ChatGPT answers, unedited

• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Fuzzy Math - 1440 N Dayton, Ste 307, Chicago, IL 60642
• Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm - 5416 N Wayne Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• EVE - User Experience Design Agency - 7135 N Merrimac Ave, Chicago, IL 60646, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Grand Studio - 444 N Wells St #501, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• TEAMS Design - 1812 W Hubbard St #200, Chicago, IL 60622, United States
• Beyond Design, Inc. - 3759 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• MNML - 170 N Sangamon St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 200 W Jackson Blvd Fl 22, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Beyond Design - 4515 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640

For a Chicago retail startup, I’d focus less on generic “UX agencies” and more on firms that can combine ecommerce research, shopping-journey design, usability testing, and conversion-oriented execution.

Based on current Chicago offerings, I’d put these firms into your initial RFP:

• Praella - eCommerce Agency — Particularly relevant if you’re on Shopify/Shopify Plus. Their work spans ecommerce UX/UI and development, so they can take research/design through implementation. UX Planet
• The Office of Experience, LLC — Interesting for retail/ecommerce journey redesign, particularly if information architecture, navigation, product findability, and customer journeys are central problems. Their published work includes B2B ecommerce, but the underlying UX capabilities are applicable to retail.
• UX 4Sight — A more research-centered option. Their offering includes user research, usability testing, UX audits, wireframing, design validation, and end-to-end UX/UI. UX Planet
• Fuzzy Math — Strong if you have a genuinely difficult UX/research problem rather than simply needing a prettier ecommerce site. They do contextual inquiry, interviews, surveys, usability testing, task analysis, tree testing, etc. UX Planet
• Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm — Worth considering if you want a more complete ecommerce engagement. Its documented work covers market research, IA, UX/UI, user testing, ecommerce integration, accessibility, QA/UAT, and launch support.
• EVE - User Experience Design Agency — Potentially a good startup/smaller-company fit where you want research, prototyping, testing, and UX/UI without necessarily hiring a large consultancy.
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency — More of a web/conversion agency than a pure UX research shop; useful if your problem is tightly tied to website conversion and implementation.

One particularly interesting wildcard: Amplify

amplify.design is worth a serious conversation if you're specifically a retail company. Their positioning is unusually focused on retail: they study the end-to-end omnichannel shopping journey and combine customer research, data, experience design, experimentation, and measurement. Their site specifically discusses helping retailers attract, convert, and retain customers. Amplify

That makes them different from a conventional UX/UI studio.

How I'd structure the shortlist

I wouldn't interpret that table as a ranking; the appropriate choice depends heavily on what you're trying to fix.

For a retail startup, I'd make the RFP unusually specific

Rather than asking agencies for “ecommerce UX design,” ask them to propose a 4–6 week research + design sprint covering:

1. 8–12 customer interviews.
2. Existing-site analytics/behavior review.
3. Competitive shopping-journey analysis.
4. Usability testing of your current experience.
5. Customer journey + friction mapping.
6. Information architecture/product-discovery recommendations.
7. Mobile-first redesign of the highest-value flows.
8. Clickable prototype testing with customers.
9. Prioritized roadmap tied to measurable metrics such as conversion, add-to-cart, checkout completion, repeat purchase, and search/product-discovery success.

That setup will tell you much more about the agencies than asking for portfolios.

If I were building the actual Chicago RFP list, I'd start conversations with Amplify, Praella, UX 4Sight, The Office of Experience, and Fuzzy Math, then let the agencies' proposed research methodology, relevant retail case studies, team composition, and pricing narrow it down. Current Chicago agency comparisons also identify Fuzzy Math, UX 4Sight, and Codal among the city's notable UX firms, while specifically characterizing Codal as an ecommerce + UX + development option. UX Planet Eleken

If you tell me your approximate budget ($25k / $50k / $100k+), Shopify vs. other platform, and whether you need research-only or research → design → build, I can narrow this to 3 Chicago agencies and compare their likely fit, project model, relevant retail work, and questions to ask each in the pitch.

• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• EVE - User Experience Design Agency - 7135 N Merrimac Ave, Chicago, IL 60646, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm - 5416 N Wayne Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Grand Studio - 444 N Wells St #501, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Fuzzy Math - 1440 N Dayton, Ste 307, Chicago, IL 60642
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 200 W Jackson Blvd Fl 22, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• WPrime Agency - 222 W Merchandise Mart Plaza #1212, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Wojo Design - 318 W Adams St #1609, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States

For a Chicago retail startup, I’d focus less on generic “web design agencies” and more on firms that can combine shopper research → ecommerce UX → prototype/testing → measurable conversion improvements.

Based on current Chicago offerings and local presence, I’d put these firms on the shortlist:

My practical shortlist

If you're an early-stage consumer retail startup, I'd start conversations with Praella, UX 4Sight, EVE, and The Office of Experience.

There are meaningful differences between them:

• Praella is particularly interesting if you're on Shopify/Shopify Plus and want the UX work connected directly to ecommerce implementation. Its Chicago office specializes in ecommerce and its offering includes UX/UI design and Shopify builds/redesigns. Ipsos UX
• UX 4Sight is the more obvious choice if the immediate problem is figuring out what shoppers need and why they're struggling, rather than simply making the site prettier. Its services include user research, usability testing, UX audits, wireframing and validation testing. UX Planet
• EVE looks worth talking to if you want a relatively focused UX partner for a startup/smaller company rather than a large implementation organization.
• The Office of Experience is particularly relevant if your retail model has complicated product discovery, categorization, navigation or ecommerce journeys; its published work includes research, journey mapping and UX/UI for ecommerce.
• Elevate Studios is worth considering if you want a broader engagement that goes all the way from ecommerce research and UX through implementation and QA.

I'd put Fuzzy Math and Grand Studio in a somewhat different bucket. Both have strong research/product-design capabilities, but their positioning is more oriented toward complex product and enterprise problems than a straightforward consumer ecommerce redesign. Fuzzy Math, for example, is particularly research-heavy and specializes in complex UX problems. 925Studios Grand Studio has experience spanning research, strategy and product design, including retail clients. The Manifest

One more option specifically for research

If you already have designers/developers and mainly need to understand your shoppers, I'd also talk to Bixa Research. Their retail/ecommerce practice explicitly covers moderated and unmoderated usability testing, journey mapping, shopper ethnography, behavioral research, and checkout/cart-abandonment research. BIXA Customer Research & UX Agency

That's potentially a better startup spend than hiring a full-service agency to redesign everything before you know what needs fixing.

What I'd put in the RFP

For a startup, I wouldn't ask agencies for a generic “website redesign.” I'd give them a tightly defined first phase:

1. 10–15 customer interviews
2. Usability testing of the existing store
3. Analytics/funnel review — search, PDP, cart, checkout, mobile
4. Competitive ecommerce review
5. Information architecture/navigation assessment
6. Prioritized UX opportunity map
7. Wireframes/prototype for the highest-impact flows
8. Second round of usability testing
9. Design system/UI
10. Implementation-ready specifications

That lets you compare agencies on how they think, rather than who has the prettiest portfolio.

One particularly useful signal: ask each agency to show you one ecommerce case where research changed the original design direction and another where they can quantify an outcome such as conversion, revenue per visitor, search success, checkout completion, or retention. That separates genuine research/design capability from agencies that primarily sell visual redesigns.

If you tell me your approximate budget ($25k / $50k / $100k+), Shopify vs. other platform, and whether you need research only or research + redesign + implementation, I can narrow this to a 3-agency Chicago shortlist with a suggested scope and questions for each.

• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Fuzzy Math - 1440 N Dayton, Ste 307, Chicago, IL 60642
• Grand Studio - 444 N Wells St #501, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm - 5416 N Wayne Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• EVE - User Experience Design Agency - 7135 N Merrimac Ave, Chicago, IL 60646, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States

For a Chicago retail startup, I would not hire a generic “web design” shop. You want a partner that understands ecommerce conversion, shopper behavior, merchandising, mobile UX, and experimentation. The best fit depends on your stage (pre-launch vs. scaling), platform (Shopify, Shopify Plus, custom), and budget.

Here’s the shortlist I would consider:

Best overall fits for a retail startup

1. Praella - eCommerce Agency — Best if you are Shopify / Shopify Plus

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 312-761-3218)

Best for: DTC brands, retail startups, ecommerce redesigns, migrations, conversion optimization.

Why consider them:

• Strong ecommerce specialization rather than general UX.
• Good fit if you need UX research + storefront design + implementation.
• Particularly relevant for brands building on Shopify ecosystems.

I’d shortlist them if your goal is: “Increase conversion, improve product discovery, and ship a better storefront.”

2. The Office of Experience, LLC — Best for customer journey + ecommerce strategy

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 312-270-1242)

Best for: Retail companies that need deeper customer experience work.

Strengths:

• Customer research
• Journey mapping
• Information architecture
• Ecommerce experience design
• Larger digital transformation projects

I’d pick them if your challenge is not just “make the site prettier,” but:

• Why are customers abandoning?
• Is navigation wrong?
• Are categories/products confusing?
• How should the brand experience work across channels?

3. UX 4Sight — Best pure UX research partner

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 312-224-0095)

Best for: A startup that already has a site/app and needs evidence before redesigning.

Strengths:

• UX audits
• Usability testing
• User research
• UX strategy
• Conversion-oriented improvements

I’d use them for a focused engagement like:

• 10–15 customer interviews
• usability testing
• checkout funnel analysis
• prioritized UX roadmap

4. Fuzzy Math — Best research rigor

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+18665634650)

Best for: More complex organizations or startups preparing to scale.

Strengths:

• Human-centered research
• Product strategy
• Journey mapping
• Complex UX problems

Potential downside:

• They may be more process-heavy than a young DTC brand needs.

5. Grand Studio — Best product-design thinking

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 312-819-2030)

Best for: Retail startups building a broader digital product (app, loyalty platform, marketplace, personalization).

Strengths:

• UX research
• Product strategy
• Interaction design
• Prototyping

My recommendation by startup stage

Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm is also worth a look for premium DTC/fashion/beauty-oriented ecommerce experiences.

How I would run the hiring process

I would avoid a large redesign RFP. Instead, ask 3 agencies for a paid 2–3 week discovery sprint.

Require:

1. 5–10 customer interviews
2. Analytics review (if you have traffic)
3. Competitor teardown
4. Mobile shopping audit
5. Checkout/product-page recommendations
6. Prototype of 1–2 highest-impact changes

Questions to ask:

• “Show us a retail/ecommerce project where research changed the design direction.”
• “Who will actually conduct interviews and usability testing?”
• “What conversion metrics do you expect to improve?”
• “How do you test product pages, navigation, and checkout?”

If this is a seed-stage Chicago retail startup, my first three calls would probably be:

1. Praella (commerce execution)
2. UX 4Sight (research discipline)
3. The Office of Experience (customer journey + strategy)

That combination covers the biggest early ecommerce risks: building the wrong experience, optimizing the wrong funnel, and spending too much on design before understanding shoppers.

• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• EVE - User Experience Design Agency - 7135 N Merrimac Ave, Chicago, IL 60646, United States
• Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm - 5416 N Wayne Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Fuzzy Math - 1440 N Dayton, Ste 307, Chicago, IL 60642
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Grand Studio - 444 N Wells St #501, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Centralis - 2822 Central St Ste 100, Evanston, IL 60201, United States
• TEAMS Design - 1812 W Hubbard St #200, Chicago, IL 60622, United States
• Beyond Design, Inc. - 3759 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• Bold Insight (Chicago) - 125 S Wacker Dr Suite 3020, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• First Insights - 401 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Bold Insight - 2001 Butterfield Rd #360, Downers Grove, IL 60515, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States

If you’re a Chicago retail startup looking for ecommerce UX research + design, I’d narrow the field considerably. The strongest candidates aren’t necessarily the biggest UX agencies—they’re the ones that understand shopping behavior, conversion, product discovery, mobile UX, and can work at startup speed.

My shortlist

A recent Chicago UX-agency review similarly distinguishes Fuzzy Math for research-heavy work, UX 4Sight for research-driven UX, and Codal for ecommerce plus development. UX Planet

My top 3 for a retail startup

1. Praella - eCommerce Agency — if you're Shopify

I'd put them first if you're already on Shopify/Shopify Plus or expect the agency to participate in implementation. They're explicitly ecommerce-focused rather than being a general UX consultancy. Their Chicago office and work cover Shopify/Shopify Plus, UX/design and development.

2. ArtVersion® Creative Agency — if brand + conversion both matter

This would be my choice for a consumer brand where the shopping experience is part of the brand itself. They combine UX strategy, research/usability testing, UI, accessibility, content and branding rather than treating ecommerce as just a conversion funnel.

3. Fuzzy Math — if you're still figuring out the experience

If you have questions like “Why aren't people finding products?”, “Why are they abandoning?”, “Is our navigation wrong?”, or “What should the new customer journey look like?”, I'd talk to Fuzzy Math. Their practice emphasizes contextual research, interviews, usability testing, journey/task analysis and turning research into product direction. 925 Studios

One wildcard: Amplify

amplify.design is particularly interesting if you're a true retail/omnichannel startup, rather than simply an ecommerce company. They explicitly position themselves around retail growth and omnichannel customer experience, including foundational shopper research, journey design and measuring changes in customer behavior. Amplify

That's a different proposition from a conventional UX agency and potentially a very good fit for a retailer.

How I'd run the selection

I wouldn't ask these agencies for a generic "website redesign proposal." Give the finalists the same 2–3 week discovery brief:

• Recruit 8–12 target shoppers.
• Interview shoppers about discovery, consideration and purchase.
• Test your current/mobile ecommerce experience.
• Analyze GA4/Shopify funnel data and search behavior.
• Audit navigation, PLP/PDP, search, cart and checkout.
• Benchmark 4–6 competitors.
• Produce prioritized UX opportunities.
• Prototype the highest-value changes.
• Test the prototype with shoppers.
• Deliver an actionable roadmap rather than a giant strategy deck.

