Best UX Design Agencies in New York (2026)

Introduction

New York is home to many of the studios that design the apps, websites and digital services people use every day, from Brooklyn product shops to the design arms of global consultancies. The 13 agencies below were chosen for the quality of their recent product and experience work, their 2025 and 2026 recognition, and the clients who rely on them.

Ownership in this part of the industry has shifted over the last two years. Accenture Song completed its purchase of Work & Co in January 2024, and private equity firm AEA Investors bought Huge from IPG later that year, merging Hero Digital into it in April 2025. Stagwell grouped Instrument with Code and Theory in a single network in 2024, and in 2026 Campaign US named Instrument its Design Studio of the Year. Some familiar names have left the city: IDEO no longer lists a New York studio, and Ueno closed in 2021.

Every agency here has an active New York studio or office in 2026. The list is unranked, since the right partner depends on the product, the budget and how closely you want to work with the team.

The best UX design agencies in New York

1. Work & Co

Part of Accenture Song · Dumbo, Brooklyn · work.co

Work & Co was founded in Dumbo in 2013 and has shipped more than 470 digital products since. Accenture completed its acquisition in January 2024, and the studio now works as part of Accenture Song while keeping its own name and Front Street headquarters. Its Obama.org redesign received an honourable mention in Fast Company's 2025 Innovation by Design awards.

Best-known projects include the MTA Live Subway Map, IKEA's e-commerce app and Gatorade's Gx app. In the 2025 Webby Awards it was named an honoree for PGA TOUR Vision on Apple Vision Pro and for the Steve Jobs Archive website, its eleventh straight year of Webby recognition.

2. Huge

Owned by AEA Investors · Brooklyn · hugeinc.com

Huge started in Dumbo in 1999 and spent many years inside IPG before AEA Investors bought it in December 2024. In April 2025 AEA folded Hero Digital, its Chicago performance marketing agency, into Huge, adding AI and commerce capacity. Former Razorfish chief executive Josh Campo became CEO in January 2026.

Huge's digital experience for LPGA fans received an honourable mention in Fast Company's 2025 Innovation by Design awards. Other recent work includes an AI scheduling assistant for NBCUniversal's Olympics coverage and a long-running relationship with Google. The agency's Global Experience Center is at Dock 72 in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

3. Instrument

Stagwell (Code and Theory Network) · Financial District · instrument.com

Instrument is a Portland-founded design studio of nearly 300 people, with its New York office at One World Trade Center. Stagwell bought it in 2022 and placed it in the Code and Theory Network in July 2024. Campaign US named it Design Studio of the Year in March 2026.

Its redesign of ŌURA's online store and app has won more than 30 awards across 2025 and 2026, including three 2026 Webbys, and the e-commerce relaunch lifted daily sales by 42% in its first month. Other recent clients include ServiceNow, for a new brand identity system, and Eventbrite, for a product redesign.

4. Code and Theory

Stagwell · Financial District · codeandtheory.com

Code and Theory is built on an even split of creatives and engineers, and works mainly on large digital transformation programmes. Adweek named it its first Innovation Agency of the Year in December 2025, one of seven agency of the year titles it collected that year. It was also on Ad Age's 2026 A-List, and The One Show named it a 2026 AI Pioneer.

Recent client wins include TIME, for an AI-led overhaul of its digital products, and Stanley Black & Decker. It also works with Microsoft, Amazon Ads, the NFL and NBC. Its headquarters shares One World Trade Center with Instrument, and clients can draw on engineering teams elsewhere in the network.

5. Fantasy

Independent · New York · fantasy.co

Fantasy has designed digital products since 1999 and describes itself as a design and innovation partner for large consumer platforms. It remains independently owned under founder David Martin, with studios in New York and San Francisco.

The studio's client list spans technology, media and automotive, including Google, Netflix, Spotify, Masterclass and Mercedes. A recent published case study covers its work for LIV Golf. Its current offer leans on AI product strategy alongside product and brand design.

6. ustwo

Employee-owned · New York · ustwo.com

ustwo is a London-founded digital product studio that has run for 20 years and keeps a New York studio alongside London, Malmö and Lisbon. It is employee-owned and a certified B Corp. A Google DeepMind executive, Simon Bouton, recently joined its board as the studio expands its AI work.

Recent projects include AI-driven health coaching for RVO Health and a redesign of The i Paper's journalism platform. Its wider client list includes Google, Reuters, Lilly, Peloton and HSBC. Health is a growing share of its US business.

7. frog

Part of Capgemini Invent · Flatiron · frog.co

frog was founded in Germany in 1969 and became known for product work such as Apple's Snow White design language and Disney's MagicBands. Capgemini acquired it in 2021, and it now operates as part of Capgemini Invent from 31 studios worldwide, including New York at 79 Fifth Avenue.

The firm works on service design, customer experience and product strategy for large organisations. Its recent research includes the Futurescape report on human and AI interaction and a concept for physical AI and robotics. It suits clients who want strategy, research and delivery inside one consultancy.

8. Smart Design

Independent · Brooklyn Navy Yard · smartdesignworldwide.com

Smart Design is a strategic design company known for OXO kitchen tools and long work with Gatorade and Ford. It moved its studio to the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 2021 and combines research, product, service and digital design with in-house engineering.

Recent recognition includes 2026 Core77 Design Awards and 2026 iF Design Awards, following 2025 IDEA Awards. Clients include Meta, PepsiCo, Nike, Google, Spotify and HSBC. The studio is a good fit when a digital experience is tied to a physical product.

9. AREA 17

Privately held · Greenpoint · area17.com

AREA 17 works across brand, digital experience and technology from two headquarters, Paris and a Greenpoint studio on Dobbin Street. It describes its staff as consultants and craftspeople, and it tends to keep clients for many years.

