Let’s start with the statistics, which will explain in detail why it is so important to hire truly great UI/UX design companies. What value do they give to a business that may urge you to strive to find the best player in your niche?
A recent study from Forrester Research found that a well-executed UI has the potential to boost conversion rates by almost 200%. At the same time, a better UX design could yield conversion rates up to 400%. Statistics are impressive.
SocialMediaToday reports that 90% of consumers say that authenticity is an important factor to them when deciding which brands they like and support. This authenticity is greatly influenced by good UI design.
In 2023, GoodFirms found that 88.5% of the survey contributors have selected slow loading time to be the main reason for a visitor to leave a website. Another consumer insight from Google is that in case the loading of a mobile site takes longer than 3 seconds, 53% of visitors abandon it.
Statista published a list of the main design characteristics that are important for users in an online shop. Approximately 60% of digital consumers agreed that the usability of digital platforms is a defining feature of web and app design.
Hiring top UX agencies and their professionals will allow you to jump straight to the level where you can enhance your product's digital experience for users and make your business better. Now is the time to showcase the best UI/UX design firms.
"The result that matters" - linkupst.com
We cannot start the list without mentioning LinkUp Studio, ranked as one the top UI/UX design agencies worldwide by Clutch. We are a recognized full-circle digital product design and development company which strives for quality on more than 150 successfully launched products.
Our team is composed of more than 80 passionate experts on Ukraine and USA, each of them eager to help people transform dreams into products - from idea analysis to after-launch support.
“Their hearts are invested in the project. The partnership feels much stronger than it would with others.” - CEO, Tim Ruppert on Clutch
We think like our customers and create an immersive partnership experience with each of them, understanding their pains and connecting with their goals in order to reach the top together.
Our team works with a humanized and sensible vision combined with forward-thinking design and smart usability in every project - always aiming high.
And our efforts come with recognition: in 2022-2023 we receives four Red Dot design awards, 2021 our team was a receives UX Design award and finalist of Ukrainian Creative Stories in two categories, as well as rising to the list of top Ukrainian creative and design teams by Clutch and being recognized as one of the best design companies of Ukraine by Top Design Firms.
Founded: 2013
Location: Ukraine
Team Size: 60+
Price rate: $50 / hr
Key clients: Reverso, Snagshout, Impactive
“We are a digital product design agency” - ramotion.com
Ramotion is a company of multidisciplinary digital product experts. In a small team, they create solutions for growing startups and Fortune 500 companies.
Over 10 years of experience, Ramotion has defined their formula for quality products: to involve experts into working on certain projects exclusively and, accordingly, work with only a few clients at a time. The services provided include producing UI/UX design and brand identity, as well as marketing assistance.
Founded: 2009
Location: California, USA
Team Size: 50+
Hourly rate: $100 - $149 / hr
Key clients: FireFox, Netflix, Adobe
“Clay is a UI/UX design and branding agency in San Francisco” - clay.global
They are one of the best companies that focus exclusively on UI/UX transforming brands through strategy, visual identity, and websites.
Clay practises applying behavioral science to create user experience and, in truth, run a really awesome design that many users face every day. It's about apps for Coca-Cola, Facebook, Slack identity, and Jacquard by Google app.
Founded: 2009
Location: San Francisco, USA
Team Size: 32 members
Hourly rate: $150 - $199 / hr
Key clients: Google, Facebook, Coinbase, Slack, Samsung
"Together we strive to shape a regenerative future that is both sustainable and inclusive for businesses, people and planet." - frogdesign.com
Beginning their services in the 1970’s, Frog is one of the oldest worldwide UX design agencies out there. The company has worked with numerous big names over the years and has even expanded into other design projects - such as furniture.
Frog currently works with 10 offices around the world, evolving from industrial design to a full-service agency which covers from CX strategy to service design.
