Web, mobile, software, and AI development services
LaunchPad Lab is a Chicago IT company specializing in web, mobile, software development and AI solutions. Four service lines, one delivery team — and the way to choose between them starts with the product stage you are actually in.
Which service you need depends on where the product stands today
Not a package we are trying to sell. Below is what each engagement covers, where it fits, and what we would expect from your side to make it work.
Entry points
- Product idea, no code yet Discovery first, not an estimate
- A product that is slow or fragile Targeted rework or migration
- A web product that needs a mobile app Native or cross-platform build
- Someone asked for AI features Nobody defined the outcome
Web applications
Responsive web apps, portals, and SaaS products
Customer portals, SaaS products, booking systems, marketplaces, and internal dashboards — built responsive from the first commit, because retrofitting responsiveness afterwards costs more than doing it once.
The stack is chosen around your team and roadmap rather than a house preference. Next.js when the front end carries a lot of interaction. Django for structured platforms with heavy content or admin needs. Laravel for SaaS products and business systems. Ruby on Rails where a fast product MVP matters most. Node.js when real-time behaviour or a single JavaScript stack across client and server is the deciding factor.
Every build includes deployment pipelines and staging environments from the start. That way each release is testable before it reaches customers, and rollback is a normal operation instead of an incident.
Chosen around your team
- Next.js Interactive front ends
- Django Content and admin platforms
- Laravel SaaS and business systems
- Ruby on Rails Fast product MVPs
- Node.js Real-time, full-stack JS
Staging and deployment pipelines are part of the build, not a later project.
Native mobile
Native iOS and Android builds
Native Swift work is the right call when your app leans on the camera, background location, health data, or performance-sensitive rendering. It is also the better path when App Store review and platform conventions matter to your users. We handle architecture, API integration, release management, and the review process itself. If you already have an iOS codebase that has become hard to change, we can audit it and scope targeted rework rather than a full rewrite.
Android's device spread is the reason native work here looks different. Kotlin, Jetpack Compose, and testing across screen sizes and OS versions are part of the job, not an afterthought. We build native Android apps where hardware access, background services, or performance requirements rule out a cross-platform approach, and we handle Play Store submissions, staged rollouts, and the crash monitoring that follows a release.
iOS, in practice
Camera, location, health data, rendering-heavy screens, App Store release management.
Android, in practice
Device coverage, background services, staged rollouts on Google Play, crash monitoring after launch.
Cross-platform builds, and where they stop
When your feature set does not need deep hardware access, one codebase across iOS and Android usually gets you to market faster and cheaper. We build cross-platform apps in Kotlin Multiplatform and React Native, and we are clear about where the approach has limits. Shared business logic with platform-specific UI is often the honest middle ground.
The decision comes out of your feature list, not a framework preference.
One codebase fits when
- Features are forms, feeds, messaging, or account flows
- Both platforms matter, but neither needs deep hardware control
- You want one team maintaining both releases
Native wins when
- Cameras, sensors, or background services carry the core value
- Rendering performance is a user-facing requirement
- Platform conventions are part of why people chose your app
Custom software earns its budget when the process itself is the advantage
Typical projects: replacing a spreadsheet that three departments depend on, connecting systems that do not talk to each other, or building an internal tool no vendor sells. We start with the bottleneck, scope a first version that removes it, and integrate with the tools you are keeping through API integration rather than replacing everything at once.
Custom software
Start with the bottleneck, not the whole map
Custom software earns its budget when the process being automated is the thing that makes your business different — not when a vendor product almost fits and you pay to work around the gap.
- Name the process that only you run this way Where the value sits
- Map what feeds it and what it feeds Spreadsheets, inboxes, portals
- Scope a first version that removes the bottleneck One job, done properly
- Connect the tools you are keeping Integration, not replacement
AI feature integration
A working AI feature has four parts
Most projects that stall are missing the last two: an interface where people actually use the feature, and a way to measure whether it answers correctly. We integrate AI features into existing products, which usually means retrieval over your documents, a chat or copilot interface inside the app, and a defined test set of questions the feature must answer correctly.
Models we work with include Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Gemini 1.5 Pro, and OpenAI GPT-5.
API integration and connected systems
Most companies do not have a software problem. They have a data-flow problem between six tools that each work fine on their own.
We build integrations between CRMs, ERPs, payment systems, internal databases, and third-party APIs, including the unglamorous parts that decide whether an integration survives its first bad week: retry logic, rate limits, error reporting, and reconciliation when a sync fails.
Cloud migration and infrastructure
The work that matters most happens before the move
Migration projects cover moving workloads to a cloud provider, containerizing services, setting up CI/CD, and putting monitoring in place. Deciding what to lift as-is, what to rewrite, and what to retire is what keeps the bill and the risk from growing after the cutover.
For enterprise applications we set up role-based access, audit logging, and environment separation early, because access control is far cheaper to design than to retrofit.
Before the move
Decide lift, rewrite, or retire for every workload.
During the move
Containerize services, set up CI/CD, keep environments separate.
After the move
Monitoring, audit logging, and role-based access in place.
How to tell which service you need
Bring the problem description. We will tell you which of these it maps to — and when it maps to none of them, which is a fair answer too.
Questions we get before scoping
Short answers to the questions that usually decide whether a first call is worth your time.
Can you work with a product that is already built?
Yes. A large share of engagements begin with an existing codebase — an iOS app that has become hard to change, a web platform that grew past its original structure, or a mobile product that needs a second platform. The first step is an audit that turns vague frustration into a short list of targeted changes, rather than a rewrite proposal.
How do you decide between native and cross-platform mobile?
Your feature list decides. If the app depends on cameras, sensors, background services, or rendering-heavy screens, native Swift and Kotlin are worth the extra work. If the features are forms, feeds, messaging, and account flows, one codebase in React Native or Kotlin Multiplatform usually gets you to both stores faster. Shared business logic with platform-specific screens is often the pragmatic middle.
What does a real AI feature need before it ships?
Four parts working together: a model, your data, an interface where people use it, and a test set that measures whether the answers are right. Most stalled projects have the first two and are missing the last two. We typically start with retrieval over your own documents and a defined list of questions the feature must answer correctly, then build the interface around that.
Do we have to replace our current tools?
No. Integration is usually the better first move. We connect the CRM, ERP, payment system, or internal database you already rely on and make the data flow visible, with retry logic and reconciliation so a failed sync surfaces instead of quietly dropping records.
Where do we start if we are not sure which service fits?
Describe the problem in your own words — what is slow, what is manual, what nobody can change without breaking something. We will say which service line it maps to, what a first version would realistically cover, and when the honest answer is that you do not need us yet.
Start with the service that matches your stage
LaunchPad Lab is a Chicago IT company specializing in web, mobile, software development, and AI solutions. Tell us where the product stands today — an idea, a live app that needs work, a process running on spreadsheets, or a question about AI — and we will tell you which engagement fits, what it would cover, and how we would sequence it.
Where we work
LaunchPad Lab
448 N La Salle Dr Fl 9
Chicago, IL 60654, United States
Continue the register
- Our Process Discovery to launch, step by step
- Case Studies How engagements actually run
- Technology Stack The tools behind each service line
- About The team behind the register