We also created this list of the best product design companies after evaluating over 2,500 agencies, considering their services, portfolio, pricing, awards, client reviews, and industry recognitions. Read on to learn more about their background and areas of expertise to get one step closer to finding the ideal company to collaborate with.

The Number 1 Product Design Company as Selected by DesignRush Is...

1. Speck Design

• Best for: Overall
• Average hourly rate: $100
• Minimum budget: $10,000 - $25,000
• Founded: 1996
• Size: Under 49 
• Location: San Jose, CA
• Notable clients: Google, Ford, Microsoft, Cisco, TurnCare

A 26-year-old product design company founded in California's Silicon Valley, Speck Design has completed 250+ projects, served 210+ clients, owned 200+ patents, and won 50+ design awards. It partners with diverse business sizes, ranging from startups in the backyard to global legacy corporations, to build transformative market-ready solutions.

It uses a multidimensional approach to serve organizations in the medical, retail, telecommunications, robotics, and transportation sectors. This involves:

• Comprehensive research
• Industrial and digital design
• Mechanical and electrical engineering solutions
• Manufacturing support
• Package design

Putting into practice its insights and strategies, Speck Design worked with TurnCare, a medical device manufacturing company whose products cater to critical care patients. The client's goal was to improve the controller element design of its first-generation blood flow enhancement equipment, the Guardian System.

The project involved redesigning the device's handle, connector lock, cord, clamp, and hook. Taking into account the end-consumer benefits, Speck Design revised the design in digital and physical renderings based on the features outlined by the TurnCare.

Speck's work on the Guardian System II reduced hospital-acquired pressure injuries, specifically with high-risk in-patients, by 81%. The project also won the Critical Care Product of the Year Award in 2020.

Check Speck Design Agency Profile

2. Apptension

• Best for: Mobile fashion apps
• Average hourly rate: $58
• Minimum budget: Inquire
• Founded: 2012
• Size: 50 - 99 
• Location: Poznan, Poland
• Notable clients: Netflix, Uber, Spotify, Heineken, LESS_

Apptension is a full-scale digital product design and development services agency that employs user testing, empathy maps, and customer journey mapping. This enables it to identify and validate consumer problems and business challenges, and then create digital products that solve them.

Apptension boasts 12 years in the business, 90 specialists, 330+ projects completed, and 10 industry awards. It provides a roadmap of solutions to customize product designs accurately. This encompasses:

• A system consisting of reusable design components on Figma
• Style guides defining visual language and interface elements, such as fonts and color palette
• Mood boards showcasing one to three choices of high-level creative initiatives or directions

One of Apptension’s most remarkable campaigns was for LESS_, an award-winning mobile application for selling and purchasing pre-owned clothing. The client wanted an app makeover and Apptension delivered an MVP in three months.

The product design company conducted extensive market research and product workshops. Then, it crafted the brand strategy and app interfaces, providing a minimalistic yet playful identity, and implemented an introductory marketing campaign to ensure a successful debut.

Three days after the release of LESS_, it climbed to the App Store's top spot in the shopping category, reaching 700,000+ installations in the subsequent months. It also received nominations for several mobile app and startup awards.

Check Apptension Agency Profile

3. Design 1st

• Best for: Commercial tools and equipment
• Average hourly rate: $150
• Minimum budget: $10,000 - $25,000
• Founded: 1996
• Size: Under 49 
• Location: Ontario, Canada
• Notable clients: NASA, Lifepod, SkyX, vSculpt, CablePrep®

Design 1st has a 30% year-over-year revenue increase and 45% growth in connected electronics projects, having built 1,000+ products, received 75+ design awards, and helped clients obtain 150+ patents to protect their innovations. Its product design strategy and development services include product visioning and 3D CAD modeling, product market testing, strategic project management, and design concept testing.

Some of its successes include being named one of the top-10 fastest growing companies in Ottawa as it was expanding in 2012. By 2020, it was named one of the Top Global Creative and Design Agencies.

CablePrep® approached Design 1st to improve the connections of its handheld cable heating device, HeatPrep®, and make the design ready for mass production. Design 1st managed to compress the entire product design process—from prototyping to manufacturing and acquiring an exclusive licensing deal—in only 16 months. Reducing both faulty connections and the need for rework times, its work saved the client 1000x in costs.