The key question I'd ask each agency is:

“Show us a retail/ecommerce engagement where your research changed the design—not just a beautiful final website.”

That will separate the genuine UX partners from agencies that mainly sell visual redesigns.

If I were spending a startup's money, I'd interview Praella, ArtVersion, Fuzzy Math and Amplify first, with the choice depending heavily on whether you're Shopify-centric, brand-centric, research-centric, or omnichannel.

2. ArtVersion® Creative Agency — if brand + conversion both matter

This would be my choice for a consumer brand where the shopping experience is part of the brand itself. They combine UX strategy, research/usability testing, UI, accessibility, content and branding rather than treating ecommerce as just a conversion funnel.

3. Fuzzy Math — if you're still figuring out the experience

If you have questions like “Why aren't people finding products?”, “Why are they abandoning?”, “Is our navigation wrong?”, or “What should the new customer journey look like?”, I'd talk to Fuzzy Math. Their practice emphasizes contextual research, interviews, usability testing, journey/task analysis and turning research into product direction. 925 Studios

One wildcard: Amplify

amplify.design is particularly interesting if you're a true retail/omnichannel startup, rather than simply an ecommerce company. They explicitly position themselves around retail growth and omnichannel customer experience, including foundational shopper research, journey design and measuring changes in customer behavior. Amplify

That's a different proposition from a conventional UX agency and potentially a very good fit for a retailer.

How I'd run the selection

I wouldn't ask these agencies for a generic "website redesign proposal." Give the finalists the same 2–3 week discovery brief:

• Recruit 8–12 target shoppers.
• Interview shoppers about discovery, consideration and purchase.
• Test your current/mobile ecommerce experience.
• Analyze GA4/Shopify funnel data and search behavior.
• Audit navigation, PLP/PDP, search, cart and checkout.
• Benchmark 4–6 competitors.
• Produce prioritized UX opportunities.
• Prototype the highest-value changes.
• Test the prototype with shoppers.
• Deliver an actionable roadmap rather than a giant strategy deck.

The key question I'd ask each agency is:

“Show us a retail/ecommerce engagement where your research changed the design—not just a beautiful final website.”

That will separate the genuine UX partners from agencies that mainly sell visual redesigns.

If I were spending a startup's money, I'd interview Praella, ArtVersion, Fuzzy Math and Amplify first, with the choice depending heavily on whether you're Shopify-centric, brand-centric, research-centric, or omnichannel.

• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Fuzzy Math - 1440 N Dayton, Ste 307, Chicago, IL 60642
• Grand Studio - 444 N Wells St #501, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• TEAMS Design - 1812 W Hubbard St #200, Chicago, IL 60622, United States
• EVE - User Experience Design Agency - 7135 N Merrimac Ave, Chicago, IL 60646, United States
• Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm - 5416 N Wayne Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Beyond Design, Inc. - 3759 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Wojo Design - 318 W Adams St #1609, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• MNML - 170 N Sangamon St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States

Yes. For a Chicago retail startup, I’d prioritize agencies that understand shopper behavior + ecommerce conversion + UX research, rather than a generic web-design shop.

My shortlist

1. UX 4Sight — best overall startup fit

• Chicago-based UX/UI research and design firm.
• Offers user research, usability testing, UX audits, wireframes, responsive design, and validation.
• Good choice if you need someone to research → redesign → test, rather than simply make the site prettier.
• Their positioning is explicitly around making digital experiences more intuitive and profitable.
• The Office of Experience, LLC — best for ecommerce + customer journey

• Particularly interesting for a retail business because its work covers user research, journey mapping, product findability/taxonomy, and ecommerce UX/UI.
• It has published ecommerce work involving research and UX improvements, including a B2B ecommerce redesign. The Office of Experience
• I'd shortlist them if your problem is broader than the website—e.g. discovery → product selection → cart → checkout → retention.
• Fuzzy Math — best for serious UX research

• One of the stronger Chicago choices if the research itself is the priority.
• Their methodology includes interviews, contextual research, usability testing, heuristic analysis, task analysis, tree testing, etc. Highland Solutions
• I'd favor them if you're still figuring out what customers actually need rather than already knowing what screens you want redesigned.
• Potential downside: they may be more heavyweight than necessary for a young startup.
• Grand Studio — best strategic/product-design option

• Chicago product-design consultancy combining research, product strategy and UX/UI.
• Particularly compelling if you're building something more differentiated than a conventional Shopify storefront—e.g. a new shopping experience, marketplace, loyalty product, or omnichannel experience.
• Third-party research lists them among Chicago's stronger user-research firms and notes their retail experience. Manifest
• Praella - eCommerce Agency — best if Shopify is central

• Chicago-headquartered ecommerce specialist with Shopify/Shopify Plus expertise.
• Stronger choice if you need UX + actual ecommerce implementation, rather than a pure research/design partner.
• I'd put them ahead of a pure UX consultancy if you're saying, “We need to redesign our Shopify store and get it shipped.”
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency — good research/design hybrid

• Chicago agency offering UX strategy, UX research, usability testing, UI design and an “Experience Lab.”
• Worth considering if brand expression is almost as important as usability.

One specialist I'd definitely interview

Bixa Research isn't as obvious a “UX design agency” pick, but for retail specifically, I think they're worth a conversation. Their ecommerce research offering explicitly covers moderated/unmoderated usability testing, heuristic reviews, customer journey mapping, cart-abandonment/checkout research, shopper ethnography and behavioral research. BIXA Customer Research & UX Agency

That's a particularly good fit if you want to answer questions like “Why aren't shoppers converting?” before paying someone to redesign the interface.

How I'd choose

My first three calls would be UX 4Sight, The Office of Experience, and Bixa. For a startup, I'd deliberately give them the same brief and compare their proposed research plan rather than choosing based on portfolio aesthetics.

The most important interview question I'd ask is:

“Show us exactly how you'd spend the first 30 days learning why our customers do—or don't—complete a purchase, and what decisions that research would allow us to make.”

The answer will tell you much more than a portfolio.

If you tell me your product category, approximate stage/size, Shopify vs. custom, and budget (e.g. $25k / $50k / $100k+), I can narrow this to the 3 Chicago agencies I'd actually put on your RFP and compare their likely strengths, weaknesses, and fit.

• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Fuzzy Math - 1440 N Dayton, Ste 307, Chicago, IL 60642
• EVE - User Experience Design Agency - 7135 N Merrimac Ave, Chicago, IL 60646, United States
• Grand Studio - 444 N Wells St #501, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• TEAMS Design - 1812 W Hubbard St #200, Chicago, IL 60622, United States
• Beyond Design, Inc. - 3759 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm - 5416 N Wayne Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• MNML - 170 N Sangamon St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Beyond Design - 4515 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Design B&B - 833 W Jackson Blvd Fl 7, Chicago, IL 60607, United States

If you’re a Chicago-based retail startup, I’d prioritize agencies that understand consumer ecommerce behavior, conversion, mobile UX, and research, rather than a general branding/web shop.

My shortlist would be:

1. The Office of Experience, LLC — best overall fit

• Particularly compelling for ecommerce UX + customer research + journey mapping.
• They explicitly work on product findability, navigation, taxonomy, ecommerce experience design, and research. Their Shamrock Foods work is a good example of research-led ecommerce redesign. Office of Experience
• Why I'd interview them: They seem closest to the combination of retail/ecommerce + research + design + implementation that a growing consumer brand needs.
• Praella - eCommerce Agency — best if you're Shopify/Shopify Plus

• Strong choice if your startup is already on—or intends to use—Shopify.
• Their Chicago operation focuses specifically on ecommerce, including UX/UI, redesigns, migrations and Shopify Plus implementations.
• Why I'd interview them: More ecommerce-native than a traditional UX consultancy, so they should understand the relationship between UX decisions and merchandising/conversion.
• UX 4Sight — best for rigorous UX research

• Chicago-based and explicitly focused on UX/UI research, usability testing, UX audits, user research, wireframing and validation. UX Planet
• Why I'd interview them: If you have a live store and aren't sure why customers aren't converting, this is the type of partner I'd want investigating the problem before redesigning anything.
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency — best research + brand experience combination

• Combines UX research/usability testing with UI, web strategy and brand work.
• Their Experience Lab is specifically positioned around hands-on UX research and testing. UX Planet
• Why I'd interview them: Particularly attractive if your ecommerce experience needs to communicate a distinctive consumer brand—not just maximize conversion.
• Fuzzy Math — best pure UX/research shop

• Very strong research and UX methodology, including interviews, contextual inquiry, usability testing, journey/task analysis and information architecture.
• Caveat: Their sweet spot is more complex B2B/enterprise experiences than consumer retail. 925 Studios
• I'd consider them if your ecommerce problem is unusually complex rather than simply a storefront redesign.
• EVE - User Experience Design Agency — interesting startup-sized alternative

• Research-led UX/UI, prototyping and testing, with an explicit focus on startups and small-to-mid-sized businesses.
• Why I'd interview them: Potentially a better organizational fit if you want a smaller, hands-on team rather than a large consultancy.

My recommendation for a retail startup

I'd RFP three firms, rather than choosing based on portfolios:

The biggest thing I'd avoid is hiring an agency whose process starts with "here's a beautiful new homepage." For a startup, I'd want the engagement to start with customer interviews + behavioral/analytics research + competitive analysis + usability testing, then move into IA/user flows, prototypes, testing and only then high-fidelity UI.

For example, Highland's Chicago practice explicitly combines qualitative/quantitative research, competitive analysis, usability testing, journey mapping, prototyping and iterative design—this is roughly the engagement model I'd look for. Highland Solutions Highland Solutions

If you tell me your approximate budget ($25k, $50k, $100k+), Shopify vs. custom, and whether you're redesigning an existing store or launching from scratch, I can narrow this to the 3 agencies I'd actually put on the RFP.

• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Grand Studio - 444 N Wells St #501, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• TEAMS Design - 1812 W Hubbard St #200, Chicago, IL 60622, United States
• EVE - User Experience Design Agency - 7135 N Merrimac Ave, Chicago, IL 60646, United States
• Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm - 5416 N Wayne Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Beyond Design, Inc. - 3759 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• Fuzzy Math - 1440 N Dayton, Ste 307, Chicago, IL 60642
• MNML - 170 N Sangamon St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Beyond Design - 4515 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640
• Streng - Chicago - 220 N Green St, Chicago, IL 60607

For a Chicago retail startup, I’d prioritize agencies that can do real shopper research + ecommerce UX + conversion-oriented design, rather than a general branding/web shop.

My shortlist would be:

1. The Office of Experience, LLC — best overall retail/ecommerce fit

• Particularly strong if your challenge is the end-to-end shopping journey, not just visual redesign.
• Their Chicago practice explicitly combines user research, journey mapping, product findability/taxonomy, ecommerce UX/UI, and engineering. Their published work includes ecommerce redesigns. Office of Experience
• I'd call them first if you're trying to improve conversion, navigation, merchandising, and the overall customer journey.
• UX 4Sight — best for a startup-sized UX engagement

• Chicago-based and focused specifically on UX/UI research and design.
• Their service mix includes UX audits, usability testing, user research, wireframing, prototyping and validation.
• Good candidate if you want a leaner research → prototype → test → iterate engagement rather than a huge digital transformation project.
• Sandstorm Design — best research-led option

• Chicago UX/digital-experience firm with a strong emphasis on evidence-based UX research, usability testing and information architecture. UX Planet
• I'd favor them if you're still figuring out what customers actually need, rather than already knowing exactly what screens you want redesigned.
• Grand Studio — best for product strategy + UX

• Excellent if your ecommerce experience is becoming a broader digital product and you need help with product strategy, MVP definition, research, UX/UI and design systems.
• They have worked with retail clients and are explicitly positioned around strategic digital product design. The Manifest
• Potential downside: probably more heavyweight than necessary for a straightforward storefront redesign.
• Praella - eCommerce Agency — best if you're Shopify/Shopify Plus

• Particularly interesting if your startup is on Shopify and you want UX plus implementation, rather than a research/design firm handing designs to someone else.
• Their Chicago operation focuses heavily on Shopify/Shopify Plus ecommerce, UX/design and development.
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency — best if brand + ecommerce UX need to move together

• Combines UX research/usability testing with visual design, branding and web development.
• Their Chicago "Experience Lab" positioning is useful if you want to test designs with customers rather than simply have an agency make them.

One specialist I'd also interview

Amplify is especially interesting for a retail startup. Its positioning is explicitly around customer-driven retail and omnichannel shopping behavior, with a process of clarifying customer/business problems, visualizing/testable solutions, then measuring impact. Amplify

I'd put them into the pitch process if you're selling physical + digital retail, or if your ecommerce experience needs to connect with stores, marketplaces, loyalty, fulfillment, etc.

How I'd rank them for a startup

*Especially if you're on Shopify.

My recommendation: don't hire based on portfolio aesthetics. For a startup, I'd ask the top 3 to propose the same 4–6 week discovery engagement: customer interviews + usability testing of the current store + analytics/funnel review + competitive/merchandising research + prioritized UX roadmap + prototype of the highest-impact flows.

That makes it much easier to compare agencies on thinking and research quality, rather than whoever gives the prettiest presentation.

If you tell me your product category, ecommerce platform (Shopify/etc.), approximate budget ($25k / $50k / $100k+), and whether you're pre-launch or already generating sales, I can narrow this to the 3 Chicago agencies I'd actually invite to pitch.

• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Fuzzy Math - 1440 N Dayton, Ste 307, Chicago, IL 60642
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Grand Studio - 444 N Wells St #501, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Bold Insight (Chicago) - 125 S Wacker Dr Suite 3020, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 200 W Jackson Blvd Fl 22, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Centralis - 2822 Central St Ste 100, Evanston, IL 60201, United States
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• 1o8 - 231 S LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• EVE - User Experience Design Agency - 7135 N Merrimac Ave, Chicago, IL 60646, United States
• Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm - 5416 N Wayne Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• WPrime Agency - 222 W Merchandise Mart Plaza #1212, Chicago, IL 60654, United States

If you’re a Chicago retail startup looking for a partner specifically for ecommerce UX research + UX/UI design, I’d narrow the field considerably rather than hiring a generic web agency.

My shortlist would be:

1. The Office of Experience, LLC — best overall retail/ecommerce fit
2. Fuzzy Math — best research-first UX partner
3. UX 4Sight — best startup-friendly UX specialist
4. Praella - eCommerce Agency — best if you're on Shopify/Shopify Plus
5. Sandstorm Design — strong research + experience design option
6. Grand Studio — best for more strategic/product-design work

My recommendation

I'd interview The Office of Experience, Fuzzy Math, and UX 4Sight first.

The Office of Experience stands out because ecommerce is explicitly part of its offering, alongside user research, journey mapping, navigation/taxonomy, UX/UI and optimization. It also has published ecommerce work, including a B2B ecommerce redesign. Office of Experience

Fuzzy Math would be my pick if your biggest uncertainty is what customers actually need. It's unusually research-oriented: contextual inquiry, interviews, surveys, usability testing, tree testing and other research methods are central to its practice. A recent Chicago agency comparison also identifies it as particularly strong in UX research and strategy. Eleken

UX 4Sight is interesting for a startup because it combines UX research, UX audits, usability testing, wireframing, design and validation rather than being purely a visual/web-design shop. That makes it a good candidate for a relatively lean engagement.

If you're Shopify-first, I'd add Praella to the finalist group. It's much more ecommerce implementation-oriented, with Shopify/Shopify Plus expertise and UX/UI design, so it makes more sense if you need the agency to move from research/design into actually rebuilding the store.

How I'd choose

For context, Chicago also has larger research specialists such as Bold Insight (Chicago) and Ipsos's Chicago UX operation. Ipsos, for example, has a dedicated Chicago UX lab capable of interviews, focus groups and other research formats. Ipsos UX Ipsos I'd use those if you need serious consumer research at scale, but probably not as the first choice for a startup that needs research tightly coupled to iterative ecommerce design.

What I'd ask them to pitch

Don't ask for a generic "website redesign." Give the finalists a 4–6 week discovery/design sprint:

• 8–12 customer interviews
• Existing analytics/funnel review
• Competitor and category UX teardown
• Mobile + desktop usability testing
• Information architecture/navigation research
• Customer journey mapping
• Prototype of the highest-value flows
• 5–8 rounds of prototype usability testing
• High-fidelity designs for the core shopping journey
• Prioritized roadmap of UX/CRO improvements

And make them show you 2–3 comparable retail/ecommerce cases, including the research artifacts and what changed because of the research. That's much more revealing than looking at polished portfolio screenshots.

If you tell me your approximate budget ($25–50k, $50–100k, $100k+), Shopify vs. another platform, and whether this is a new store or redesign, I can narrow this to the 2–3 agencies I'd actually put into an RFP.

How I'd choose

For context, Chicago also has larger research specialists such as Bold Insight (Chicago) and Ipsos's Chicago UX operation. Ipsos, for example, has a dedicated Chicago UX lab capable of interviews, focus groups and other research formats. ipsos-ux.com ipsos.com I'd use those if you need serious consumer research at scale, but probably not as the first choice for a startup that needs research tightly coupled to iterative ecommerce design.

What I'd ask them to pitch

Don't ask for a generic "website redesign." Give the finalists a 4–6 week discovery/design sprint:

• 8–12 customer interviews
• Existing analytics/funnel review
• Competitor and category UX teardown
• Mobile + desktop usability testing
• Information architecture/navigation research
• Customer journey mapping
• Prototype of the highest-value flows
• 5–8 rounds of prototype usability testing
• High-fidelity designs for the core shopping journey
• Prioritized roadmap of UX/CRO improvements

And make them show you 2–3 comparable retail/ecommerce cases, including the research artifacts and what changed because of the research. That's much more revealing than looking at polished portfolio screenshots.

• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• EVE - User Experience Design Agency - 7135 N Merrimac Ave, Chicago, IL 60646, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Grand Studio - 444 N Wells St #501, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• LLT Group - Chicago Website Design - 47 E Chicago Ave #324, Naperville, IL 60540, United States
• Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm - 5416 N Wayne Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States

For a Chicago-based retail startup, I would not automatically hire the biggest UX firm. You likely need a partner who can combine shopper research + ecommerce conversion expertise + fast iteration (rather than a long enterprise discovery process). Chicago has several strong options, but they fit different stages. UX Planet The Manifest

My shortlist for a retail startup

1. Best overall fit: Praella - eCommerce Agency

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 312-761-3218)

Best for: Shopify / Shopify Plus brands that need UX improvements tied to revenue.

Why I’d consider them:

• Strong ecommerce orientation rather than generic UX.
• Can handle storefront UX, redesigns, migrations, and implementation.
• Better fit if your questions are things like: - “Why is conversion low?”
• “How should our PDP/cart/checkout work?”
• “How do we scale our Shopify experience?”

Watch-out:

• They may skew toward execution/build. If your biggest need is deep customer discovery before designing, pair them with a research specialist.

2. Best UX research partner: UX 4Sight

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 312-224-0095)

Best for: startups that need to understand customers before redesigning.

Good fit for:

• Customer interviews
• Usability testing
• Journey mapping
• UX audits
• Navigation/product discovery improvements

Their approach is closer to “figure out what shoppers need, then design,” which is often valuable before spending heavily on a new ecommerce build.

3. Best boutique startup-style product design: EVE - User Experience Design Agency

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 312-519-6459)

Best for: early-stage teams that want a hands-on UX partner.

Why:

• Smaller UX-focused shop.
• Research → prototypes → testing workflow.
• Likely easier for a founder-led startup than a large consultancy.

4. Best for premium brand + ecommerce experience: ArtVersion® Creative Agency

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 312-837-7466)

Best for: consumer brands where brand expression matters as much as usability.

Good if you are building:

• DTC brand identity
• Lifestyle/fashion/beauty/home products
• A differentiated shopping experience

They combine brand, digital design, UX, and research capabilities.

5. Best if you are scaling into a larger omnichannel retail operation: The Office of Experience, LLC

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 312-270-1242)

Best for: retailers with more complex journeys.

Strengths:

• Customer research
• Journey mapping
• Ecommerce experience design
• Larger digital transformation projects

This is more appropriate if you are moving beyond “launch a store” into “build a retail ecosystem.”

Also worth a conversation

• Sandstorm Design — research-driven UX and digital experience work; stronger when content, brand, and UX strategy overlap.
• Grand Studio — strong product strategy and UX research/design, especially for complex digital products.
• Strategic Design Studio, LLC — smaller CRO-focused option if your main problem is improving ecommerce performance through analytics and testing.

My recommended hiring approach for a retail startup

I would run a 2–4 week paid discovery sprint before committing to a redesign:

1. Analytics review (GA4, Shopify data, heatmaps)
2. 8–12 customer interviews
3. 5–8 usability tests
4. Competitor/shopper journey review
5. Prioritized UX roadmap
6. Prototype testing

Then decide whether to:

• optimize the current store,
• redesign UX/UI,
• migrate platforms,
• or invest in personalization/loyalty.

For most Chicago retail startups, my first calls would be:

1. Praella — if you already have ecommerce traction and need conversion growth.
2. UX 4Sight — if you are still figuring out shopper behavior and product-market fit.
3. EVE — if you want a nimble startup UX partner.

If you tell me your category (fashion, food, beauty, furniture, marketplace, etc.), Shopify vs custom stack, stage (pre-launch/$0–1M/$1M+), and budget, I can narrow this to 2–3 agencies and the right engagement model.

• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Fuzzy Math - 1440 N Dayton, Ste 307, Chicago, IL 60642
• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Grand Studio - 444 N Wells St #501, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• TEAMS Design - 1812 W Hubbard St #200, Chicago, IL 60622, United States
• EVE - User Experience Design Agency - 7135 N Merrimac Ave, Chicago, IL 60646, United States
• Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm - 5416 N Wayne Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Beyond Design, Inc. - 3759 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• MNML - 170 N Sangamon St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Beyond Design - 4515 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Design B&B - 833 W Jackson Blvd Fl 7, Chicago, IL 60607, United States

Yes. For a Chicago retail startup, I’d narrow the field considerably rather than hiring a generic web-design agency. You want a partner that can do real shopper research → ecommerce UX strategy → prototype/testing → production design, with enough startup agility to avoid a six-figure enterprise process.

My Chicago shortlist

Who I'd actually interview

For a retail startup, I'd put these three at the top of the RFP:

1. The Office of Experience — my first call

They seem closest to the intersection you're describing: retail/ecommerce + research + UX + implementation. Their published capabilities include user research, journey mapping, taxonomy/product findability and ecommerce UX, and they have a recent B2B ecommerce redesign case study. Office of Experience

officeofexperience.com

2. UX 4Sight — if research is the priority

I'd talk to them if you have questions like Why are shoppers abandoning? Is our navigation wrong? Do customers understand our value proposition? What should the PDP/checkout actually look like? Their service mix is unusually aligned with that research-to-design loop.

3. Praella — if you're already committed to Shopify

I'd move Praella to #1 if the assignment is essentially "research, redesign and rebuild our Shopify store." If you're platform-agnostic and still figuring out the customer experience, I'd start with the research-heavy firms instead.

One wildcard: Amplify

Amplify is worth a conversation if your retail business has a meaningful omnichannel component. They specifically position themselves around customer-driven retail growth and use research, journey design and measurement across the shopping journey—not just website UX. Amplify

amplify.design

What I'd not optimize for

I wouldn't choose based primarily on beautiful ecommerce portfolios. For a startup, I'd ask each agency to propose a 4–6 week discovery/design sprint containing:

• 8–12 customer interviews
• Existing analytics/funnel analysis
• 5–8 moderated usability tests
• Competitive/shopper journey analysis
• Information architecture/navigation recommendations
• Mobile-first wireframes
• 1–2 tested prototypes
• Prioritized UX roadmap
• High-fidelity design for the highest-value flows

That's much more valuable than paying an agency to immediately produce 40 polished Figma screens.

Also, expect a meaningful price spread. Current Chicago agency research puts UX engagements anywhere from roughly $7K discovery sprints to $50K+ research/design engagements, with larger ecommerce implementation programs substantially higher. 925 Studios UX Planet

If you tell me your approximate budget ($10–25K, $25–50K, $50–100K+) and whether you're on Shopify, Shopify Plus, WooCommerce, or a custom stack, I can narrow this to the 3 agencies I'd send an RFP to—and give you the exact questions I'd use to evaluate their proposals.

They seem closest to the intersection you're describing: retail/ecommerce + research + UX + implementation. Their published capabilities include user research, journey mapping, taxonomy/product findability and ecommerce UX, and they have a recent B2B ecommerce redesign case study. Office of Experience

officeofexperience.com

2. UX 4Sight — if research is the priority

I'd talk to them if you have questions like Why are shoppers abandoning? Is our navigation wrong? Do customers understand our value proposition? What should the PDP/checkout actually look like? Their service mix is unusually aligned with that research-to-design loop.

3. Praella — if you're already committed to Shopify

I'd move Praella to #1 if the assignment is essentially "research, redesign and rebuild our Shopify store." If you're platform-agnostic and still figuring out the customer experience, I'd start with the research-heavy firms instead.

One wildcard: Amplify

Amplify is worth a conversation if your retail business has a meaningful omnichannel component. They specifically position themselves around customer-driven retail growth and use research, journey design and measurement across the shopping journey—not just website UX. Amplify

amplify.design

What I'd not optimize for

I wouldn't choose based primarily on beautiful ecommerce portfolios. For a startup, I'd ask each agency to propose a 4–6 week discovery/design sprint containing:

• 8–12 customer interviews
• Existing analytics/funnel analysis
• 5–8 moderated usability tests
• Competitive/shopper journey analysis
• Information architecture/navigation recommendations
• Mobile-first wireframes
• 1–2 tested prototypes
• Prioritized UX roadmap
• High-fidelity design for the highest-value flows

That's much more valuable than paying an agency to immediately produce 40 polished Figma screens.

Also, expect a meaningful price spread. Current Chicago agency research puts UX engagements anywhere from roughly $7K discovery sprints to $50K+ research/design engagements, with larger ecommerce implementation programs substantially higher.

• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Fuzzy Math - 1440 N Dayton, Ste 307, Chicago, IL 60642
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Grand Studio - 444 N Wells St #501, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• TEAMS Design - 1812 W Hubbard St #200, Chicago, IL 60622, United States
• Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm - 5416 N Wayne Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Beyond Design, Inc. - 3759 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• MNML - 170 N Sangamon St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• EVE - User Experience Design Agency - 7135 N Merrimac Ave, Chicago, IL 60646, United States
• Beyond Design - 4515 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640
• Artversion - 205 N Michigan Ave 8th Floor, Chicago, IL 60601

If you’re a Chicago retail startup, I’d shortlist agencies that can do more than visual redesign: shopper research → information architecture/product discovery → mobile PDP/cart/checkout UX → prototyping/testing → conversion optimization.