Founded: 1970
Location: USA
Team Size: 950+ members
Hourly rate: $5,000+ / hr
Key clients: Intel, Unicef, Nestlé, Coca-Cola
"We are a global design company committed to creating positive impact." - ideo.com
One of the big names of the UI/UX industry is Ideo, the agency which invented the famous term of “Design Thinking”. They work with a human-centered philosophy which they are proud of, with a range of designers, engineers, and researchers for every project.
Ideo focuses on designing special prototypes that range from user interfaces to full organizations, creating impactful projects all around the world.
Founded: 1991
Location: California, USA
Team Size: 1300+ members
Key clients: Swarowski, The Rockfeller Foundation, Apple
“Designit is a call to action to make the difference we want to see in the world.” - designit.com
Designit is one of the agencies that set the tone of UI/UX design in the digital world. It's probably due to the fact that innovation and creativity is not just a value, it's a part of their workflow.
The company has worked with a wide range of industries, from energy, finance, and healthcare to the scientific and public sectors. They are oriented at long-term partnerships with progressive businesses, nonprofits, academia, and advocate deep, thorough work on the product.
From a small office in Denmark, Designit has grown into a huge design company with studios all over the world.
Founded: 1991
Location: New York, San Francisco, Seattle
Team Size: 290+
Hourly rate: $150 - $199 / hr
Key clients: Digital Hub Denmark, Sephora, Acer Predator, Lufthansa
“Go beyond the ordinary” - socialdriver.com
Company works with UI/UX and brand design for social network apps and other platforms. Most of the implemented solutions are public or social projects, educational platforms.
Therefore, they focus on partnership, collaboration and creativity. So, yes, Social Driver is a company that strives to make society better with building strong partnerships and developing creativity.
Founded: 2011
Location: Washington, USA
Team Size: 60+
Hourly rate: $150 - $199 / hr
Key clients: American Academy of Family Physicians, American Nurses Association, The Education Trust
“Bring your digital vision to life” - method.com
It is an experienced digital design agency, founded in 1999. According to its founder, from the beginning, Method wasn't interested in defining an industry, or its specification. They were just passionate about making products and services that would build and define strong brands.
So, their clients are big brands and organizations as partners on the journey from now to what's next.
Founded: 1999
Location: New York
Team Size: 100+
Hourly rate: $150 - $199 / hr
Key clients: Ubisoft, Renault, McDonald's, Microsoft, San Francisco Ballet
“Silicon Valley Expertise. Global Mindset.” - momentumdesignlab.com
Momentum is positioning itself as an innovative design thinking-based team. Their approach is to create projects in the symbiosis of human empathy and intelligent data to significantly improve user experience.
They work with research, UX/CX strategies and design to make the products users trust. And they succeed!
Founded: 2002
Location: California
Team Size: 25+
Hourly rate: $150 - $199 / hr
Key clients: Fiserv, Walmart, Capital Bank
“We mash up UX, design and tech to create lively, people-friendly apps.” - eightbitstudios.com
If the company can be described in such a way, Eight Bit Studios is a team of empathic designers. They promote empathetic UX solutions dreaming to shape a better world for everyone. Most of the projects in the portfolio are mobile apps aimed at creating strong emotional connections (like social networks or messengers), and the agency produces full-circle design and brand identity.
Having worked in the field for 13 years, Eight Bit Studios have decided to stay small, and this probably helps them adhere to the company's values when working on each task.
Founded: 2008
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Team Size: 30+
Hourly rate: $150 - $199 / hr
Key clients: Echo Global Logistics, New Balance, Hasbro
“Build your vision with us” - perpetualny.com
Perpetual is a product design and development company, focusing on UX and development of the products. Their mission is to develop great user experiences and cutting edge software for selected clients.
For now the company has completed a range of projects for large corporations in the media and financial services field. After the recent launch of the EdTech startup, they have been growing rapidly in the education technology field.
Founded: 2012
Location: New York, NY
Team Size: 20 members
Hourly rate: $50 - $99 / hr
Key clients: Reuters, MIT, The Inside
“LA`s top software engineering and digital marketing agency” - wildebee.st
It is a boutique custom software consultancy team, that provides custom web app design and development, applying Internet of Things, and experiential installations.
