Top 70 User Research Agencies in Chicago
March 2023Looking for a top user research agency in Chicago?
Look for user experience agencies that specialize in user research. User research is the data collection process that lays the foundation for exceptional user experiences. While there are many advantages to user research, be wary of bad user research.
For example, when looking for a user experience agency to hire, ask about the role user research plays in its design process. A sign of good user research is when it occurs at the beginning of a project – throughout the discovery stages. User research is a tool to learn about user needs and challenges, not to validate an existing idea for a feature.
To assist you in your search for a partner, we’ve compiled this list of the top user research firm in Chicago. Browse descriptions, feedback, and awards to find which can best suit your company’s needs.
List of the Best Chicago User Research Companies
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1
- $25,000+
- 10 - 49 employees
- Chicago, IL
Highland is a digital experience agency based in Chicago. Founded in 1999, the team of about 30 specializes in product strategy, UX/UI design, and custom software development. They work primarily with midmarket to enterprise clients, mainly in the healthcare, financial services, and nonprofit sectors.
Clients
- Thrivent Financial
- Make-A-Wish
- McGraw-Hill
- Northern Trust
Industries
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Highland has conducted UX/UI research for an IT nonprofit. They’ve done interviews to develop the mockups and MVP for a new digital product that helps companies assess their cybersecurity capabilities.
“They have an open, collaborative style. They include people who usually wouldn’t be part of the day-to-day process.”
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2
- $25,000+
- 50 - 249 employees
- Chicago, IL
Swenson He is a mobile app development company headquartered in Marina del Rey, CA. Founded by two MIT alumni, the team of now 20+ engineers specializes in mobile app development and UX/UI design for iOS, Android, and hybrid mobile platforms.
Clients
- simplehuman
- Stanford Medicine
- Power Music
- Breaker
Industries
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Swenson He created a prototype and basic landing page for a sports digital marketplace platform. They were hired for their understanding of the client's needs.
"The communication between us and Swenson He was excellent."
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3
- $75,000+
- 10 - 49 employees
- Chicago, IL
Solid Digital is a web design, development, and marketing company with offices in Portland, Ore. and Chicago. With about 30 team members, the agency has expertise in web design, branding, and custom development.
Clients
- Intelligent Medical Objects
- BrandTrust
- Therapeutic Associates
- St Charles Trading
Industries
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Solid Digital provides SEO, PPC, and development services for an energy efficiency solutions provider. They strategize and create PPC campaigns for Google and Bing, and they’re building a calculator widget.
“They're a great partner; the team has learned about our business and understands goals.”
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4
- $10,000+
- 50 - 249 employees
- Chicago, IL
Promet Source is an interactive development firm that based in Chicago with an additional office in the Philippines. Founded in 2003, the team of about 45 employees provides web design and development, e-commerce development, mobile app development and more for larger clients in a variety of industries.
Clients
- GAO
- SDNY
- Orange County
- Marin County
Industries
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Promet Source has been hired by a pool manufacturer to create a tool, enabling their partners to add product content to their websites. The tool must also allow the client to track the usage of the content.
"They are experts in what they do."
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5
- $25,000+
- 10 - 49 employees
- Chicago, IL
Social Driver is a digital agency founded in 2011 with a team of over 10 members. Based in Washington, DC, they offer web design, social media marketing, and digital strategy solutions for clients ranging from small firms to large businesses in the fields of health care and nonprofit, among others.
Clients
- American Nurses Association
- The Education Trust
- Elizabeth Dole Foundation
- Goodwill Industries International
Industries
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A housing equity fund hired Social Driver for web design and development. Social Driver also assisted the client with creating branding guidelines. Key technologies included Webflow and Figma.
“They were worth every penny we spent.”
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6
- $10,000+
- 10 - 49 employees
- Chicago, IL
Intechnic is a full-service development agency Intechnic based in Chicago. The company, founded in 1997, has a team of around 20 and locations in Los Angeles, London, and Melbourne. The team is passionate about helping clients with web design, software development, UX/UI design, and web development projects.
Clients
- Johnson & Johnson
- Ryerson
- Government of Victoria (Australia)
- Mortenson Construction
Industries
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Intechnic was hired to perform a UI/UX review of a SaaS company’s website. They performed extensive research and collected data on the client’s current website to prepare for an entire redesign.
“They are so flexible and willing to accommodate things, no matter what we throw at them.”
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7
- $25,000+
- 10 - 49 employees
- Chicago, IL
Fuzzy Math is a Chicago, IL user experience company with around 15 employees. The company, which was founded in 2009, has a user-centered design approach to drawing up interactive applications and devices for enterprise and midmarket businesses. Their clients are primarily in the healthcare industry, as well as consumer products, financial services, education, and others.