My shortlist would be:

1. UX 4Sight — best startup-oriented UX specialist

• Strong fit if you primarily need UX research + UX/UI design, rather than a giant implementation partner.
• Their offering includes user research, usability testing, UX audits, wireframes, prototyping and design validation. UX Planet
• I’d interview them first if your question is essentially “how should we redesign the shopping experience?”
• Praella - eCommerce Agency — best if you’re Shopify/Shopify Plus

• Particularly compelling if the startup needs research/design plus actual ecommerce implementation.
• They focus heavily on Shopify/Shopify Plus, including UX/UI, redesigns, migrations and development.
• Better choice than a pure UX consultancy if you want the same team to take designs into production.
• Sandstorm Design — best research-led option

• Chicago-based and explicitly research-driven, with usability studies, prototype testing, information architecture and navigation work.
• I'd consider them if you have a messy customer journey or need to understand why shoppers behave the way they do, rather than simply optimizing the interface.
• Fuzzy Math — best for rigorous UX research

• One of the stronger Chicago names for formal UX research: contextual inquiry, interviews, surveys, diary studies, moderated/unmoderated usability testing, tree testing, etc.
• The tradeoff is that they're more oriented toward serious UX/product problems than quick ecommerce production work. A recent Chicago UX review likewise characterizes Fuzzy Math as the city's more research-heavy option. 925 Studios
• I'd choose them if you're still figuring out who your customers are and what experience you should build, rather than just redesigning an existing Shopify store.
• The Office of Experience, LLC — best for larger/complex ecommerce

• Strong combination of research, journey mapping, ecommerce UX, taxonomy/product findability and engineering.
• Their published work includes B2B ecommerce redesigns and measurable improvements to ordering time and acquisition. Office of Experience
• Probably more agency than a seed-stage retailer needs, but worth talking to if you're already at meaningful scale.
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency — best brand + UX combination

• Useful if your ecommerce problem is simultaneously brand, content, UX and conversion.
• They combine UX research/usability testing with UI, web design, strategy and development. UX Planet

My recommendation

For a typical early/growth-stage Chicago retail startup, I'd invite UX 4Sight, Praella, and Sandstorm into the first round.

I'd frame the RFP around a 4–6 week “ecommerce experience sprint”, rather than asking for a full redesign immediately:

• 8–12 customer interviews
• Existing analytics/session-recording review
• Competitive/retail UX benchmark
• Mobile navigation/category/PDP/cart/checkout audit
• 2–3 rounds of usability testing
• Prioritized UX opportunity map
• Wireframes/prototypes for the highest-value flows
• Design recommendations tied to metrics such as conversion, add-to-cart, checkout completion and repeat purchase

That lets you see who actually understands your shoppers before committing to a $50k+ redesign.

One caveat: agencies differ substantially in scale and specialization. For example, Codal is specifically identified as a larger Chicago option for UX + ecommerce + development, while research-heavy firms such as Fuzzy Math are better suited to discovery and UX strategy. UX Planet

If you tell me your approximate annual ecommerce revenue, Shopify vs. another platform, customer category (fashion/beauty/home/food/etc.), and budget ($10–25k / $25–50k / $50k+), I can narrow this to the 3 agencies I'd actually put on your RFP and explain why.

• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Fuzzy Math - 1440 N Dayton, Ste 307, Chicago, IL 60642
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm - 5416 N Wayne Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Grand Studio - 444 N Wells St #501, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• TEAMS Design - 1812 W Hubbard St #200, Chicago, IL 60622, United States
• Centralis - 2822 Central St Ste 100, Evanston, IL 60201, United States
• Beyond Design, Inc. - 3759 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• Bold Insight (Chicago) - 125 S Wacker Dr Suite 3020, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• First Insights - 401 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• MNML - 170 N Sangamon St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• IA Collaborative - 218 S Wabash Ave 9th Floor, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Bold Insight - 2001 Butterfield Rd #360, Downers Grove, IL 60515, United States

For a Chicago retail startup, I’d prioritize agencies that combine actual ecommerce/consumer UX, user research, conversion optimization, and enough design execution to get from insight → prototype → launch. I would not start with a large enterprise UX consultancy unless your budget and complexity justify it.

My Chicago shortlist

Who I'd actually interview

1. Praella — if you're Shopify-based

This would be my first call if the startup is already on Shopify or Shopify Plus. They're explicitly ecommerce-focused and combine UX/UI with implementation rather than handing you a beautiful prototype that somebody else has to build. Their Chicago operation specializes in Shopify/Shopify Plus builds, redesigns and optimization. ParallelHQ

praella.com

2. Sandstorm — if customer research is the priority

I'd put them near the top if your problem is less "make our site prettier" and more "we don't really understand why customers aren't shopping/converting." Their approach emphasizes usability research, testing, information architecture, navigation and evidence-based design.

3. UX 4Sight — if conversion optimization is central

A particularly interesting option for a startup with an existing ecommerce site and enough traffic/data to analyze. Their offering includes user research, usability testing, UX audits, wireframes, design and validation, with a strong emphasis on measurable KPIs.

4. Highland — if you want a research-led product partner

Highland is another one I'd put on the RFP. They're Chicago-based and explicitly combine qualitative/quantitative research, UX research, UI/UX design, rapid prototyping and design sprints. They also say they work with startups as well as larger organizations. Highland Solutions Highland Solutions

highlandsolutions.com

5. Fuzzy Math — if you have a genuinely difficult UX problem

They're probably the strongest research-first choice on this list. Their work is heavily oriented around discovery, contextual research, usability testing and journey/workflow analysis. The tradeoff is that they're more naturally suited to complex products and larger engagements than a scrappy consumer startup.

One I'd consider only if you're scaling up

The Office of Experience (OX) is compelling if your retail business is becoming a substantial ecommerce operation. They cover research, journey mapping, taxonomy/product findability, ecommerce UX/UI and implementation, and have published ecommerce work with measurable outcomes. But I'd expect them to make more sense once the business has meaningful complexity and budget. Office of Experience

How I'd run the selection

Rather than asking agencies for a generic "UX redesign proposal," give the finalists the same 2-week paid discovery challenge:

• Interview 5–8 actual/current target shoppers.
• Audit your existing analytics/funnel.
• Conduct a heuristic + competitive ecommerce review.
• Identify the top 5 conversion/customer-experience problems.
• Produce a prioritized opportunity map.
• Prototype the highest-value changes.
• Test the prototype with users.
• Give you a 90-day UX/design roadmap.

I'd judge them on how much they learn before designing, not how polished their initial mockups look. Good UX research should happen early and inform the design rather than being used merely to validate a predetermined solution. The Manifest

My starting RFP would be Praella + Sandstorm + UX 4Sight + Highland. If your product is unusually complex, add Fuzzy Math; if you're already operating at significant ecommerce scale, add OX.

If you tell me your approximate budget ($25k / $50k / $100k+), ecommerce platform (Shopify, custom, etc.), and whether you're pre-launch or already selling, I can narrow this to the 2–3 agencies I'd hire and what I'd expect each to charge/deliver.

This would be my first call if the startup is already on Shopify or Shopify Plus. They're explicitly ecommerce-focused and combine UX/UI with implementation rather than handing you a beautiful prototype that somebody else has to build. Their Chicago operation specializes in Shopify/Shopify Plus builds, redesigns and optimization. ParallelHQ

praella.com

2. Sandstorm — if customer research is the priority

I'd put them near the top if your problem is less "make our site prettier" and more "we don't really understand why customers aren't shopping/converting." Their approach emphasizes usability research, testing, information architecture, navigation and evidence-based design.

3. UX 4Sight — if conversion optimization is central

A particularly interesting option for a startup with an existing ecommerce site and enough traffic/data to analyze. Their offering includes user research, usability testing, UX audits, wireframes, design and validation, with a strong emphasis on measurable KPIs.

4. Highland — if you want a research-led product partner

Highland is another one I'd put on the RFP. They're Chicago-based and explicitly combine qualitative/quantitative research, UX research, UI/UX design, rapid prototyping and design sprints. They also say they work with startups as well as larger organizations. Highland Solutions Highland Solutions

highlandsolutions.com

5. Fuzzy Math — if you have a genuinely difficult UX problem

They're probably the strongest research-first choice on this list. Their work is heavily oriented around discovery, contextual research, usability testing and journey/workflow analysis. The tradeoff is that they're more naturally suited to complex products and larger engagements than a scrappy consumer startup.

One I'd consider only if you're scaling up

The Office of Experience (OX) is compelling if your retail business is becoming a substantial ecommerce operation. They cover research, journey mapping, taxonomy/product findability, ecommerce UX/UI and implementation, and have published ecommerce work with measurable outcomes. But I'd expect them to make more sense once the business has meaningful complexity and budget. Office of Experience

How I'd run the selection

Rather than asking agencies for a generic "UX redesign proposal," give the finalists the same 2-week paid discovery challenge:

• Interview 5–8 actual/current target shoppers.
• Audit your existing analytics/funnel.
• Conduct a heuristic + competitive ecommerce review.
• Identify the top 5 conversion/customer-experience problems.
• Produce a prioritized opportunity map.
• Prototype the highest-value changes.
• Test the prototype with users.
• Give you a 90-day UX/design roadmap.

I'd judge them on how much they learn before designing, not how polished their initial mockups look. Good UX research should happen early and inform the design rather than being used merely to validate a predetermined solution.

• Fuzzy Math - 1440 N Dayton, Ste 307, Chicago, IL 60642
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm - 5416 N Wayne Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• 1o8 - 231 S LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Americaneagle.com, Inc. - 200 W Jackson Blvd Fl 22, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Grand Studio - 444 N Wells St #501, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Chicago Website Design SEO Company - 10 S Riverside Plaza #875, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Centralis - 2822 Central St Ste 100, Evanston, IL 60201, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• 1DIGITAL AGENCY | eCommerce Agency - 205 N Michigan Ave Suit 810, Chicago, IL 60601, United States

Yes. For a Chicago retail startup, I’d narrow the field considerably rather than hiring a generic web-design agency. You want a partner that can combine shopper research + ecommerce UX + conversion-oriented design, ideally without bringing an enterprise-sized process to a startup.

My Chicago shortlist

1. Fuzzy Math — best for serious UX research

• Chicago UX consultancy with unusually deep research capabilities: interviews, contextual inquiry, usability testing, surveys, diary studies, tree testing, etc.
• Strong choice if you don't yet know what customers need or have significant navigation/product-discovery problems.
• Their work tends to be more research/strategy-heavy than pure ecommerce implementation. UX Planet 925Studios
• My take: Best research partner, but potentially more agency than a lean startup needs.
• The Office of Experience, LLC — best end-to-end ecommerce option

• Particularly interesting if you want research → UX architecture → design → ecommerce implementation from one partner.
• Their capabilities include customer research, journey mapping, product findability/taxonomy, ecommerce UX/UI, and engineering. Their published work includes ecommerce redesigns with measurable improvements in ordering efficiency and acquisition. The Office of Experience
• My take: Probably my #1 agency to interview if you're already selling and need to improve the whole shopping experience.
• UX 4Sight — best focused UX/design shop

• Offers UX research, usability testing, UX audits, wireframes, responsive design and validation testing.
• More focused on UX itself than on being a giant ecommerce implementation organization.
• My take: A good middle ground if you want research and design expertise without an enormous transformation engagement.
• Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm — best consumer/DTC aesthetic fit

• Particularly relevant to premium beauty, fashion and DTC brands.
• Their ecommerce work spans research, IA, UX/UI, visual design, user testing, accessibility and implementation. Eleken
• My take: I'd put them high on the list if your brand experience/merchandising is as important as functional UX.
• Praella - eCommerce Agency — best if you're Shopify/Shopify Plus

• Ecommerce-first agency with a strong Shopify/Shopify Plus orientation, including storefront UX/UI, redesign and implementation.
• My take: Particularly compelling if your immediate objective is improving an existing Shopify store and getting changes shipped, rather than conducting a large foundational research program.
• 1o8 — worth considering for DTC growth

• More growth/ecommerce-oriented, combining ecommerce strategy, creative, content and performance marketing.
• My take: Consider them if the problem is broader than UX—e.g. traffic → merchandising → conversion → retention.

One I would not automatically choose

Fuzzy Math is excellent for research, but if you're a small retail startup saying "we need to redesign our Shopify store in the next 8–12 weeks," I'd first ask whether you actually need their deeper research model. A recent Chicago UX comparison characterizes them as particularly research-heavy and better suited to complex problems, while noting that smaller startups may find the engagement heavier than necessary. 925Studios

Likewise, Americaneagle.com, Inc. and The Office of Experience, LLC make more sense when you're approaching a substantial ecommerce transformation rather than looking for a lightweight startup design sprint.

How I'd actually select

I'd invite 3 firms to pitch the same tightly defined discovery project:

If I were the founder, my first three calls would be Office of Experience, Fuzzy Math, and Elevate Studios. I'd add Praella instead of Fuzzy Math if you're already on Shopify and the mandate is primarily conversion improvement + redesign + implementation.

One particularly good sign: Bixa Research explicitly specializes in retail/ecommerce UX research, including shopper journey research, usability testing, heuristic reviews, cart-abandonment research and checkout research. BIXA Customer Research & UX Agency If you want research separated from design rather than asking one agency to do everything, that's another route worth investigating.

If you tell me your approximate budget ($25k, $50k, $100k+), platform (Shopify/etc.), product category, and whether you're pre-launch or already generating sales, I can narrow this to the 3 agencies I'd actually send an RFP to, including likely engagement size and what I'd ask each one to deliver.

• Nansen LLC - 300 W Hubbard St Ste 301, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Highland - 125 S Clark St Ste 670, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm - 5416 N Wayne Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Artversion - 205 N Michigan Ave 8th Floor, Chicago, IL 60601
• Millennial Web Development - 329 W 18th St Ste 413, Chicago, IL 60616, United States
• TEAMS Design - 1812 W Hubbard St #200, Chicago, IL 60622, United States
• Wojo Design - 318 W Adams St #1609, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Beyond Design, Inc. - 3759 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• SITE IT NOW - 1016 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• MNML - 170 N Sangamon St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Brand Vision Marketing - Web Design & Branding - 30 N Michigan Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Beyond Design - 4515 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640

For a Chicago retail startup, I’d narrow the field quite aggressively. You want a partner that understands shopper behavior + ecommerce conversion + UX research, not simply a good-looking web-design shop.

