Product Design Journal
All things product design
Independent rankings of product design agencies, judged on the products they’ve shipped and the case studies they publish.
01
Shipped products
Live software the studio designed and launched.
02
Case study depth
Published process and results we can check.
03
Research practice
How the team tests ideas with real users before build.
04
Engagement fit
Published minimums and the clients a studio is set up for.
The guides
Guides by product type
Each list covers one kind of product team, so a studio that suits an early MVP isn’t ranked against one built for a large SaaS platform.
How product design engagements are structured
Product design work usually runs in phases, though studios don’t all use the same names for them.
01
Discovery
User and stakeholder interviews, a look at competing products, a review of current processes and an audit of the existing product. It’s usually done when both sides agree on the problem to solve.
02
Design
Wireframes and clickable prototypes, tested with users before the visual design is final.
03
Handoff
Final screens plus specs for interactions, component states, grids and breakpoints.
04
After launch
Optional support, sometimes sold as a monthly retainer. A lower price sometimes leaves out discovery or this phase.
How a ranking is built
Three steps, run the same way for every list
01
Shortlist
Each list starts from studios with live products in its category.
02
Review
03
Rank
The shortlist is ordered against the four criteria on the methodology page.