Clients
- BlueCross BlueShield
- Allstate
- SAP Fieldglass
- GE Healthcare
Industries
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Over the course of 5 design sprints and rounds of user research, Fuzzy Math rearchitected and modernized the UX of a web app that matches job fit for prospective candidates.
"They really stuck with us and worked through a challenging schedule and scope."
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8
- $50,000+
- 50 - 249 employees
- Chicago, IL
Foxbox is a mobile app development company based in Chicago. Founded in 2018, the team of 40 specializes in mobile app development, UX/UI design, and web development. They work with small business and midmarket clients.
Clients
- Anthem
- Home Chef (a Kroger company)
- Brideside
- X Co.
Industries
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Foxbox Digital provides mobile app development services for a real estate developer. Their team is building an app with access control systems, an integrated intercom, and a live chat feature.
“It’s a breath of fresh air to work with them because they’re extremely competent and need very little from me.”
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9
- $10,000+
- 10 - 49 employees
- Chicago, IL
Founded in 1999, ArtVersion is a web design industry veteran. Headquartered in Chicago with other locations in Portland, OR and San Francisco, CA, ArtVersion's team of 14 provides web design, UI/UX design, graphic design, and branding.
Clients
- Volvo
- Mack Trucks
- Caterpillar
- TransUnion
Industries
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ArtVersion updated the website and logo of a cloud-based SaaS company. They set up a timeline, designed iconography, refashioned the company's brand, and created content for the client's website.
"The site that ArtVersion designed for us was a perfect mirror of what we strived to become."
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10
- $25,000+
- 10 - 49 employees
- Chicago, IL
Mabbly is a full-service integrated marketing and advertising agency headquartered in Chicago. Founded in 2013, the agency is comprised of fewer than 50 employees and specializes in web design, web development, branding, SEO, digital strategy, and content marketing.
Clients
- Verano Holding Company
- Tolmar
- Graymont Medical
- Graymont X
Industries
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Mabbly helped a nonprofit organization undergo a rebrand. They created several options for a new name and logo, handled SEO and email strategy projects, and developed marketing materials.
"We could tell we were working with a highly professional organization from the beginning."
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11
- $25,000+
- 10 - 49 employees
- Chicago, IL
Founded in 2012, Vault Innovation Group is a 10+-person team based in Chicago, IL. Their services include mobile app and web development and UX/UI design. They also offer branding and post product launch services.
Clients
- GamerzArena
- Geex
- NextMe
- Kuma's Corner
Industries
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A SaaS company hired Vault Innovation for web app and UI/UX development. They built the V.1 of the company's MVP using Laravel and PHP, and implemented features such as user dashboards and portals.
"Their developers from Vault Innovation were smart, skilled, and always available to resolve our issues."
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12
- $50,000+
- 10 - 49 employees
- Chicago, IL
UX 4SIght is a Chicago-based UX-design agency founded in 2009. Their team of approximately 10 employees mostly services midmarket to enterprise-level clients in the financial, educational, and medical sectors. They specialize in streamlining web and mobile applications for an optimal UX.
Clients
- Immediate Care Center of Westmont
- Bitcoin of America (BOA)
- dynaConnections
- Disney
Industries
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UX 4Sight provided website design and development services, working on improving and modernising an existing site’s branding and accessibility. They created a series of mockups and then implemented them.
“The new site has a stronger and much more professional brand.”
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13
- $100,000+
- 10 - 49 employees
- Chicago, IL
Sandstorm Design is a brand strategy and UX agency founded in 1998. Based in Chicago, the team of 31 employees specializes in UX/UI design, web development, and branding. They primarily serve midmarket clients in the consumer products and services, health care, and education industries.
Clients
- Crown Holdings (NYSE: CCK)
- NOW Foods
- Weber
- It Works
Industries
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Sandstorm Design provided strategy support and web-based development. This involved building a web portal from scratch and creating a logo, company name, and brand guidelines.
"This is the work they love, and they’re really good at it."
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14
- Undisclosed
- 250 - 999 employees
- Chicago, IL
Software development firm SPR was established in 1973. The midsize team specializes in custom software development, enterprise app modernization, cloud consulting & SI, ux/ui design, and more. The company is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Industries
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SPR provides ongoing development and staff augmentation for a distributor of plant and seed products. In the past, their work included intranet maintenance, portal development, and mobile app development.
“SPR puts in the time and resources to get you as close to perfection as you can get.”