Wildebeest has experience working with the world's largest corporations, such as Disney or General Motors, and funded startups they were interested in. What really sets the agency apart is that being a very small team they are capable of implementing really large-scale projects and are a real role model in their field.
Founded: 2014
Location: Los Angeles, California
Team Size: 10+
Hourly rate: $200 - $300 / hr
Key clients: Google, Microsoft, Disney, General Motors
“We create lovable apps and digital products” - arctouch.com
ArcTouch is a UI/UX design and development company, aimed to help companies forge meaningful connections with their customers and employees through custom digital products.
They decided to be a business app creator when App Store was just first announced. Since then, they have worked with Fortune 500 companies, midsize businesses and influential startups, conducting hands-on expertise and being concerned with profits of their clients.
Founded: 2009
Location: San Francisco, California
Team Size: 200+
Hourly rate: $100 - $149 / hr
Key clients: Hawaiian Airlines, Audi, PayPal
“We imagine, design & build digital products.” - majestykapps.com
Founded in 2011 with a collaborative spirit, Majestyk named themselves a team with expertise of a traditional agency and the agility of a startup.
Majestyk`s vision is that the company's success is in great products and great people. Their experience and launched products can prove that.
Founded: 2011
Location: New York, NY
Team Size: до 20
Hourly rate: $150 - $199 / hr
Key clients: IBM, Ally, Audiomack
“Innovation, transformation, and disruption since 1998” - spiredigital.com
Spire Digital, part of Kin + Carta, is a Denver-based digital product development firm that transforms business through design and technology. For over 22 years, they have provided web, mobile design and development using IoT, wearables, AR/VR, AI, or blockchain to the world's top companies.
We would say that Spire is a good combination of conservatism, which gives confidence to clients from large companies, and innovation, which allows them to make really impactful digital solutions, within one development agency.
Founded: 1998
Location: Denver, Colorado
Team Size: more than 200
Hourly rate: $100 - $149 / hr
Key clients: Lockheed Martin, TomTom, USDA
“Research. Collaborate. Build.” - geekyants.com
GeekyAnts is a design and development studio that has expertise in building web and mobile solutions. They have worked with around 500+ clients all over the world, mostly in healthcare, finance, education, banking and gaming industries.
In short, GeekyAnts do everything related to web and mobile apps, and are passionate about building world-class products.
Founded: 2006
Location: Redding, California
Team Size: 200+
Hourly rate: $25 - $49 / hr
Key clients: Google LLC, Siveco Romania, ChildMind Institute, PayPoint
“We leverage software development to grow your venture, scale your impact, and propel your mission forward.” - gojilabs.com
Goji Labs is a web and mobile app development company with little experience, but really good solutions and launched products. Their services include product strategy, UX/UI design, web, mobile app, and IoT development.
Their powerful idea is that no great venture should be held back by technical execution. And so for years they have been successfully cooperating with companies and startups, as well as with prominent global organizations.
Founded: 2014
Location: Los Angeles, California
Team Size: 15
Hourly rate: $100 - $149 / hr
Key clients: World Health Organization, World Wildlife Fund, USC
“Build and transform your business through strategy, design and app development.” - bluelabellabs.com
Blue Label Labs is a development agency that works side-by-side with ambitious brands to implement customer-centric and truly user-validated digital products. In most cases, they work with enterprise clients, implementing strategic business consulting, user-centric design, and development of their projects.
Before working with the client, the agency has a special "ritual" - the team makes a solemn promise to its partners. Blue Label Labs promises "to do our very best and to always strive to do the right thing for your project, your users, and your team".
Founded: 2009
Location: New York, NY
Team Size: 25+
Hourly rate: $100 - $149 / hr
Key clients: Bloomberg News, Google/Alphabet, Fender
“We design/develop/launch/maintain products that delight your users and grow your business.” - tapptitude.com
Tapptitude is a mobile-focused company, which provides great mobile design and development. They implement projects in the fields of real estate and business automation, working mainly with funded startups.