Current clients include the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, whose digital presence it has built since 2024, the AI creative platform Magnific and Fondation Cartier. Earlier work includes projects for OpenAI, ElevenLabs, Saint Laurent and The New York Times.

10. Bluecadet

Founder-led · New York · bluecadet.com

Bluecadet designs websites, apps and interactive installations, mostly for museums and cultural institutions. Founder Josh Goldblum started it in Philadelphia more than 20 years ago, and it opened a New York studio in 2016.

Recent projects include the Metropolitan Museum of Art's 81st Street Studio, interactive media for the MIT Museum and the Folger Shakespeare Library, and a website for the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. It is a member of SoDA, the digital agency network.

11. Fueled

Privately held · New York · fueled.com

Fueled was founded in New York in 2007 as a mobile app studio and merged with the WordPress agency 10up in 2023. In May 2025 the two came together under the Fueled name, with 10up kept as the brand of its WordPress practice. The combined firm has more than 300 people, mostly remote.

Clients include Google, Microsoft, Salesforce, Hilton and Harvard. Its work for CalMatters' Digital Democracy project won an Emmy, and projects for Microsoft Research and the Harvard School of Public Health were recognised in the 2025 Webby Awards. It suits teams that need product design and a large engineering bench together.

12. Postlight

Part of NTT DATA · Fifth Avenue · postlight.com

Postlight is a digital product studio founded by Paul Ford and Rich Ziade, covering product management, design and engineering. NTT DATA bought it in June 2022, and it runs as a subsidiary from its Fifth Avenue office with staff across the US.

Past clients include Goldman Sachs, Reuters, Fortune and Entertainment Weekly. Postlight prefers to prototype and test an idea before scaling it, and it publishes its thinking through its own newsletter, Track Changes.

13. Big Human

Privately held · New York · bighuman.com

Big Human is a 35-person technology, design and branding studio founded in New York in 2010, with further presence in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Its team is weighted towards engineers, with 15 alongside 12 designers and 8 strategists.

Work includes digital products and sites for Rockefeller Center, Playbill and Graduate Hotels, and the crypto exchange Gemini. Since launch it has built more than 260 websites and 80 applications. Its size suits clients who want senior people on every stage of a project.

What to look for in a New York UX design agency

Start with ownership and scale. Consultancy-owned studios such as Work & Co, frog and Postlight can connect a product to wider technology and operations work. Network members such as Instrument and Code and Theory can draw on engineering teams elsewhere in the group. Smaller independents such as Big Human often put senior designers on every stage of the work.

Ask to see shipped products, and ask what happened after launch. A strong portfolio shows measured results, such as conversion, retention or task completion. Instrument's ŌURA work, with its published sales figures, is a useful benchmark for the kind of evidence to expect.

Check how research is done and who owns it. Good studios test with real users early and often, and hand over interview recordings, findings and design systems at the end so your own team can carry on. Agree in writing which files, source code and Figma libraries you will receive.

Finally, look at the working rhythm: where research, design files and prototypes live, how feedback is gathered and how sign-off is recorded. Product work runs through many review rounds, and decisions scattered across email, Slack and comment threads are easy to lose. A shared place for files and feedback keeps both sides on the same version.

How Fabric helps UX design teams

Fabric gives a product design team one workspace for research, design files and client feedback, with AI search across all of it. The setup for UI and UX agencies keeps one space per client or product, holding briefs, research, screens and call notes together.

User research produces hours of recordings. Fabric's audio and video transcription turns interview and usability session recordings into searchable text with clickable timestamps, and search finds a quote or theme by meaning across transcripts, PDFs and screenshots. AI meeting notes record stakeholder calls without a bot joining.

For exploration and review, the canvas is an infinite whiteboard that embeds live Figma files next to references and flows. Clients and colleagues can leave threaded comments on any file through a shared link without signing up. Highlights and comments on PDFs and documents work today through annotations, and comments and drawing directly on images are coming soon.

When work goes to a client, a folder of screens or a research report can be published as a web page with password protection. On Team plans, self-writing docs maintain a page for each client covering decisions, deliverables and open items. There is more in Fabric's guide to design feedback tools.

Password protection is included on Pro and Team plans, and self-writing docs on Team plans. See plans for teams.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best UX design agency in New York?

It depends on the product and the budget. On 2026 recognition, Instrument was Campaign US Design Studio of the Year, Code and Theory was Adweek's Innovation Agency of the Year for 2025, and Work & Co and Huge both received honourable mentions in Fast Company's 2025 Innovation by Design awards.

Is Work & Co still independent?

No. Accenture completed its acquisition of Work & Co in January 2024. The studio still trades as Work & Co, now part of Accenture Song, from its Dumbo headquarters.

Does IDEO still have a New York office?

IDEO's current locations are Cambridge, Chicago, London, San Francisco and Shanghai, with no New York studio listed. frog and Smart Design are the closest New York alternatives for research-led product and service design.

What is the difference between a UX agency and a creative agency?

A UX agency designs and often builds products people use, such as apps, websites and digital services, and judges success by how they perform. A creative agency focuses on campaigns and brand communication. Many brands use both; see our list of the best creative agencies in New York.

Do New York UX agencies also build the product?

Many do. Code and Theory, Fueled, Postlight and Big Human all have large engineering teams, while others, such as Smart Design, pair design with in-house engineering for physical products. Ask early whether development is in scope or handed to your own team.

Related lists

UX design agencies in other cities: Los Angeles · San Francisco · London · Chicago · Austin

More in New York: Creative agencies · Design agencies · Branding agencies · Marketing agencies · Advertising agencies · Animation

Run your design studio on Fabric: Fabric for UI and UX agencies · Fabric for designers · Best design feedback tools