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15
- $75,000+
- 250 - 999 employees
- Chicago, IL
Codal is a full stack agency located in Chicago, IL. Their 90+-person team works in mobile app development, strategy, e-commerce development, and UX design. Their clients include enterprise companies and startups. Over the years they have worked in consumer products, business services, health, and education.
Clients
- United Airlines
- Pepsi
- DEMDACO
- Charles Schwab
Industries
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Codal developed an iOS app to facilitate guitar player collaboration. The app allows for user interaction and tablature writing. The team was given wireframes and design templates to work off of.
"[Codal's] team is really easy to work with."
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16
- $10,000+
- 10 - 49 employees
- Chicago, IL
Kahoots Creative Group is a digital consulting group based in Chicago, Illinois, that was established in 2014. Their team of fewer than 50 employees offers custom software development, UX/UI design, digital strategy, and web development services.
Clients
- PepsiCo
- TransUnion
- Q-Centrix
- Arcadia Data
Visit SiteNotable Project
Kahoots designed and developed a website for a non-profit organization in Chicago that acts as a cancer support group in the community. Kahoots also worked on the site's mobile responsiveness.
"Thanks to Kahoots, we understand the process, its advantages and disadvantages, and what we can do with the site."
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17
- $25,000+
- 2 - 9 employees
- Berwyn, IL
Kalapa Design Studio is a studio founded in 2020 in Chicago. With no more than 10 professionals, they provide branding, web design, and UX/UI design solutions for clients in the fields of advertising, business services, and IT.
Clients
- Apple
- AWS
- Salesforce
Industries
Visit SiteNotable Project
An IT services company hired Kalapa Design Studio to build a website. They are responsible for brand development, strategies, designs, and concepts.
"Kalapa Design Studio really understood everything and was extremely helpful throughout the process."
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18
- $1,000+
- 10 - 49 employees
- Chicago, IL
Verbsz Marketing is a small SEO services firm. Established in 2017, the team provides search engine optimization, digital strategy, social media marketing, content marketing, and more. The agency is in Herndon, Virginia.
Clients
- IDEAKOKO
- Ticket Here
- Gymsportz
- We Junk It
Industries
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Verbsz Marketing was hired by an IT company to optimize their website, manage their Google and LinkedIn ads, and keep them up to date on the latest trends for IT services and the IT industry.
"They are knowledgeable about IT industry marketing."
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19
- $10,000+
- 2 - 9 employees
- Chicago, IL
Mightybytes is a full service creative firm located in Chicago, Ill. With about 10 employees, Mightybytes supports clients by providing UX/UI design, web development, and SEO services. Mightybytes is also a Certified B Corporation, which was very important to the nonprofit client.
Clients
- Allstate
- Alliance for the Great Lakes
- Court Theatre
- Chicago Association of Realtors
Industries
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Mightybytes designed and developed a website to showcase images and videos, drive ticket sales, and integrate with a third-party providers. Tasks involved creating a CMS, content migration, and on-site SEO.
"With tech people, sometimes it feels like you’re bothering them. Mightybytes has never given us that impression."
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20
- $10,000+
- 10 - 49 employees
- Chicago, IL
Digital AMMO is a digital product agency headquartered in Chicago. Since 2008, the 4-person team has supplied branding, web design, and UX/UI designs to small and midmarket businesses.
Clients
- Lantern Messaging
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Digital AMMO rebuilt and rebranded a WordPress website to support a new growth strategy. Following guidelines, the team designed the platform including layout and UX. They’re creating additional landing pages.
"Their openness to collaboration distinguishes them from competitors."
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21
- $10,000+
- 10 - 49 employees
- Chicago, IL
Punchkick Interactive is a digital development agency in Chicago that was founded in 2006. It has more than 30 employees and specializes in custom software development, UX/UI design, and mobile app development for enterprise and midmarket clients.
Clients
- Hospitality: Marriott
- Renaissance
- Panda Restaurant Group
- United Airlines Retail: PetSmart
Visit SiteNotable Project
Punchkick Interactive designed and developed various websites associated with recruiting. They also performed software development and implemented Oracle Taleo Social Sourcing.
"They are very communicative and easy to work with."
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22
- $75,000+
- 10 - 49 employees
- Chicago, IL
Founded in 2008, Eight Bit Studios is based in Chicago, IL. They work on mobile apps, customer software development, and UX/UI design for clients of all sizes. The team of 35+ employees serves key industries, including education, gaming, and business.
Clients
- Echo Global Logistics
- UL
- New Balance
- Trident
Industries
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Eight Bit Studios conducted extensive user research to improve an internal project fulfillment app. After interviewing end users to identify their needs, they presented their findings and suggested UI changes.
“I’d never worked with a company that was so good at building rapport with their clients.”