What makes them special? The company simply takes on projects that they like, looking for solutions to make the product the best it can be - and they manage to run successful mobile apps that users love.
Founded: 2013
Location: New York, NY
Team Size: 80+
Hourly rate: $50 - $99 / hr
Key clients: Tenor, Glorify, Wellory, Ontapp
“We design and ship digital products that transform companies.” - work.co
Work & Co can truly be called a great company - both in the team size and in the experience they have for now. It is an agency that works with a wide range of industries, focusing on development and UI / UX design. Almost all W&C clients are big global brands.
What concerns their approach towards partners, it is a fully-dedicated team. Work & Co allocates small, senior teams for projects that are hands-on from start to finish. That is their formula of the best digital products.
Founded: 2013
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Team Size: 400
Hourly rate: $100 - $149 / hr
Key clients: IKEA, Apple, Gatorade
“Go further. We partner with people who want to design a better future.” - bynd.com
Beyond is creative designers, insightful strategists, and exceptional engineers gathered in one team. They develop UI / UX solutions for enterprises and midmarket and implement them in great digital products.
What is really interesting about the partner approach is that they choose to work with forward thinking clients, whose projects allow the team to unleash their potential. Beyond is super dynamic and striving to do just the work that inspires them.
Founded: 2010
Location: San Francisco, California
Team Size: 200+
Hourly rate: $150 - $199 / hr
Key clients: Google, Gap, Warner Bros
Yes, now you’ve got the list of companies with their main descriptions and may wonder, “Alright! What am I going to do next? Any ideas on how I can choose the best UI/UX design company?” This section answers this question and provides a set of actions we at Linkup Studio recommend you follow to increase your chances of finding the team you’ll love to work with and appreciate the results they deliver.
Even before you start looking for UX agencies or other service providers, it would be best to clearly know what you exactly need. Is it a redesign, a new product or system part design, some precise specific improvements to user experience, or something else? Knowing this will give you more determination to look for exactly what you need and save time in finding a suitable partner.
Once you know what you need for your product, you can search for companies. At Linkup Studio, we have already searched for some of the best UI/UX design firms for you, and you can take this list if you wish. However, you can additionally research these companies’ portfolios and case studies to find out their areas of expertise and experience. Additionally, you can check their websites for more information you may be interested in, read their clients’ testimonials on site, Clutch.co, or other platforms, and shop around for their approximate prices of designers’ work per hour to filter out those not suitable for your expectations.
Each UX/UI design company is unique in some ways and has its own approach to work and collaboration. During initial consultations with their business development teams, ask about their design processes, how they work, their methods of researching for getting user insights, and conducting user testing.
A little tip here is that a top design agency has an established and clear user-centered design process that includes the phases of market and user research, prototyping, testing, and iterations. We have such a process at Linkup Studio.
To maximize the efficiency of your collaboration with the design team, look for UX agencies that have experience in your industry or with projects similar to yours. This is an important point because these specialists are likely to be familiar enough with the market specifics, its challenges, demands, behavior rules, and user expectations from product system parts and functionalities.
You can also inquire about the tools and technologies the UI/UX design firm uses for designing and prototyping. Agencies that are able to provide high-quality results usually use advanced and well-known tools like Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, InVision, among others.
At Linkup Studio, we use all the mentioned tools, and our designs regularly make a change for clients’ businesses as well as prove their efficiency and usability on global design awards like Red Dot.
Soft skills and the ability to be open-minded, easy-going, yet proficient are also crucial for successful collaboration. Discuss how the UX/UI design company you want to partner with handles communication and collaboration flow: how their schedule of meetings is built, what management systems they use, how often you will get updates about the work, who will be your contact person in the team, and other questions.
For instance, at Linkup Studio, we set up weekly "demo-calls" with our clients where we report on our work activities and include a description of our deliverables, current project progress, set up new plans, clarify them, and get approvals from clients.
It often happens that famous and big-name UX/UI design companies showcase work in their portfolios done by a lead or senior designer, but it’s not guaranteed that these individuals will be assigned to your project. You can ask about the team members who will be working on your task and get to know their credentials.