My shortlist

1. Nansen LLC — best overall fit

• Chicago-based and explicitly focused on ecommerce, UX/UI, user research, and experience strategy.
• Their ecommerce practice covers both strategy and implementation, and their published work includes improving conversion for an ecommerce client. Nansen
• I'd choose them if: you're building or substantially rethinking the whole ecommerce experience and want research → UX → design → build in one partner.
• Praella - eCommerce Agency — best Shopify/ecommerce specialist

• Particularly attractive if you're on Shopify/Shopify Plus.
• Their strength is less "pure UX research consultancy" and more ecommerce UX + conversion + implementation.
• I'd choose them if: the immediate business objective is getting a high-performing ecommerce store launched or materially improving an existing Shopify operation.
• Highland — best research/product-design partner

• Highland is much more research-led: interviews, observational research, usability testing, journey mapping and validation, followed by product design and development. Highland Solutions Highland Solutions
• I'd choose them if: you're still figuring out what customers actually need rather than simply optimizing an existing storefront.
• Potential downside for a young retail startup: they may be more heavyweight than you need.
• UX 4Sight — best focused UX research/design option

• Explicitly combines qualitative/quantitative research, usability testing, UX/UI and conversion-oriented design.
• A good candidate for a focused discovery/research engagement before committing to a larger redesign. The Manifest
• I'd choose them if: you want an independent UX team to diagnose your customer journey and translate findings into a prioritized redesign.
• Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm — best consumer/DTC brand fit

• Particularly interesting for fashion, beauty, premium and DTC retail; their work spans ecommerce, UX, visual design, brand and digital experiences.
• I'd choose them if: brand expression and storytelling are as important as pure conversion optimization.
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency — strong brand + UX combination

• Chicago-based, with UX research, usability testing, competitive analysis, UI/UX and in-house development. UX Planet
• I'd choose them if: your startup needs to establish a distinctive retail brand while redesigning the digital experience.

Who I'd actually interview

For a startup, my first three calls would be:

I'd bring Highland into the process instead of UX 4Sight if you're at a very early stage and still validating the underlying customer proposition.

One other Chicago option worth knowing is Amplify. It is unusually retail-specific: its positioning centers on understanding shoppers across the omnichannel journey, identifying behavioral opportunities, and designing experiences to drive retail growth. Amplify

How I'd structure the engagement

I wouldn't hire an agency for a giant "ecommerce redesign" immediately. For a startup, I'd ask the finalists to bid on a 4–6 week research + UX sprint:

• 8–12 customer interviews
• Existing analytics/funnel review
• Competitor/shopper journey analysis
• Mobile usability testing
• Product discovery/navigation research
• PDP, cart and checkout evaluation
• Prototype 2–3 key flows
• Test prototypes with customers
• Prioritized UX roadmap tied to conversion, AOV, retention and abandonment

Then make the larger design/build award based on the quality of the research and thinking, not the prettiest pitch deck.

My pick: If you told me "We're a Chicago retail startup, have meaningful ecommerce ambitions, and need someone to understand our customers and redesign the experience," I'd start with Nansen, Praella, and UX 4Sight, with Amplify as the wildcard if your business has a significant physical/omnichannel component.

If you tell me your retail category (fashion, beauty, grocery, home, etc.), Shopify vs. custom, approximate budget, and startup stage, I can narrow this to 2–3 agencies and compare likely cost, strengths, weaknesses, and relevant client work.

• 8–12 customer interviews
• Existing analytics/funnel review
• Competitor/shopper journey analysis
• Mobile usability testing
• Product discovery/navigation research
• PDP, cart and checkout evaluation
• Prototype 2–3 key flows
• Test prototypes with customers
• Prioritized UX roadmap tied to conversion, AOV, retention and abandonment

Then make the larger design/build award based on the quality of the research and thinking, not the prettiest pitch deck.

If you’re a Chicago-based retail startup looking for a partner specifically for ecommerce UX research + UX/UI design, I’d narrow the field considerably. I would prioritize agencies that understand shopping behavior, product discovery, PDP/PLP, mobile conversion, checkout, and retail journeys, rather than generic web-design firms.

My shortlist

Who I'd interview first

1. Elevate Studios — probably my first call if you're a consumer retail/DTC startup. Their Chicago practice specifically combines ecommerce platforms, UX, visual design and digital experiences, with particular emphasis on premium beauty, fashion and DTC brands. www.expertise.com

2. UX 4Sight — my pick if your biggest uncertainty is what customers actually need and where the funnel is breaking, rather than simply making the site prettier. Their offering combines qualitative/quantitative research, usability testing and UX/UI design. themanifest.com

3. Praella — move this to #1 if you're on Shopify Plus and want the same partner to take research → UX → design → implementation. Its Chicago operation is heavily ecommerce/Shopify oriented and works on complex commerce requirements. www.nansen.com

4. Fuzzy Math — I'd bring them in if you want a genuinely research-led engagement: ethnographic/product research, journey mapping, UX assessments, competitive analysis and usability work. The tradeoff is that they're more research/product-consultancy than scrappy ecommerce studio. agency.uxplanet.org

5. Grand Studio — worth talking to if your retail startup has a more ambitious product/service problem—e.g. loyalty, omnichannel, personalization, marketplace, app + web ecosystem—not merely a storefront redesign. Their Chicago practice combines qualitative research, product strategy and UX/UI design. themanifest.com

One I'd consider depending on your situation

Highland is another credible option. They explicitly combine UX research, usability testing, competitive analysis, journey mapping, prototyping and iterative UX/UI design, and work with startups as well as larger companies. www.highlandsolutions.com

How I'd run the hiring process

Don't ask agencies to pitch a "website redesign." Ask them to pitch a 4–6 week ecommerce discovery + validation sprint.

I'd want the winning agency to propose:

1. 8–12 customer interviews
2. Analytics/funnel review
3. Competitive/retail UX benchmark
4. Heuristic evaluation of your current store
5. Mobile shopping-flow analysis
6. Journey mapping from discovery → PDP → cart → checkout → post-purchase
7. 2–3 alternative concepts
8. Prototype testing with real customers
9. Prioritized UX roadmap
10. High-fidelity design of the highest-impact flows

That lets you judge whether they actually research before designing, rather than showing you a beautiful portfolio and immediately proposing a new homepage. That's particularly important because good UX research should be used to uncover customer needs rather than simply validate a predetermined feature or redesign. themanifest.com

My final three for an RFP: Elevate Studios + UX 4Sight + Praella. I'd add Fuzzy Math if you're willing to spend more for deeper research, and Grand Studio if your product is broader than conventional ecommerce.

If you tell me your approximate budget ($25k / $50k / $100k+), ecommerce platform (Shopify, WooCommerce, custom, etc.), and retail category, I can narrow this to the 2–3 agencies I'd actually hire and explain why.

• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Highland - 125 S Clark St Ste 670, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
• Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm - 5416 N Wayne Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• WHQ - 24 E Washington St Ste 875, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Nansen LLC - 300 W Hubbard St Ste 301, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Next/Now - 1200 W Lake St #2, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Artversion - 205 N Michigan Ave 8th Floor, Chicago, IL 60601
• IDEO Chicago - 626 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60661, United States
• Ideation Studio Inc. - 1000 N Halsted St #205, Chicago, IL 60642, United States
• Dom & Tom - 625 N Michigan Ave, Ste 1800, Chicago, IL 60611
• QUARTER20 - 222 W Hubbard St #200, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Beyond Design, Inc. - 3759 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• MNML - 170 N Sangamon St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States

If you’re a Chicago-based retail startup, I’d prioritize agencies that understand ecommerce conversion, customer research, navigation/product discovery, and mobile checkout—not just agencies that make attractive websites.

My shortlist would be:

1. Praella - eCommerce Agency — best if you’re Shopify/Shopify Plus

• Strongest fit if the core problem is ecommerce UX + conversion + implementation.
• Particularly relevant for subscriptions, personalization, complex checkout, B2B/wholesale, and Shopify Plus.
• More commerce-specialized than a general UX consultancy.
• The Office of Experience, LLC — best overall for retail/ecommerce experience

• This would be one of my first calls for a consumer retail startup.
• They explicitly combine user research, journey mapping, taxonomy/product findability, UX/UI and ecommerce design.
• Their published work includes ecommerce redesign and research, including a B2B commerce case study. The Office of Experience
• UX 4Sight — best research-led option

• Particularly attractive if you don't yet know what customers want or why your funnel is underperforming.
• Their offering emphasizes qualitative/quantitative research, usability testing, UX strategy and conversion-oriented design. UX Planet
• I'd consider them before jumping straight into a visual redesign.
• Highland — best for deeper product discovery

• A strong choice if your ecommerce experience is becoming a broader digital product/customer experience problem.
• They explicitly offer contextual UX research, interviews, usability testing, journey mapping, prototyping and product strategy. Highland Solutions Highland Solutions
• Probably more substantial than you need for a simple Shopify refresh, but compelling for a startup building something differentiated.
• Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm — best for DTC/beauty/fashion-style retail

• Worth serious consideration if you're a premium consumer/DTC brand.
• Their positioning spans ecommerce platforms, UX, visual design, design systems and digital marketing, with particular emphasis on beauty, fashion and DTC.
• WHQ — interesting boutique option

• Especially worth a look if your product has a strong brand + ecommerce + product storytelling component.
• They're Chicago-based and explicitly combine brand systems, UX, commerce architecture and digital experience. Clutch

Who I'd actually interview

For a typical early-stage retail startup, I'd narrow the RFP to:

There's also Nansen LLC, which is worth adding if you want a more data/optimization-oriented ecommerce partner; its Chicago practice combines ecommerce, analytics/optimization, UX/UI, research and experience strategy.

One important caveat

I wouldn't hire based on portfolio aesthetics. For a retail startup, I'd make the agencies compete on a 2–4 week paid discovery sprint.

Ask each to investigate:

• customer interviews / shopping motivations
• current-site usability
• product discovery and navigation
• search/filter behavior
• PDP comprehension and merchandising
• cart/checkout friction
• mobile UX
• competitive ecommerce experiences
• analytics/funnel data
• 3–5 prioritized experiments
• prototype + usability testing

Then ask: “What would you change if conversion rate—not visual polish—were the primary KPI?”

That question will separate the real ecommerce UX teams from agencies that mostly sell web design.

If I were running the startup, my first three conversations would be Office of Experience, Praella, and UX 4Sight. I'd choose between them based on whether your biggest need is ecommerce transformation, Shopify execution, or customer research, respectively. The Office of Experience Digital Authority Partners UX Planet

If you tell me your retail category, ecommerce platform (Shopify/etc.), approximate budget, and whether you're pre-launch or already generating sales, I can narrow this to 2–3 agencies and give you a recommended RFP structure and expected budget.

Then ask: “What would you change if conversion rate—not visual polish—were the primary KPI?”

That question will separate the real ecommerce UX teams from agencies that mostly sell web design.

If I were running the startup, my first three conversations would be Office of Experience, Praella, and UX 4Sight. I'd choose between them based on whether your biggest need is ecommerce transformation, Shopify execution, or customer research, respectively.

• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Nansen LLC - 300 W Hubbard St Ste 301, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Highland - 125 S Clark St Ste 670, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Grand Studio - 444 N Wells St #501, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm - 5416 N Wayne Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Artversion - 205 N Michigan Ave 8th Floor, Chicago, IL 60601
• Next/Now - 1200 W Lake St #2, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• IDEO Chicago - 626 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60661, United States
• QUARTER20 - 222 W Hubbard St #200, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Dom & Tom - 625 N Michigan Ave, Ste 1800, Chicago, IL 60611
• Ideation Studio Inc. - 1000 N Halsted St #205, Chicago, IL 60642, United States
• Beyond Design, Inc. - 3759 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• MNML - 170 N Sangamon St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States

For a Chicago retail startup, I’d narrow the field quite a bit. You want a partner that understands ecommerce conversion, shopper research, product discovery, mobile UX, and rapid startup iteration—not just a beautiful website.

My shortlist

1. I'd talk to Praella first

Praella - eCommerce Agency is particularly compelling if your stack is Shopify or Shopify Plus. Its Chicago operation is ecommerce-focused and combines UX/UI, customer experience, personalization and development rather than treating UX as a standalone design exercise.

That's important for a startup: you want research findings to turn into actual improvements in navigation, product discovery, PDPs, cart/checkout and conversion, not a 100-page research deck.

2. Nansen would be my second call

Nansen LLC has a particularly relevant combination of ecommerce, UX/UI, user research, information architecture, analytics and optimization. Its Chicago office is at 300 W Hubbard.

Nansen explicitly positions itself around ecommerce experience design and has published ecommerce work including a conversion improvement for Kingpin Tattoo Supply. Nansen

For a startup where you need to answer "why aren't shoppers converting?" as well as "what should we redesign?", that's a very useful combination.

3. Highland if you're building something differentiated

Highland is more of a digital product consultancy than a conventional ecommerce agency. That's actually attractive if you're building a retail startup with a proprietary shopping experience, marketplace, loyalty product, omnichannel experience, or custom technology.

They explicitly combine qualitative/quantitative research, UX research, rapid prototyping, design sprints and product strategy. Highland Solutions Highland Solutions

I'd choose Highland over a pure ecommerce shop if the question is "what should our product be?", rather than simply "how should our Shopify site work better?"

4. UX 4Sight for a research-heavy engagement

UX 4Sight is worth interviewing if you want the engagement to begin with customer interviews, usability testing, competitive research, journey analysis and UX strategy.

