From web to mobile: building a cross-platform app in 8 weeks

TheCanvasWorks.ie is an Ireland-based custom photo printing and wall art business offering canvas prints, framed artwork, photo collages, wood blocks, and travel posters. Orders are fulfilled through in-house production, with online sales as the primary revenue channel.

Before engaging Exline Labs, the business already operated a bespoke Shopify website that handled product customisation, checkout, payments, and order management. As repeat customers increased and mobile traffic grew, the client identified a gap: mobile users wanted a faster, more convenient way to reorder and personalise products.

Rather than rebuilding business logic, the goal was clear: extend what already worked into mobile.

The challenge was not feature completeness.
It was execution clarity.

The client needed:

• A mobile app that felt purpose-built, not like a wrapped website

• A single operational backend without admin duplication

• Fast delivery without interrupting existing sales

• A solution aligned with MVP thinking, not over-engineering

This required careful technical and UX decision-making.

While functionality mirrored the website, the user experience did not.

We redesigned key flows to suit mobile behaviour:

• Fewer steps in product personalisation

• Larger, touch-friendly controls

• Streamlined checkout for repeat buyers

• Clear visual hierarchy with a minimalist interface

This UX-first thinking ensured the app felt faster and easier than the web experience, even though both shared the same backend logic.

The project followed a sprint-driven execution model.

• Sprint 0: Architecture setup, UX finalisation

• Sprints 1–4: Core features built incrementally

• Sprint 5: Optimisation, QA, store readiness

The beta version was delivered in 6 weeks, followed by production launch in week-8.

This approach mirrors how we typically structure MVP engagements for startups and SMEs.

Instead of introducing a new backend, we architected the app as an extension of the existing Shopify ecosystem.

Key decisions included:

• Using Shopify APIs for products, orders, customers, and inventory

• Maintaining a unified admin panel for both website and app

• Designing mobile-specific user journeys rather than duplicating desktop flows

To build the MVP efficiently within a strict timeline, Flutter was selected as the foundation. This allowed:

• iOS and Android delivery from a single codebase

• Consistent UI across platforms

• Faster development without sacrificing performance

• Lower long-term iteration cost

The Flutter MVP architecture was designed for extension, not experimentation, with clean separation between UI, logic, and integrations.

Post-launch results validated the approach:

• Weekly orders increased by 60%

• 35% of total orders now come from the mobile app

• Customers reported faster ordering and improved convenience

The mobile app quickly became a measurable revenue contributor, not just a branding asset.