If you request senior designers for your product, the company might say that the price for collaboration will be higher. However, this at least provides clarity, and you’ll know the real state of affairs.
Design work does not end at launch. You can ask about the formats of post-launch support that the UX/UI design company offers. What types of optimization do they provide based on user feedback and analytics?
By now, you are likely to have a shortlist of the UX agencies you like best. Now is the best time to ask each of them for detailed proposals with their timelines, list of deliverables, and pricing for these services. Look and compare the gathered information, and align each with your initial budget and project goals.
Then, after a thorough evaluation, you can choose the UX/UI design firm that aligns best with your needs, budget, and company culture and values. It is very important that you feel comfortable with the design team and their processes.
This step-by-step guide can help you make an informed decision about choosing the design team to collaborate with.
Now, you might see this list and wonder: after all, what makes these agencies different from others? What makes them great? Could it be a unique design or famous clients, perhaps?
To answer those questions, we decided to do a little research to better understand each company and share with you what really distinguishes a great UI/UX agency from others on the market. Let’s take a look!
A good UI/UX agency will always prioritize the user’s take on their material, regardless of whether they agree with those opinions. The most important part of developing a platform for a client must be the quality of the final result—and that is not just how good the design looks but also how efficient its usability is.
That is why they will conduct detailed user research in order to guarantee the best result possible, always keeping the client informed of the process and the responses.
In fact, the word "partner" is key here. The best UI/UX companies do not collaborate with you as with clients, they treat you as partners. The difference in approach is that both parties are interested in the best development of the product.
Accordingly, such teams are not interested in short-distance races and mainly focus on long-term partnerships. Brands show a high level of trust in such companies because of their approach.
It means that companies building products work on not just implementing all customer's requirements, but on making the product itself the best. Sometimes it's about experience, sometimes it’s more about good quality discovery stage and user analysis.
Throughout the development, designers are fully involved into the process and bring their experience-based ideas to launch the best possible version of the product. Good design teams are characterized by high empathy and understanding of user needs. Sounds simple. But, in practice, such teams become the best among thousands of competitors.
There are some debates: is it good or bad for designers to have an industry specification? After analyzing the top companies from the list, we can say that specification is undoubtedly a feature of great companies. It is obvious - to choose the industry and become the best in it! And, in practice, it works.
It also gives the partner a certain level of guarantee of the product's success, because the company knows all the pitfalls and solutions that will help enter the market, find users, and grow the platform - depending on your goals.
Even with a detailed list of the most popular and suitable agencies out there, it can still be difficult to choose the right one. But it’s important to take time to analyze the most important aspects you are looking for in a company and carefully choose based on those factors.
It’s also important to note that choosing a company that will handle both development and design of the product is a very smart move, as there are many benefits such as saving time and minimizing risks of losing quality.
For Linkup Studio, design is not just for the sake of design. We compromise with quality, ethics, and the essence of every product to deliver pixel-perfect and user-friendly designs.
With more than 150 products successfully launched on the market, we are ready to help you achieve your goals. Talk to us, and let’s partner up on our next project!
If you are interested in learning everything about UI/UX agencies and launching a digital product, don’t forget to check out our “Building Digital Products” podcast.
Even with a detailed list of the most popular and suitable agencies out there, it can still be difficult to choose the right one. But it’s important to take time to analyze the most important aspects you are looking for in a company and carefully choose based on those factors.
It’s also important to note that choosing a company that will handle both development and design of the product is a very smart move, as there are many benefits such as saving time and minimizing risks of losing quality.
For Linkup Studio, design is not just for the sake of design. We compromise with quality, ethics, and the essence of every product to deliver pixel-perfect and user-friendly designs.
With more than 150 products successfully launched on the market, we are ready to help you achieve your goals. Talk to us, and let’s partner up on our next project!
If you are interested in learning everything about UI/UX agencies and launching a digital product, don’t forget to check out our “Building Digital Products” podcast.
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