Check Design 1st Agency Profile

4. Delve

• Best for: Smart digital devices
• Average hourly rate: Inquire
• Minimum budget: $10,000 - $25,000
• Founded: 1967
• Size: 100 - 249 
• Location: Madison, WI
• Notable clients: Google, Amazon, Dexcom, Weber, Audio Technica

Delve helps ambitious startups and Fortune 500 clients in the healthcare, consumer, and commercial industries. It simplifies product innovation by delivering advanced research, strategy, design, and engineering expertise.

Over 55+ years in the business, it has earned 200+ product design awards, secured 1,500+ patents, and actualized 10,000+ successful projects. Aside from Madison, it has studios in Boston, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. It houses 70+ expert researchers, strategists, and designers from diverse disciplines, including cultural anthropology, business, and more.

Delve collaborated with a startup based in Colorado to revamp its first-generation Rachio Smart Sprinkler Controller. The second-generation Rachio system was launched with significant functional improvements, a lower retail price, and no limit on the production volume. It helped users conserve more than 120 billion gallons (and still counting) of water altogether.

The Delve-designed appliance amassed several industry recognitions, including the Gold Excellence in Design (EID) award from the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) and the Design Value Awards. It also garnered an Editor's Choice feature on PCMag and features in The New York Times and America by Design.

Check Delve Agency Profile

5. MAKO Design + Invent

• Best for: Consumer goods
• Average hourly rate: Inquire
• Minimum budget: $10,000 - $25,000
• Founded: 2006
• Size: Under 49 
• Location: Austin, TX
• Notable clients: Go Fish, PetBot, Moonlite, CarGenerator, CNCT Coolers

MAKO Design + Invent is a consumer product development services firm for startups, small manufacturers, and home inventors. Its team of 30 product design experts operates across four offices in Austin, Miami, San Francisco, and Toronto. It offers full-stack, in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, prototyping, and manufacturing services, along with patent referral and business strategy assistance.

It developed the S.M.A.R.T. (Skillful-Marketable-Accelerated-Responsive-Targeted) Product Development Model that refined and improved the Rapid Development Model on 1,000+ projects. Today, simplified variations of this model are used all over the world.

Moonlite is a unique device that can project lively images, sound effects, and background music straight from a phone or tablet. It caters to parents, allowing them to transform their child's favorite storybooks into a magical experience.

The MAKO team conceptualized, designed, and prototyped this product using industrial design and mechanical engineering. Moonlite proved to be an instant hit, raising over $1,000,000 on crowdfunding sites within hours of its launch. It was later acquired by a global toy conglomerate.

Check MAKO Design + Invent Agency Profile

6. Product Ventures

• Best for: Industrial products
• Average hourly rate: $185
• Minimum budget: $25,000 - $50,000
• Founded: 1994
• Size: Under 49 
• Location: Fairfield, CT
• Notable clients: Nestle, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, The Kraft Heinz Company, Henkel

Product Ventures is a full-service product and packaging design agency with an interdisciplinary team of anthropologists, psychologists, sociologists, industrial designers, mechanical engineers, technologists, and visual designers.

It leverages these technological offerings:

• Advanced 3D CAD: Empowering precise design modeling and development
• Design for manufacturing and assembly (DFMA): Streamlining production processes and efficiency
• Finite element analysis (FEA): Ensuring structural integrity and performance optimization
• State-of-the-art prototyping equipment: Using stereolithography (SLA), polyjet 3D printing, thermoforming, computer numerical control (CNC) machining, UV and solvent-based printing, and more

The Coca-Cola Company partnered with Product Ventures to address the challenge of making Coca-Cola products more accessible to underserved communities in remote areas in India and Malaysia. The Splash Bar initiative aimed to create opportunities for these communities to engage with Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages’ (HCCB) value chain through the Splash Bar initiative.

Product Ventures designed and engineered an innovative dispenser that made it easy and cost-effective to distribute Coca-Cola products. This enabled local businesses in economically challenged areas to sell single-serve quantities of the drink. The project eventually scaled up from 31 splash bars to 30,000+ splash bars, selling 1.5+ million cups of Coke products daily.

Check Product Ventures Agency Profile

7. Beyond Design

• Best for: Home fixtures
• Average hourly rate: $200
• Minimum budget: $25,000 - $50,000
• Founded: 1994
• Size: Under 49 
• Location: Chicago, IL
• Notable clients: Johnson Controls, Zebra Printers, Instant Brands, Cedar Electronics, Chicago Faucets

Beyond Design is a strategic product design firm that specializes in new product development (NPD). It has been providing innovative design solutions for global markets since 1994, leveraging its expertise in:

• Design research and strategy
• Industrial design
• User experience with graphic user interface (GUI)
• Engineering for manufacturing

Beyond Design’s holistic approach to collaboration involves taking into account the users, business scenarios, and social trends. Its design process includes form exploration which combines the product features and functionalities with an emotional appeal to the target market.

