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  • Travel & Hospitality
  • Flutter
  • Dart Frog

We rebuilt Blade’s mobile app in Flutter in eight weeks, one code base for iOS and Android, with a Dart Frog layer between the app and Blade’s backend and a design system that grew with the product.

Blade’s Flutter app on a phone, beside Dart Frog, the backend for frontend layer between the app and Blade’s backend. Each screen asks Dart Frog for its data. While a Blade API is still being built, Dart Frog answers with simulated data, and once it is live Dart Frog passes the request on, so the app works the same in every week of the eight-week build. The week buttons move the build along.

01The ask

Fliers expect the app to move as fast as the helicopter.

Blade runs high-frequency airport transfers in Manhattan and the Hamptons, regional routes, and charters for events like the Cannes Film Festival and the Monaco Grand Prix. Its fliers expect fast, elegant service on the ground and in the air.

The app had served Blade for years, but its legacy backend and older web technologies made scaling, performance, and a smooth experience hard. Blade needed an app that matched the brand and technology behind it that could grow.

02The principles

Three rules every screen had to pass.

With Blade’s stakeholders we set the experience principles first. Get there sooner means booking tools with no unnecessary steps. Stress-free means intuitive flows and dependable tools that make coordinating a trip feel easy.

Luxury-level services means every detail meets the Blade standard, with rich visuals and polished interactions. We then expanded Blade’s initial designs into a scalable design system, refining the existing components and adding new ones as the product needed them.

03In the app

Book a seat or charter a jet, from the same app.

  1. The Blade home screen with USA, Europe, and Canada tabs and a helicopter route card from Manhattan to JFK and Newark over the Manhattan skyline
  2. A Nice to Monaco route card over a blurred helicopter, saying skip the traffic and get there in 7 minutes, starting at 177.27 dollars, with a Book now button
  3. A fare class picker for a Manhattan to JFK and Newark flight with the Flex fare at 75 dollars per flier, marked Recommended, with no change fee and flexible cancellation
  4. The charter screen headed Fly anywhere in the world, describing a fleet of jets, helicopters, seaplanes, and turboprops, above From and To search fields

04Under the hood

A Dart Frog layer so the app never waited on the backend.

We put Dart Frog in as a backend for frontend layer that hides the backend’s complexity from the app. It served simulated real data before the backend APIs were ready, so the app kept moving and Blade kept the freedom to refine its APIs.

The app itself is Flutter, one code base with native performance on iOS and Android and the same experience on both.

The Blade charter screen, Fly anywhere in the world, on a phone in front of a white winged aircraft with orange trim against a grey sky
The charter screen, with an aircraft for scale.

05What came next

The app was the start of the growth work.

Beyond the app, we worked with Blade on growth strategy. Together we listed dozens of ideas and ranked the top ones by business impact and potential lift.

Key wins included a modular design kit for personalized email, a Braze acceleration playbook to get more out of Blade’s marketing stack, and a prioritized roadmap of enhancements.

06What changed

A premium app on a base that can take the next route.

  • Performance

    Faster to build, smoother to use.

    The modern architecture supports faster development and smoother interactions for fliers.

  • Design

    One visual language on every screen.

    The design system keeps booking and flight management consistent with Blade’s brand.

  • Multi-platform

    iOS and Android from one code base.

    Flutter gives Blade a cost-effective mobile app that scales.

  • Room to grow

    Ready for VIP experiences and new markets.

    The foundation is built for future integrations, VIP experiences, and global expansion.

07If you’re next

What we’d tell a team in Blade’s seat.

  1. 01

    Don’t wait for the backend. A backend for frontend layer with simulated data lets the app move while the APIs are still in progress.

  2. 02

    Write the experience principles before the screens. Blade’s gave the team something to check every screen against.

  3. 03

    Grow the design system from what the brand already has. We extended Blade’s initial designs instead of starting over.

Roll credits.

Who did what, and with which tools.

Client
Blade
Our part
Product strategyProduct designDesign systemFlutter developmentDart Frog backend for frontend
Platforms
iOS and Android
Built with
FlutterDart Frog
Timeline
Eight weeks to delivery

Built by Very Good Ventures

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