also offer full-service digital production partnerships, helping bring creative ideas for ad campaigns to life — through ideation and strategy, to design and development. Since not every agency needs the full package, we can also work with them to offer UX and visual design services, or solely development if the client has a creative team in place.

In a recent collaboration, we partnered with Wieden+Kennedy and Sony to design and develop Android apps showcasing the waterproof feature of the Xperia Z series phones. In our collaborative brainstorm session, we had to address the challenge of coming up with a way to deliver fun experiences while encouraging people to use their phones in water.

A photo-development app, called “Photo Lab”, inspired by traditional darkroom techniques

View Sony Case Study

A karaoke app, called “Rainy-oke”, optimized for singing in the rain — and in the shower, of course

View Sony Case Study

For both apps, we worked closely with Wieden+Kennedy to design and deliver both apps in just a few weeks. Photo Lab and Rainy-oke were nominated for the prestigious Cannes Lions Mobile Lions Award and garnered positive feedback in the press, including Adweek and across social media.