Custom web apps and websites

Custom web apps, portals and websites, built around how your business works.

When off-the-shelf software doesn't fit, we build what you need: web apps and internal tools, customer portals, online stores and company websites.

Start a project How a project runs
One web app drawn four ways from left to right: the same page in a desktop browser, on a tablet and on a phone, each on its column grid with the cards reflowing and a cyan button in every one; a library of interface parts with one card outlined in cyan and a leader to the page where it is used three times; the app's form and table wired to an API's list of endpoints and on to a table of records, with one record's path and row in cyan; and the app on a phone fed by a stack of cached pages while the wire from the cloud is broken with a cross, with a pending entry queued in an outbox to sync when the connection returns.One web app drawn four ways from left to right: the same page in a desktop browser, on a tablet and on a phone, each on its column grid with the cards reflowing and a cyan button in every one; a library of interface parts with one card outlined in cyan and a leader to the page where it is used three times; the app's form and table wired to an API's list of endpoints and on to a table of records, with one record's path and row in cyan; and the app on a phone fed by a stack of cached pages while the wire from the cloud is broken with a cross, with a pending entry queued in an outbox to sync when the connection returns.
LayoutComponentsDataOffline

What we build

Custom web development, from a full platform to a company website.

Everything here is something we have built and shipped, for a client or for our own software. Take the parts you need.

Two ways in

Build something new, or upgrade what you have.

Most of our web work is new builds. If you already have a site or an app, we review it with you and plan the next step.

Route 1 · New build

A new web app or website

For a web app or internal tool, a customer portal, an online store or a company website. We blueprint and prototype it, then design it with your designers or a design firm that fits the project. We build it, hand it over to your team and keep supporting it after launch.

  • Web apps, internal tools, customer portals, online stores and company websites
  • A backend and API built for the project
  • Hosted on AWS, or wherever you need it
  • Fully custom, on designEdit, or a custom front end with designEdit behind it
Start a new build

Route 2 · Existing site or app

Review it, then upgrade or replace it

For a site or app that has to keep running while it changes. We review your current system with you and work out what it has to do now. Then we either upgrade it, or move you to something newer one piece at a time.

  • A review of what you have and what it has to do now
  • Upgrade in place, or move to newer software step by step
  • New features and integrations along the way
  • Content and data moved across
  • Changes and updates after launch
Ask about an upgrade

How a project runs

Prototyped, designed, developed and launched, then handed over to your team.

There are three ways to build it: fully custom; on our designEdit framework, so your budget goes further; or a custom front end with designEdit behind it, so your team can manage the content. If your project already runs on other software, we work in that.

  1. Prototype

    A blueprint and a working prototype of the main path, so we agree on what we're building and you have a price before we start.

  2. Design

    The layout across phone, tablet and desktop, in your brand. We work with your designers, or with a design firm that fits the project.

  3. Develop

    The app, its backend and the tools your team will use, built in stages you can try and comment on as it comes together.

  4. Launch

    Launched on AWS or wherever you need it, secured and sized for your traffic, then supported on terms we agree with you.

Start where you are. If you already have a blueprint, wireframes or finished designs, we review them with you and pick up from there instead of starting again. Tell us what you have.

What we have built

Partner platforms, dealer tools, internal apps, online stores, event bookings and large websites.

Loyalty and marketing
A major loyalty program
A custom offer platform, serverless on AWS: partners prepare offers from approved content blocks, the program's team approves them, and campaigns go out through Salesforce Marketing Cloud. An agency partner led the planning; we did all the programming and still support it.
Retail and telecom
Rogers Marketing Central
An ad builder for Rogers' national dealer network. Dealers pick a layout, an offer and the content and download a print-ready PDF, from templates the marketing team builds in designEdit. In English and French.
Retail and telecom
Rogers Ignite TV
A progressive web app for retail stores and field sales teams, working offline with push notifications, with its content updated in designEdit.
Audio production
Vapor Music
An internal music library web application: search and filters by artist, genre, mood and instrument, with playlists for client presentations.
Food and drink
Elle Cuisine
An online store for delivery and pickup orders, with delivery-date suggestions, customer accounts, order history and inventory reports.
Festivals and carnivals
Caribana Toronto
Hotel packages across several downtown hotels for Toronto's Caribbean carnival weekend, booked as a group and paid together or separately, with event tickets and weekend passes on the same custom checkout. Tickets arrive as barcode e-tickets, with Apple Wallet and Google Wallet passes.
Theatres
Mirvish
A large theatre website with many unique layouts, every page edited by the theatre's own staff through modules and templates in designEdit. Ticket sales run on a customized Tessitura TNEW, with custom seat maps for each of its four theatres. Design by Mouth Media.
Software products
designEdit
Our own framework for building business software, behind several of the apps and sites above.

Client names are used with permission. Google, Apple, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Salesforce, Marketing Cloud, Tessitura, TNEW and Rogers are trademarks of their respective owners. Design of a Decade is an independent studio and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Google, Apple, Amazon, Salesforce or Tessitura Network.

Questions

What clients ask before a web build.

Should we build custom software or use an existing product?

If an existing product does the job, we'll tell you, and we can connect it to what you already run. Custom pays off when the work is specific to how your business runs, when off-the-shelf tools need too many workarounds, or when the software is part of what you sell.

Isn't a subscription platform cheaper than custom?

At first, often yes. But many platforms charge per user, per month, so the bill grows with your team. Custom software costs more up front, and then you pay for hosting and support, not for every person who logs in. We can compare the two over a few years before you decide.

What does a web app cost?

It depends on what it has to do, who uses it and what it connects to. The blueprint and prototype work that out, and you have a price for the build before you commit to it. If you already have a blueprint or designs, we price the build from those instead.

What happens if we stop working with you?

You keep running what we built. We work with you to choose the licence model that fits, whether you want us to keep looking after it or plan to take it in-house.

What happens after launch?

Support carries on for as long as you want it, on terms we agree with you: hosting, updates and new features. If the project has content, your team edits it themselves.

Where will it be hosted?

We usually recommend AWS. It has a managed service for almost everything, and with its serverless options there are no servers to patch or look after: your app scales up for a rush, back down afterwards, and you pay for what is used. It's also where we do most of our work. But it's your call: we also work with other cloud providers, your own servers or the hosting you already have, in the region you choose.

Can you take over a site or app someone else built?

Yes. We start with a review of what you have. Most of the time we work in what is there, and when it's time to replace it, we do it in stages.

Do we have to build on designEdit?

No. It's one of three ways to build. designEdit already handles sign-in, user permissions, content editing and APIs, so more of your budget goes on the parts that are specific to your business. We can also build fully custom, or put a custom front end on designEdit so your team can manage the content. We'll recommend the one that fits.

Planning a web app, an online store or a website?

Tell us about it.

You don't need everything worked out. Send us a rough idea or a full spec, and we'll reply within one business day.

info@designofadecade.com

+1 647.409.1479

Burlington, Ontario