When commercial faucets and fittings and brand Chicago Faucets, wanted to create a timeless faucet design with better durability and reliability, Beyond Design presented it with three sleek and simple design choices.

The client picked one for its EQ generation line of faucets, which proved to be the easiest to install, taking only minutes to integrate into any restroom or sink. With its low-flow smart technology, the product reduced water consumption by as much as 77%.

Check Beyond Design Agency Profile

8. Qubstudio

• Best for: Fintech apps
• Average hourly rate: $50
• Minimum budget: $10,000 - $25,000
• Founded: 2007
• Size: 50 - 99  
• Location: London, UK
• Notable clients: Oracle, MyLoqta, Finova Financial, YouTeam, KLIP

As a team of seasoned professionals — designers, business analysts, strategists, content writers, and project managers, Qubstudio collaborates with digital-first companies in a result-driven design process.

In its 15+ years in the industry, it has received the Red Dot Best of the Best Design Award, Red Dot Design Award, UX Design Award, and other accolades. It is home to 75+ creative design experts with experience in 500+ digital product design projects.

Qubstudio helped ila, a mobile-only digital bank in Bahrain, scale up its digital products through fintech-centered solutions. Its lead product designer incorporated advanced product features into the banking app and improved existing ones.

The collaboration won the ila app several awards, which was named Bahrain's Best Mobile Banking App and Best Consumer Digital Bank by Global Finance.

Check Qubstudio Agency Profile

9. frog

• Best for: Healthcare and wellness
• Average hourly rate: Inquire
• Minimum budget: Inquire
• Founded: 1969
• Size: 1,000 & Up 
• Location: Brooklyn, NY
• Notable clients: UNICEF, Pfizer, Yona, Samsung, Audi

A division of Capgemini Invent, frog is a product design and creative consultancy company catering to entrepreneurs and social development leaders worldwide. It uses experiential design thinking, behavioral science, and performance-tracking methods to gauge long-term positive consumer experiences. The agency has a global presence across New York, San Francisco, Paris, Milan, Munich, Madrid, Barcelona, Bangalore, and Delhi.

When frog's team of designers and engineers worked with Yona, the goal was to reconceptualize the existing clinical pelvic exam experience. Its work covered in-depth design research, product redesign, and MVP prototype creation.

It only took 10 months for frog to launch the product. The website received 100,000+ views on the release date and 54.5 million impressions in two weeks. Yona was also nominated for a Webby Award in the Healthcare category.

Check Frog Agency Profile

10. Humbleteam

• Best for: Web apps
• Average hourly rate: $85
• Minimum budget: $25,000 - $50,000
• Founded: 2017
• Size: Under 49 
• Location: Prague, Czech Republic; New York, NY
• Notable clients: NASA, Renault, Royal Caribbean, Piñata, Nexar

Humbleteam’s 60+ designers and developers have created digital products with 10+ million combined downloads on Android and iOS and 112,000+ five-star reviews on app stores. Recognition has been an integral part of Humbleteam's journey, evidenced by its 12 design awards from distinguished entities like Red Dot, Awwwards, and CSS Design Awards.

Its startup partners have received $1.5 billion in venture capital (VC) investment for the apps it designed. The product design agency has also collaborated with some of the world's most successful accelerators, mentoring over 130 founders and venture funds.

Acknowledging the spatial constraints within the International Space Station (ISS), NASA hired Humbleteam to collaborate with its engineers. The initiative aimed to develop a user-friendly web application to optimize storage areas and resource allocation onboard the ISS.

Humbleteam designed an app that secured NASA $25 million in funding. The app also achieved 200,000+ positive ratings on the App Store, showcasing user satisfaction and the agency’s effectiveness in addressing storage optimization challenges.

Check Humbleteam Agency Profile

How We Picked the Best Product Design Firms

The DesignRush Executive Selection team is responsible for maintaining our product design company directory. To ensure a high level of quality, we follow a strict qualitative process that includes a set of criteria, such as:

• Vetted reviews from clients that evaluate the experience, satisfaction, agency expertise, work quality, and level of trust
• A robust portfolio of work that is backed by case studies and demonstrates high output quality
• Awards and press mentions that recognize the agency's reputation and innovation in the industry
• Employee profiles, backgrounds, and expertise to ensure a well-rounded team
• Core services and areas of focus to identify top offers

On this page, we feature product design agencies with mastery of:

• End user and market research
• Data analysis
• Conceptualization of consumer-centered solutions
• Solutions testing
• User-centric visual, UI/UX, and graphic design
• Prototyping
• Collaboration and project management

Find out more about our selection procedures and read the DesignRush Agency Ranking Methodology.