Its positioning is explicitly research/data-informed UX, and independent 2026 comparisons also put it among Chicago's stronger research-oriented UX firms. UX Planet

I would particularly consider them if you already have a design/development team and need an outside research/design partner rather than a full ecommerce implementation agency.

5. Elevate if you're a consumer/lifestyle brand

Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm caught my attention because its Chicago practice is oriented toward premium beauty, fashion and DTC brands, with ecommerce, UX, visual design and brand experience all under one roof.

For a consumer startup where brand + merchandising + shopping UX need to feel tightly integrated, I'd put them into the pitch process.

Who I'd actually invite to pitch

If I were running your startup, I'd make the initial RFP three agencies, not seven:

1. Praella — if Shopify/Shopify Plus and ecommerce execution are central.
2. Nansen — if conversion optimization + research + ecommerce strategy are central.
3. Highland or UX 4Sight — Highland for a broader product/omnichannel problem; UX 4Sight for rigorous UX research.

There's also a good case for Artversion if brand/visual identity is a major part of the project, and Grand Studio if you're tackling a more sophisticated product-design problem. A recent Chicago UX review similarly identifies Codal as the stronger choice when ecommerce UX and development need to be delivered together, although I'd regard it as a larger-company option rather than my first startup call. UX Planet

One important hiring criterion

Don't ask them simply to "redesign our ecommerce site."

For a retail startup, I'd issue a brief asking for a 4–6 week research + UX sprint covering:

• 8–12 customer interviews
• usability testing of the current experience
• analytics/funnel review
• competitive/retail journey analysis
• information architecture/navigation
• product discovery and search
• PDP and merchandising UX
• cart/checkout friction
• mobile experience
• prioritized opportunity roadmap
• clickable prototype of the highest-value changes
• another round of usability testing

That lets you evaluate the agencies on how they think, rather than who produces the prettiest homepage.

If you tell me what you're selling, your approximate annual revenue/GMV, Shopify vs. custom, and whether you need research only or research + redesign + development, I can narrow this to the 2–3 Chicago agencies I'd hire and give you an estimated budget range for each.

For a startup where you need to answer "why aren't shoppers converting?" as well as "what should we redesign?", that's a very useful combination.

3. Highland if you're building something differentiated

Highland is more of a digital product consultancy than a conventional ecommerce agency. That's actually attractive if you're building a retail startup with a proprietary shopping experience, marketplace, loyalty product, omnichannel experience, or custom technology.

They explicitly combine qualitative/quantitative research, UX research, rapid prototyping, design sprints and product strategy. Highland Solutions Highland Solutions

I'd choose Highland over a pure ecommerce shop if the question is "what should our product be?", rather than simply "how should our Shopify site work better?"

4. UX 4Sight for a research-heavy engagement

UX 4Sight is worth interviewing if you want the engagement to begin with customer interviews, usability testing, competitive research, journey analysis and UX strategy.

Its positioning is explicitly research/data-informed UX, and independent 2026 comparisons also put it among Chicago's stronger research-oriented UX firms. UX Planet

I would particularly consider them if you already have a design/development team and need an outside research/design partner rather than a full ecommerce implementation agency.

5. Elevate if you're a consumer/lifestyle brand

Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm caught my attention because its Chicago practice is oriented toward premium beauty, fashion and DTC brands, with ecommerce, UX, visual design and brand experience all under one roof.

For a consumer startup where brand + merchandising + shopping UX need to feel tightly integrated, I'd put them into the pitch process.

Who I'd actually invite to pitch

If I were running your startup, I'd make the initial RFP three agencies, not seven:

• Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm - 5416 N Wayne Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Highland - 125 S Clark St Ste 670, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
• Grand Studio - 444 N Wells St #501, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Next/Now - 1200 W Lake St #2, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Nansen LLC - 300 W Hubbard St Ste 301, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Artversion - 205 N Michigan Ave 8th Floor, Chicago, IL 60601
• IDEO Chicago - 626 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60661, United States
• Ideation Studio Inc. - 1000 N Halsted St #205, Chicago, IL 60642, United States
• Dom & Tom - 625 N Michigan Ave, Ste 1800, Chicago, IL 60611
• QUARTER20 - 222 W Hubbard St #200, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Beyond Design, Inc. - 3759 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• MNML - 170 N Sangamon St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States

For a Chicago retail startup, I’d prioritize agencies that understand shopper behavior + ecommerce conversion + UX research, rather than a general web-design shop.

My shortlist would be:

1. Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm — best fit for a consumer/DTC retail startup.

They specifically work with premium beauty, fashion and DTC brands and combine ecommerce, UX, visual design and strategy. That makes them particularly interesting if your challenge is product discovery, merchandising, storytelling and conversion, not just a UI redesign. VA Designs

2. Praella - eCommerce Agency — best if you're Shopify/Shopify Plus.

They're Chicago-headquartered and heavily ecommerce-oriented, with UX/CX, personalization and complex Shopify implementations. I'd put them high on the list if you want research → UX → ecommerce implementation rather than research/design alone.

3. The Office of Experience, LLC — strongest retail/ecommerce experience combination.

They explicitly offer user research, journey mapping, taxonomy/product findability and ecommerce UX, and have published ecommerce work involving research and redesign. The Office of Experience This would be a strong choice if you have a complex catalog or omnichannel journey.

4. UX 4Sight — good research-led UX option for a smaller team.

Their positioning combines qualitative/quantitative research, usability testing and UX/UI design, with an emphasis on conversion and business outcomes. The Manifest I'd talk to them if you want a focused UX research + redesign engagement rather than a huge transformation program.

5. Highland — best if ecommerce is becoming a larger digital product.

Highland combines research, product strategy, UX/UI, prototyping and engineering and explicitly works with startups and ecommerce businesses. Highland Solutions Highland Solutions I'd consider them if you need more than a storefront redesign—for example, a new shopping platform, account experience, loyalty product or custom functionality.

6. Grand Studio — excellent research/product-design shop, but potentially more than a startup needs.

They're strong in qualitative research, usability testing, product strategy and UX/UI, and Chicago sources identify retail among their client industries. The Manifest I'd shortlist them for a strategically important redesign, especially if you have significant customer-experience uncertainty.

One specialist I'd also investigate

Bixa Research is particularly interesting if the research side is your biggest gap. Their retail/ecommerce practice covers shopper interviews, segmentation, usability testing, journey mapping, heuristic reviews, cart abandonment and checkout research. BIXA Customer Research & UX Agency They could be paired with a design agency if you want unusually rigorous shopper research before touching the interface.

How I'd narrow it down

For a startup, my first three calls would be Elevate, Praella, and UX 4Sight—unless you're dealing with a particularly complex retail journey, in which case I'd swap in The Office of Experience.

One important caveat: don't choose based on portfolio aesthetics alone. Ask each agency to propose a 2–4 week discovery/research sprint involving real customers. You want them to investigate search/navigation, category and product discovery, mobile behavior, product-page comprehension, cart/checkout friction, trust, returns, and the reasons people don't buy—not simply redesign the existing screens. Good UX research should inform the problem definition rather than merely validate a predetermined redesign. The Manifest

If you tell me your retail category (fashion, beauty, food, home, specialty, etc.), ecommerce platform (Shopify, custom, etc.), startup stage, and rough budget ($10–25k / $25–75k / $75k+), I can narrow this to 3 Chicago agencies and rank them for your specific situation.

• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Grand Studio - 444 N Wells St #501, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Highland - 125 S Clark St Ste 670, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm - 5416 N Wayne Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Next/Now - 1200 W Lake St #2, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Nansen LLC - 300 W Hubbard St Ste 301, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Ideation Studio Inc. - 1000 N Halsted St #205, Chicago, IL 60642, United States
• IDEO Chicago - 626 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60661, United States
• QUARTER20 - 222 W Hubbard St #200, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Dom & Tom - 625 N Michigan Ave, Ste 1800, Chicago, IL 60611
• Artversion - 205 N Michigan Ave 8th Floor, Chicago, IL 60601
• Beyond Design, Inc. - 3759 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States

For a Chicago retail startup, I’d prioritize agencies that understand ecommerce conversion + customer research + product UX, rather than a general branding/web shop.

My shortlist would be:

Who I'd interview first

If I were advising a seed/Series A retail startup, I'd narrow it to three pitches:

1. UX 4Sight — if your biggest uncertainty is what customers actually need and where they're struggling.
2. Praella - eCommerce Agency — if you're on Shopify/Shopify Plus and want research/design to translate quickly into a better storefront and conversion funnel.
3. Grand Studio — if you're trying to rethink the entire customer experience, not just optimize screens.

There's also a particularly interesting Chicago specialist I'd put on the call list: Amplify. Their positioning is unusually retail-specific: they focus on understanding shopping behavior across the entire omnichannel journey and use customer insights, journey design and measurement to drive retail growth. Amplify

amplify.design

What I'd actually buy from them

I wouldn't start with a $75K–$150K "website redesign." For a startup, I'd commission a 4–6 week ecommerce UX discovery sprint:

• 8–12 customer interviews
• Session-recording / funnel analysis
• Competitive ecommerce teardown
• Mobile + desktop usability testing
• Information architecture / navigation research
• Product-detail-page and cart/checkout evaluation
• 2–3 tested design directions
• Prioritized UX roadmap tied to conversion, AOV, retention and revenue

Then use the winning agency—or your internal team—to execute the highest-impact changes.

That's especially important because Chicago has agencies ranging from research-heavy firms to large build-oriented shops; for example, Codal is explicitly positioned around ecommerce plus development and tends toward $75K+ projects, which may be unnecessary if your immediate need is research and UX rather than a full rebuild. UX Planet Eleken

If you tell me your approximate budget ($15–30K, $30–75K, $75K+), ecommerce platform (Shopify, Magento, custom, etc.), and retail category (fashion, beauty, food, home, etc.), I can narrow this to the 3 agencies I'd actually put into an RFP and explain why.

• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Grand Studio - 444 N Wells St #501, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Highland - 125 S Clark St Ste 670, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
• Amplify - Chicago, IL 60611
• First Insights - 401 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Bold Insight - 2001 Butterfield Rd #360, Downers Grove, IL 60515, United States
• TEAMS Design - 1812 W Hubbard St #200, Chicago, IL 60622, United States
• Nansen LLC - 300 W Hubbard St Ste 301, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Dom & Tom - 625 N Michigan Ave, Ste 1800, Chicago, IL 60611
• Centralis - 2822 Central St Ste 100, Evanston, IL 60201, United States
• MNML - 170 N Sangamon St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Highland - 141 W Jackson Blvd, Ste 2200, Chicago, IL 60604
• Beyond Design, Inc. - 3759 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60613, United States

If you’re a Chicago-based retail startup, I’d prioritize agencies that understand shopper behavior + ecommerce conversion, rather than a generic UX/UI shop.

My shortlist would be:

1. Praella - eCommerce Agency — best overall for ecommerce execution

• Particularly compelling if you’re on Shopify/Shopify Plus.
• Combines ecommerce UX, design, personalization, and implementation.
• Good choice if you want a partner who can go from research → redesign → build rather than handing designs to another developer.
• My pick if your immediate goal is improving the actual storefront.
• Solid Digital — best balanced startup option

• Chicago-based, with UX/UI, web design, analytics, and implementation capabilities.
• Better fit if you need a relatively pragmatic partner rather than a large consultancy.
• Worth considering for an ecommerce redesign where analytics and ongoing optimization matter.
• UX 4Sight — best for research-led conversion optimization

• Stronger emphasis on user research, usability testing, and data-informed UX.
• I'd put them high on the list if you already have meaningful traffic/data and don't want an agency to simply redesign the site based on aesthetics.
• Their positioning specifically combines qualitative/quantitative research with UX/UI and conversion outcomes. ParallelHQ
• Grand Studio — best for deeper product/experience strategy

• Chicago consultancy combining research, product strategy and UX/UI.
• Their client base includes retail, and they do exploratory research plus usability testing. The Manifest
• I'd choose them if your problem is bigger than “redesign our website”—e.g., figuring out the shopping experience, product discovery model, loyalty journey, or omnichannel experience.
• Highland — best if UX needs to connect to product/technology

• Chicago-based and explicitly offers customer research, UX research, UI/UX, prototyping and product strategy. Highland Solutions Highland Solutions
• A good choice if your ecommerce experience has complicated underlying technology or you need a team that can help build as well as design.

One I'd seriously consider: Amplify

Amplify is particularly interesting for retail, because its positioning is explicitly around customer-driven retail growth and omnichannel shopping behavior. It combines foundational customer research with experience design and measurement rather than treating UX as merely website UI. Amplify

That makes it potentially a better strategic fit than a conventional UX agency if you're trying to answer “Why aren't shoppers converting/returning?” rather than simply “How should we redesign our site?”

How I'd choose

There are also more research-specialist options. First Insights focuses heavily on qualitative UX research and usability testing, while Bold Insight is a more research/human-factors-oriented option. First Insights

For a startup, though, I wouldn't hire a pure research firm unless you already have someone who can translate the research into product/design decisions. I'd favor a partner capable of running the research and turning it into prototypes and measurable ecommerce improvements.

One important caveat: agencies publicly advertise very different capabilities, and some Chicago firms are substantially more enterprise-oriented. For example, current industry comparisons put Codal in the large-scale ecommerce/UX + development category, with $75K+ projects, which may be excessive for an early-stage retail startup. UX Planet The Manifest

If you tell me your approximate budget ($15–30K, $30–75K, or $75K+) and whether you're Shopify/Shopify Plus/custom, I can narrow this to the 3 agencies I'd actually put into an RFP—and give you the questions I'd use to separate the good ones from the sales pitch.