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23
- $50,000+
- 10 - 49 employees
- Chicago, IL
Based in Chicago and founded in 2009, Vokal is a mobile and digital agency with nearly 50 employees. Their team specializes in web design and development, mobile app development, and digital strategy.
Clients
- Whole Foods
- Groupon
- Bosch
- San Francisco 49ers
Industries
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Vokal helped a startup with the early dev stages of a financial investment platform. They designed the user interface, creating wireframes they then handed to a development team.
"They recruited a high-caliber team that pointed our project in the right direction."
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24
- $50,000+
- 10 - 49 employees
- Chicago, IL
Symmetri Technology is a web developer based in Northville, Mich. and founded in 2008. Their team of 6 employees who specialize in web development, web design, and UX/UI design for midmarket and enterprise clients in the education, manufacturing, and advertising industries.
Clients
- National Geographic Channels
- ZF
- TRW Automotive
- The University of Michigan
Industries
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Symmetri Marketing created a site on Drupal 8, provided digital marketing services, contributed visual aesthetics, managed a PPC campaign, and handled social media for a retail fixture manufacturing company.
“Right away, we knew we were dealing not just with experts, but personable people.”
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25
- $250,000+
- 250 - 999 employees
- Chicago, IL
Rightpoint, headquartered in Chicago, is a web and mobile app development firm. Founded in 2007, their team of about 450 employees services midmarket and enterprise clients across industries such as consumer products and services, IT, and retail. They also offer UX design services.
Clients
- Macy's
- B&H Photo
- Care.com
- Rue La La
Industries
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Rightpoint redesigned and developed a web and mobile commerce experience that integrates with Oracle NetSuite ERP. Its features include 360-degree product videos, recommendations, and a finder wizard.
"Their designs have been excellent; they completely transformed our website layout and functionality."
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26
- $25,000+
- 10 - 49 employees
- Chicago, IL
Conifer Research is a research and design agency that has been offering market research, UX/UI design, and business consulting services to their enterprise and mid-market clients in the consumer products, health care, and hospitality industries since 2001. Their team of 50 employees is based out of their office in Chicago.
Clients
- McDonalds
- Sonos
- PepsiCo
- Samsung
Industries
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Conifer Research managed market research and exploration ahead of an expansion initiative for a sound company. They provided prototypes, reports with user insights, and video assets to explain the process.
“They brought a high level of coordination and organization to the entire body of the work.”
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27
- $10,000+
- 10 - 49 employees
- Westmont, IL
Cerdonis Technologies LLC is an app development firm. Launched in 2015, the small company is headquartered in Westmont, Illinois and Onalaska, Wisconsin. Their services include mobile app development, ux/ui design, and web development.
Industries
Visit SiteNotable Project
Cerdonis Technologies LLC built a sports reporting app for a software development company. The app was expected to link users' Twitter account to instantly update their followers.
"The project was completed as per my requirements perfectly."
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28
- $100,000+
- 10 - 49 employees
- Chicago, IL
Grand Studio is a digital strategy and product design consultancy headquartered in Chicago. Founded in 2018, they now have about 15 employees who specialize in UX/UI design services. Their clients are typically in the financial services, media, or retail industries.
Clients
- McDonald's
- Chase
- American Express
- Johnson & Johnson
Industries
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Grand Studio provided research and design services for a fast-food restaurant. After a discovery phase, they led workshops and helped improve the usability of their POS to simplify the user journey.
"The team was very collaborative, communicative, and enjoyable to work with."
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29
- $25,000+
- 50 - 249 employees
- Chicago, IL
Adage Technologies is an UX design company located in Chicago, Illinois. The midsize team offers ux/ui design, e-commerce development, web design, and web development. The agency was established in 2001.
Industries
Visit SiteNotable Project
Adage Technologies provides custom software development services for a software company. They work on the API, updating the documentation and its usability to improve the platform for the customers.
“They’re very organized and clear about dates. We’ve hit all our targets.”
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30
- $1,000+
- 10 - 49 employees
- Chicago, IL
User experience design company Nukes Lab was launched in 2010. The company specializes in ux/ui design, graphic design, custom software development, web design, and more and has a small team. The company is based in Chicago, Illinois.
Industries
Visit SiteNotable Project
An outsourcing company collaborated with Nukes Lab for branding and design services. They developed and designed the client's website based on their preferences.
"They were available most of the time and their communication skills were the best."
Most Reviewed User Research Company in Chicago
Check out an User Research Company in Chicago with the most new reviews in the past 12 months.
User Research Company
Chicago
- 11 3 new reviews
- 12 2 new reviews
- 13 2 new reviews
- 14 2 new reviews
- 15 2 new reviews