10 Most Popular Product Design Companies Compared

Product Design Companies Industry Research

Key Findings on the Product Design Companies on DesignRush

• 50% of the product design firms on DesignRush have fewer than 50 employees, revealing that the market is primarily composed of small businesses.
• Nearly half of product design firms accept projects between $1,000 and $25,000, demonstrating flexible pricing options for startups and small businesses.
• Nearly a third of the product design companies do not disclose their hourly rate or minimum project budget, which highly suggests a demand for customized pricing.
• The highest rise of new product design companies is registered between 2010 and 2020, which can be attributed to the proliferation of mobile connectivity and digitally connected consumers.
• 14% of client reviews come from the Information Technology and Services sector, showing a common partnership dynamic between the verticals.

DesignRush Industry Research Methodology

The methodology employed for this insight report utilizes data and metrics extracted from our agency database:

• Agency listing: Information provided by agencies in their DesignRush profile, including the number of employees, minimum budget, average hourly rate, and founding year
• Agencies’ reviews: Information extracted from agency reviews, including industry focus and client size

Our Research in Detail

Continue reading for a detailed breakdown of our precise findings, collected from each metric utilized in the above report:

Employees per Agency

• At 78%, most of the specialized product design companies on DesignRush comprise agencies with less than 50 employees, indicating a strong presence of smaller, niche entities.
• 11% of product design firms operate with teams of 50 to 99 members, and 8% have 100 to 249 employees, offering the flexibility to assign greater teams for more complex projects.
• Large-scale product design firms constitute a very small fraction of our listed agencies, as just 1% of the entities operate with a workforce of 500 or more individuals.

Minimum Budget

• Notably, 49% of product design firms take on projects with budgets between $1,000 and $25,000, indicating availability of service at varied price points, which allows businesses with moderate budgets to balance financial constraints with creative needs.
• 30% of agencies don't disclose their minimum budget requirement, suggesting that customized pricing is a common industry practice.
• Only 4% of agencies require a $50,000 minimum project budget, suggesting that high-end services are offered by a limited number of firms.

Average Hourly Rate

• 31% of agencies do not list their hourly rate, suggesting a preference for customized or project-based pricing and flexibility for fee negotiation.
• The second most common hourly rates are within the middle range, with 19% of product design companies charging $51 to $100 per hour and 17% charging from $101 to $200 per hour.
• Accounting for 30% of the product design companies on DesignRush, agencies charging $50 per hour or less present budget-friendly options, especially for startups and small-scope projects.

Founding Years

• The years 2015 to 2019 represent the peak in the number of new product design firms, with each of these years accounting for 7% of the total agencies in the directory.
• A significant spike in new agencies can be observed from 2010 to 2020. This trend likely reflects the growing awareness about the importance of specialized product design services in the digital world.

Industry Focus

• Clients from the Information Technology and Services sector leave the most client reviews, accounting for 14% of the total count. This indicates that product design is a critical service in the IT industry, where user experience and interface design play pivotal roles in product success.
• Product design firms are also frequently reviewed by Financial Services and Marketing and Advertising agencies, standing at 6% and 5%, respectively.
• The spread of client reviews shows that product design companies extend their services beyond just technology-related industries, collaborating with entities across Hospitality and Healthcare (3%), Retail (2%), Consumer Goods (2%), and Real Estate (2%) sectors.

Here are the top 3 product design companies per industry:

*Data derived from the highest number of client reviews mentioning these industries

Client Size

• 50% of the client reviews come from businesses with less than 50 employees, signifying that startups and small businesses largely benefit from outsourcing product design services.
• 11% of reviewers are businesses with 100-249 employees, highlighting the role of product design services in supporting growth and driving traction through innovative and user-centric outputs.
• Large-scale companies and enterprises constitute 9% of the total reviews. These entities usually have in-house product design teams and outsource these services to supplement their existing capabilities on a per-need basis.

Explore the top 3 product design companies that provide services tailored to the different sizes of businesses:

*Data based on the size of the companies that provided the highest number of reviews

This industry analysis was conducted to support businesses in making informed decisions when outsourcing their product design projects to derive the most value from the service. At the same time, it could also benefit product design firms, granting them market insights to better position themselves and their offering.