• MNML - 170 N Sangamon St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Grand Studio - 444 N Wells St #501, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Highland - 125 S Clark St Ste 670, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
• First Insights - 401 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Bold Insight (Chicago) - 125 S Wacker Dr Suite 3020, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• TEAMS Design - 1812 W Hubbard St #200, Chicago, IL 60622, United States
• Nansen LLC - 300 W Hubbard St Ste 301, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Bold Insight - 2001 Butterfield Rd #360, Downers Grove, IL 60515, United States
• Dom & Tom - 625 N Michigan Ave, Ste 1800, Chicago, IL 60611
• Centralis - 2822 Central St Ste 100, Evanston, IL 60201, United States
• Highland - 141 W Jackson Blvd, Ste 2200, Chicago, IL 60604
• Beyond Design, Inc. - 3759 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States

Yes. For a Chicago retail startup, I’d narrow the field quite a bit. You don’t necessarily want the biggest UX agency—you want a team that understands shopper behavior, ecommerce conversion, research, and fast product iteration.

My shortlist:

1. MNML — best if brand + commerce experience are tightly connected. Chicago-based and strong across product, brand, physical retail, and digital experience. I’d consider them if your startup is building a distinctive consumer brand rather than simply optimizing a Shopify store.
2. Praella - eCommerce Agency — best for ecommerce execution. They're Chicago-headquartered and heavily focused on Shopify/Shopify Plus, with UX/UI and customer-experience capabilities. This is a particularly logical choice if you need research/design and eventual ecommerce implementation.
3. The Office of Experience, LLC — best for retail/ecommerce CX. Their Chicago practice explicitly combines user research, journey mapping, product findability/navigation, UX/UI and ecommerce experience design. They also have published ecommerce work. The Office of Experience
4. Grand Studio — best pure product-design/research option. They combine qualitative UX research, usability testing, product strategy and UX/UI design. The Manifest specifically notes retail as one of their client-industry concentrations. Manifest
5. UX 4Sight — best smaller, research-oriented option. Their approach combines qualitative/quantitative research, usability testing, UX strategy and conversion-oriented design. This could be a good fit if you're looking for a more hands-on agency rather than a large consultancy.
6. Highland — best if the ecommerce experience is becoming a larger digital product. Their Chicago team does customer research, UX/UI, service design and rapid prototyping, with a research-before-build orientation. Highland Solutions

My ranking for a retail startup

There are also specialist research firms I'd consider pairing with a design agency rather than hiring for the whole project. First Insights does usability testing, contextual research and shopper/buyer research, while Bold Insight (Chicago) is particularly research-heavy. Ipsos also has a dedicated Chicago UX lab capable of interviews, usability studies and focus groups. Ipsos UX First Insights

What I'd do in your shoes

For an early-stage retail startup, I'd interview Praella, The Office of Experience, Grand Studio, and UX 4Sight first.

But I would not ask them for a generic "UX redesign." Give them a narrowly defined first engagement:

4–6 week ecommerce discovery + research sprint → shopper interviews → usability testing → journey/funnel diagnosis → prioritized UX opportunities → tested prototypes.

Then make the decision based on who actually puts senior researchers and designers on the project, rather than who has the prettiest portfolio.

One important distinction: if your biggest problem is "Why aren't shoppers converting?", I'd favor Praella/Office of Experience. If it's "We don't yet understand our customer or what product experience we should build," I'd favor Grand Studio/UX 4Sight.

If you tell me your rough budget ($15–30k, $30–75k, $75k+) and whether you're Shopify, custom ecommerce, or pre-launch, I can narrow this to the top 3 and give you a recommended RFP/brief for each.

For a Chicago retail startup, I would prioritize agencies that understand conversion, merchandising, customer behavior, mobile shopping, and experimentation—not just beautiful interfaces. The best fit depends on whether you need research only, a Shopify/ecommerce redesign, or a full product + engineering partner.

My shortlist:

My ranking for a typical Chicago retail startup

1. Codal — if you need to improve the store and actually ship changes.
2. UX 4Sight — if you suspect conversion problems but need customer evidence first.
3. Grand Studio — if you are building a differentiated shopping experience, not just a storefront.
4. Praella — if you are primarily on Shopify and need ecommerce specialists.
5. Fuzzy Math — if you have a larger budget and want rigorous UX strategy.

What I would ask each agency before hiring

• “Show us 2–3 ecommerce projects where you improved conversion, checkout, search, merchandising, or retention.”
• “How many actual shoppers will you interview or test with?”
• “Will you run usability tests on our current site before redesigning?”
• “Who will be on our project team (senior researchers/designers vs. junior staff)?”
• “How will you measure success: conversion rate, AOV, repeat purchase, search success, checkout completion?”

For an early-stage retail startup, I would avoid hiring a purely branding/creative shop unless the main problem is brand positioning. Your first dollars are usually better spent finding where shoppers hesitate and fixing the highest-impact friction points.

If you share your stage (pre-launch, <$1M revenue, Series A+, etc.), platform (Shopify, custom, Amazon + DTC, etc.), and budget range, I can narrow this to a top 2–3.

For an early-stage retail startup, I would avoid hiring a purely branding/creative shop unless the main problem is brand positioning. Your first dollars are usually better spent finding where shoppers hesitate and fixing the highest-impact friction points.

If you share your stage (pre-launch, <$1M revenue, Series A+, etc.), platform (Shopify, custom, Amazon + DTC, etc.), and budget range, I can narrow this to a top 2–3.

• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Highland - 125 S Clark St Ste 670, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
• Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm - 5416 N Wayne Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Artversion - 205 N Michigan Ave 8th Floor, Chicago, IL 60601
• Nansen LLC - 300 W Hubbard St Ste 301, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Grand Studio - 444 N Wells St #501, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Next/Now - 1200 W Lake St #2, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• IDEO Chicago - 626 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60661, United States
• Ideation Studio Inc. - 1000 N Halsted St #205, Chicago, IL 60642, United States
• Dom & Tom - 625 N Michigan Ave, Ste 1800, Chicago, IL 60611
• QUARTER20 - 222 W Hubbard St #200, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Beyond Design, Inc. - 3759 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• MNML - 170 N Sangamon St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States

For a Chicago retail startup, I’d narrow the field pretty aggressively. You want an agency that understands consumer ecommerce behavior, conversion, mobile UX, research, and rapid iteration—not simply a general branding/web shop.

My shortlist:

Who I'd interview first

For a startup rather than an established enterprise, I'd start with three pitches:

1. Praella — if Shopify is central to the business.
They can connect UX decisions to the actual commerce stack, rather than leaving you with beautiful Figma screens that somebody else has to figure out. Their Chicago presence is at 203 N LaSalle, and their positioning is heavily ecommerce/Shopify oriented.

2. The Office of Experience — if you're looking for a broader ecommerce/customer-experience partner.
This is probably my most interesting all-around Chicago option for a retail startup. Their published work specifically includes research, journey mapping, navigation/product findability and ecommerce redesign, rather than treating ecommerce as simply "a website." The Office of Experience

3. Highland — if you're not yet sure what the UX problem is.
I'd favor them when the assignment is something like "understand why customers aren't converting, identify the highest-value opportunities, then redesign and test them." Their research practice explicitly covers interviews, observational research, usability testing, journey mapping and validation. Highland Solutions

One important distinction

I wouldn't hire purely on "UX design" credentials.

For a retail startup, I'd ask each agency to show you a recent consumer ecommerce case where research changed the design, and then ask:

• How many actual customers did you interview?
• Do you recruit the research participants, or do we?
• How do you combine qualitative research with funnel/analytics data?
• Will you test the current site before redesigning it?
• How do you prioritize UX changes by expected revenue impact?
• Can you prototype and usability-test checkout, search, navigation and PDPs?
• Who will actually do the work—not just sell the project?
• Can you work in 2–3 week iterations rather than a six-month waterfall?
• What happens after the redesign launches?
• Can you run A/B tests or CRO experiments afterward?

I'd be particularly wary of an agency that starts with "here's our beautiful new homepage" before showing you evidence about search behavior, product discovery, PDP friction, cart abandonment and checkout.

My ranking for your use case

Assuming you're a consumer retail startup with an existing or planned ecommerce site, rather than a huge enterprise:

1. The Office of Experience — best overall ecommerce/CX fit
2. Praella — best if Shopify/Shopify Plus
3. Highland — best research + product-design rigor
4. UX 4Sight — best research-focused alternative
5. Elevate Studios — particularly compelling for premium DTC
6. ArtVersion — best if brand + UX need to be solved together
7. Nansen — good for commerce + data/optimization
8. Grand Studio — excellent UX research, but potentially more product/enterprise-oriented

One caveat: public agency rankings and pricing can be noisy, so I wouldn't treat a generic "top Chicago UX agencies" list as authoritative. Recent Chicago comparisons likewise put Codal high for ecommerce UX + development, but its typical engagement size is substantially larger (reported at $75K+), so I wouldn't make it my first call for a lean startup unless you also need substantial engineering. UX Planet Eleken

If you tell me your retail category, approximate budget (e.g. $25–50K vs. $50–150K), ecommerce platform, and whether you need research only or research + redesign + development, I can narrow this to the best 3 agencies and explain exactly why I'd pick each.

I wouldn't hire purely on "UX design" credentials.

For a retail startup, I'd ask each agency to show you a recent consumer ecommerce case where research changed the design, and then ask:

• How many actual customers did you interview?
• Do you recruit the research participants, or do we?
• How do you combine qualitative research with funnel/analytics data?
• Will you test the current site before redesigning it?
• How do you prioritize UX changes by expected revenue impact?
• Can you prototype and usability-test checkout, search, navigation and PDPs?
• Who will actually do the work—not just sell the project?
• Can you work in 2–3 week iterations rather than a six-month waterfall?
• What happens after the redesign launches?
• Can you run A/B tests or CRO experiments afterward?

I'd be particularly wary of an agency that starts with "here's our beautiful new homepage" before showing you evidence about search behavior, product discovery, PDP friction, cart abandonment and checkout.

My ranking for your use case

Assuming you're a consumer retail startup with an existing or planned ecommerce site, rather than a huge enterprise:

1. The Office of Experience — best overall ecommerce/CX fit
2. Praella — best if Shopify/Shopify Plus
3. Highland — best research + product-design rigor
4. UX 4Sight — best research-focused alternative
5. Elevate Studios — particularly compelling for premium DTC
6. ArtVersion — best if brand + UX need to be solved together
7. Nansen — good for commerce + data/optimization
8. Grand Studio — excellent UX research, but potentially more product/enterprise-oriented

One caveat: public agency rankings and pricing can be noisy, so I wouldn't treat a generic "top Chicago UX agencies" list as authoritative. Recent Chicago comparisons likewise put Codal high for ecommerce UX + development, but its typical engagement size is substantially larger (reported at $75K+), so I wouldn't make it my first call for a lean startup unless you also need substantial engineering.

For a Chicago retail startup, I would not pick a generic UX/UI shop. You want a partner that understands shopping behavior, conversion, merchandising, mobile journeys, product discovery, checkout friction, retention, and customer research. The best fit depends on your stage (pre-launch vs. scaling), but I’d shortlist these:

Best overall shortlist

1. Codal — best for ecommerce redesign + implementation

Best fit: Shopify Plus, complex catalogs, marketplace/ecommerce builds, conversion optimization.

Why consider them:

• Strong ecommerce orientation (UX + development), which avoids the common problem of getting beautiful designs that engineers cannot ship. UX Planet The Manifest
• Good choice if you need someone to improve product pages, navigation, checkout, integrations, or rebuild the store.

Watch-outs:

• Likely better suited once you have meaningful revenue or a larger ecommerce roadmap; a very early startup may find them heavier than needed. UX Planet

2. Fuzzy Math — best for deep customer research

Best fit: You need to understand why shoppers behave the way they do before redesigning.

Strengths:

• Research-led UX strategy, journey mapping, usability testing, and complex experience design. UX Planet
• Strong if you are making big decisions around positioning, customer segments, or a major ecommerce overhaul.

Watch-outs:

• May be more research/strategy-oriented than a scrappy startup needs for a quick Shopify optimization sprint. 925 Studios

3. Amplify — best retail-specific choice

Best fit: Consumer brands that care about omnichannel shopping experiences.

Why it stands out:

• Focuses specifically on retail customer experience, including understanding shopper behavior across touchpoints. Amplify
• A strong match for DTC brands, consumer goods, and brands bridging online/offline experiences.

4. Praella — best Shopify-focused partner

Best fit: Shopify/Shopify Plus brands needing UX, personalization, and ecommerce execution.

Why consider them:

• Chicago-based ecommerce agency with Shopify specialization and UX/customer experience services.

5. UX 4Sight — best for conversion-focused UX testing

Best fit: You already have traffic and need to improve conversion.

Strengths:

• Research-driven UX, usability testing, and design validation.

If I were hiring for a retail startup, I’d run a 3-agency bakeoff

I’d ask each agency to propose a 4–6 week discovery + UX sprint:

1. Customer interviews (10–15 shoppers)
2. Analytics review (GA4, Shopify, heatmaps if available)
3. Competitive teardown
4. User journey mapping
5. Mobile shopping flow redesign
6. Prototype testing with real customers
7. Prioritized conversion roadmap

Then choose based on:

• Do they talk about customers, not just screens?
• Do they understand merchandising?
• Can they run experiments after launch?
• Will the actual senior people do the work?

My likely ranking by startup scenario

If you share your category (fashion, beauty, food, home, etc.), ecommerce platform (Shopify/Magento/custom), revenue stage, and budget range, I can narrow this to the 2–3 agencies I’d actually interview.

If you share your category (fashion, beauty, food, home, etc.), ecommerce platform (Shopify/Magento/custom), revenue stage, and budget range, I can narrow this to the 2–3 agencies I’d actually interview.

• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Highland - 125 S Clark St Ste 670, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Marcel Digital - 445 W Erie St #200, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm - 5416 N Wayne Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Grand Studio - 444 N Wells St #501, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Artversion - 205 N Michigan Ave 8th Floor, Chicago, IL 60601
• Nansen LLC - 300 W Hubbard St Ste 301, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Millennial Web Development - 329 W 18th St Ste 413, Chicago, IL 60616, United States
• TEAMS Design - 1812 W Hubbard St #200, Chicago, IL 60622, United States
• Wojo Design - 318 W Adams St #1609, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• IDEO Chicago - 626 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60661, United States
• WPrime Agency - 222 W Merchandise Mart Plaza #1212, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Dom & Tom - 625 N Michigan Ave, Ste 1800, Chicago, IL 60611

Yes. For a Chicago retail startup, I’d narrow the field considerably rather than hiring a generic web-design shop. You want a partner that can do actual shopper research → information architecture → UX/UI → prototyping/testing → conversion optimization, ideally with ecommerce experience.

My Chicago shortlist

Who I'd actually interview

If you gave me a typical seed/Series A Chicago retail startup, I'd start with these four:

1. The Office of Experience — strongest strategic retail fit
They appear unusually aligned with the full retail journey: research, customer journeys, ecommerce requirements, taxonomy, scalable design and optimization. The Office of Experience

2. Praella — strongest ecommerce execution fit
I'd move them to #1 if you're on Shopify/Shopify Plus and want the same partner to translate UX into the actual ecommerce implementation. The local business profile describes them as Shopify-focused with UX/customer-experience expertise and complex ecommerce experience.

3. UX 4Sight — strongest research-first option
If you're still figuring out who your customer really is, how they shop, why they abandon, and what the experience should be, I'd talk to them before a purely creative ecommerce agency. UX Planet

4. Highland — strongest startup/product partner
I'd favor Highland if your ecommerce experience is becoming a broader product—accounts, subscriptions, personalization, loyalty, mobile, store integration, etc.—because their model spans research, product design and engineering. Highland Solutions Highland Solutions

One wildcard: Amplify

Grand Studio would be worth a look for a more research-heavy product problem, but I'd also investigate Amplify. Their Chicago practice is explicitly centered on retail, shopping behavior and omnichannel customer experience, including research, journey design and measurement. Amplify Design

How I'd run the selection

Don't ask them for a generic "UX redesign proposal." Give each agency the same 2–3 week discovery brief:

• Interview 8–12 existing/prospective shoppers.
• Analyze analytics/funnel behavior and customer-service data.
• Audit 3–5 direct competitors.
• Test your current/mobile shopping experience.
• Map discovery → consideration → PDP → cart → checkout → post-purchase.
• Identify the 5 highest-value UX problems.
• Prototype the highest-impact changes.
• Test those prototypes with shoppers.
• Give you a prioritized 90-day roadmap.

Then compare the quality of the research questions and proposed methodology, not whose portfolio looks prettiest.

For an early-stage retail company, I'd be especially wary of paying $50–100K for a beautiful redesign before you've established the underlying shopper insights. One current Chicago UX review puts larger research/design firms such as Codal in the $75K+ project range, while the market also has smaller agencies that can run focused discovery engagements. UX Planet 925 Studios

If you tell me your retail category (fashion, beauty, grocery, furniture, specialty, etc.), ecommerce platform (Shopify, custom, WooCommerce), approximate budget, and whether you're pre-launch or already generating sales, I can narrow this to the 3 Chicago agencies I'd put on the actual RFP.

2. Praella — strongest ecommerce execution fit
I'd move them to #1 if you're on Shopify/Shopify Plus and want the same partner to translate UX into the actual ecommerce implementation. The local business profile describes them as Shopify-focused with UX/customer-experience expertise and complex ecommerce experience.

3. UX 4Sight — strongest research-first option
If you're still figuring out who your customer really is, how they shop, why they abandon, and what the experience should be, I'd talk to them before a purely creative ecommerce agency. UX Planet

4. Highland — strongest startup/product partner
I'd favor Highland if your ecommerce experience is becoming a broader product—accounts, subscriptions, personalization, loyalty, mobile, store integration, etc.—because their model spans research, product design and engineering. Highland Solutions Highland Solutions

One wildcard: Amplify

Grand Studio would be worth a look for a more research-heavy product problem, but I'd also investigate Amplify. Their Chicago practice is explicitly centered on retail, shopping behavior and omnichannel customer experience, including research, journey design and measurement. Amplify Design

How I'd run the selection

Don't ask them for a generic "UX redesign proposal." Give each agency the same 2–3 week discovery brief:

For a Chicago retail startup, I would prioritize agencies that understand conversion, shopper behavior, mobile commerce, and experimentation—not just beautiful interfaces. The right partner should be able to do customer research, redesign key journeys (home → PDP → cart → checkout), and tie decisions to metrics like conversion rate, AOV, retention, and repeat purchase.

My shortlist:

My ranking for a typical retail startup

1. Amplify — if your biggest question is “why aren’t shoppers converting/returning?”
2. Praella — if you need a Shopify ecommerce partner who can actually ship improvements
3. Fuzzy Math — if you need foundational research before investing in a redesign
4. UX 4Sight — if you want a focused UX audit and optimization roadmap
5. Codal — if you are scaling into a more complex ecommerce operation

What I would ask them to deliver in a first engagement

Avoid a vague “UX redesign.” Ask for a 6–10 week discovery + optimization sprint:

• 10–15 customer interviews
• analytics review (GA4, Shopify analytics, heatmaps, funnel data)
• competitor/shopper journey analysis
• usability testing of current site
• prioritized conversion roadmap
• redesigned prototypes for highest-impact flows:
  • homepage
  • collection/search
  • product detail page
  • cart
  • checkout
  • account/reorder flows

For an early retail company, I would probably not start with a full website redesign. I’d hire the agency that can identify the biggest revenue leaks first, then redesign only what the evidence supports. themanifest.com

If you share your category (fashion, beauty, food, furniture, marketplace, etc.), ecommerce platform (Shopify/Magento/custom), and budget range, I can narrow this to a top 2–3.

For a Chicago retail startup, I’d narrow the field to agencies that can do more than visual web design: you want shopper research → UX strategy → prototype/testing → ecommerce design, ideally with enough retail experience to understand conversion, merchandising, mobile behavior, and checkout.

My Chicago shortlist

If it were my startup

I'd interview three first:

1. The Office of Experience (OX) — my strongest overall match.
They have the unusual combination of research + UX + B2C ecommerce + technology implementation, so you aren't paying a pure branding agency to learn ecommerce on your dime. www.officeofexperience.com

2. Highland — my pick if you're still figuring out what the experience should be.
Their lean-startup/product-discovery orientation is attractive for an early-stage company where research needs to influence the product itself, not merely optimize an existing website. www.highlandsolutions.com

3. Nansen — my pick if you already know the product and need to make ecommerce perform.
They explicitly combine ecommerce strategy, UX/UI, research and optimization. www.nansen.com

I'd add UX 4Sight to the pitch if your internal team already handles engineering and you want a more focused research + UX specialist rather than an end-to-end agency. www.officeofexperience.comagency.uxplanet.org

One wildcard: Amplify

Amplify is worth a conversation if you're a true retail brand rather than an ecommerce-only startup. Their Chicago practice is explicitly focused on retail and omnichannel customer journeys, with foundational customer insights, experience design and measurement. amplify.design

That's especially compelling if your customer journey spans social/ad → ecommerce → fulfillment → store/pickup → loyalty, rather than simply "make our Shopify site better."

What I'd put in the RFP

Don't ask agencies simply for "UX/UI design." Ask for a 4–6 week research + design sprint containing:

1. 8–12 customer interviews/usability sessions
2. Analytics/funnel and search-behavior review
3. Competitive/adjacent retail UX teardown
4. Customer journey + key jobs-to-be-done
5. Information architecture/navigation recommendations
6. Wireframes for the highest-value flows
7. Interactive prototype
8. Usability testing of the prototype
9. Prioritized UX roadmap with estimated business impact

The key interview question is: "Show us a retail/ecommerce project where research changed the design direction—not just a project where you tested an already-designed site."

That's important because Chicago has plenty of agencies advertising UX, but the stronger differentiator is whether research actually drives the design. A recent Chicago UX-agency review makes essentially the same distinction, emphasizing research maturity, portfolio relevance, design craft and delivery process. www.officeofexperience.comagency.uxplanet.org

If you tell me your approximate budget (e.g. <$50k, $50–100k, $100k+) and whether you're Shopify, Shopify Plus, or custom, I can rank these specifically for a startup and give you a 3-agency shortlist to contact.

For a Chicago-based retail startup, I’d prioritize agencies that understand conversion, shopping behavior, mobile commerce, product discovery, checkout friction, and experimentation—not just general UX. The best fit depends on whether you need a Shopify/ecommerce optimization partner, a research-heavy UX team, or a full product/design partner.

My shortlist:

A few other Chicago-area firms worth a look:

• Nansen LLC — ecommerce, digital experience platforms, UX/UI, analytics, and optimization.
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency — better if brand expression and ecommerce experience need to move together.
• Elevate Studios: A Digital Design Firm — positioned toward premium DTC, fashion, beauty, and ecommerce brands.

My recommendation by startup stage:

Pre-launch / <$5M revenue

1. Praella (if Shopify)
2. UX 4Sight
3. Elevate Studios

Focus: customer interviews, prototype testing, PDP/cart/checkout optimization.

Growing DTC brand ($5M–$50M revenue)

1. Praella
2. The Office of Experience
3. Sandstorm

Focus: conversion optimization, personalization, retention, omnichannel journeys.

Larger retail transformation

1. IA Collaborative
2. Codal
3. Fuzzy Math

Focus: enterprise UX systems and complex customer journeys. agency.uxplanet.org

Before hiring, I’d ask each agency:

• Can you show ecommerce conversion lifts from your work?
• Who conducts the research (senior UX researchers vs designers)?
• Do you run actual shopper interviews and usability tests?
• How do you measure success (CVR, AOV, retention, search success, checkout completion)?
• Can you work inside our analytics stack (GA4, Shopify analytics, Hotjar/FullStory, experimentation tools)?

For a retail startup, I would probably start conversations with Praella, UX 4Sight, and The Office of Experience and compare proposals. They represent three different approaches: ecommerce execution, research rigor, and broader customer experience strategy.

For a Chicago retail startup, I’d prioritize agencies that can do more than visual design: customer research → information architecture → ecommerce UX → prototyping/testing → conversion optimization. On that basis, my shortlist would be:

My top 3 for a retail startup

1. Praella — if you're already committed to Shopify

I'd put them first if the core assignment is something like: “Understand our shoppers, redesign our shopping experience, improve PDP/PLP/navigation/checkout, and implement it.” Their specialization is much closer to ecommerce than a general UX consultancy. www.orbitmedia.com

2. Eight Bit — if you're still discovering the product

I'd choose them if you're saying: “We're a startup and don't yet fully know what customers need. Help us research, prototype and figure out the right experience before we spend heavily building it.” Their research and MVP/product-discovery experience makes that a particularly good fit. clutch.co

3. Orbit — if conversion/revenue is the immediate priority

Orbit is compelling when you already have an ecommerce business and want UX tied tightly to conversion, revenue, analytics and ongoing optimization. They have substantial ecommerce experience and explicitly describe research, UX, CRO, mobile shopping and Shopify work. www.orbitmedia.com

One important distinction

I wouldn't automatically hire the prettiest ecommerce agency. For a startup, I'd ask each finalist to propose a 2–4 week research/discovery sprint first, rather than jumping straight into a $50k+ redesign.

I'd want that sprint to include:

• 8–12 customer interviews
• usability testing of your current/competitive experiences
• analytics/funnel review
• competitor and category research
• mobile-first journey mapping
• IA/navigation assessment
• 2–3 key customer journeys prototyped
• usability testing of the prototypes
• prioritized UX/product roadmap

Then use the sprint to decide who gets the larger design/build engagement.

If I were running the RFP, I'd invite Praella, Eight Bit, and Orbit to pitch, with Nansen as the fourth if you want a more research-centric option. That gives you three genuinely different approaches rather than four interchangeable web-design shops.

Praella · Eight Bit Studios · Orbit Media Studios

If you tell me your product/category, Shopify vs. another platform, startup stage, and rough UX budget ($10–25k / $25–75k / $75k+), I can narrow this to the 3 agencies I'd actually contact and what I'd ask each one.

If you’re a Chicago-based retail startup and the brief is specifically ecommerce UX research + UX/UI design, I’d shortlist agencies differently from a generic “best Chicago UX firms” list. You want a partner that understands shopping behavior, merchandising, conversion, mobile, and research, not just product-app UX.

My shortlist

One I'd add specifically for retail research

The Office of Experience, LLC would be my first conversation. Their positioning is unusually close to what you're asking for: research → customer journey → ecommerce strategy → UX/UI → implementation. Their Chicago site specifically highlights a B2B ecommerce redesign based on user research. www.officeofexperience.com

I'd also seriously investigate Amplify. It's a Chicago experience-design studio explicitly focused on retail customer experience, including foundational customer insights, omnichannel journey design and measurement of behavioral impact. That makes it particularly interesting if your startup has both physical and digital retail touchpoints. amplify.design

If I were the founder, I'd interview 4

I'd make the first-round RFP:

1. The Office of Experience — strongest overall retail/ecommerce fit
2. Nansen — strongest combination of ecommerce, UX and optimization
3. UX 4Sight — strongest research/UX specialist
4. Praella — particularly if you're on Shopify

If your startup is early-stage and budget-sensitive, I'd probably put Highland or UX 4Sight ahead of a larger ecommerce implementation agency. If you're already doing meaningful revenue and have a Shopify/commerce platform that needs serious redesign, Nansen/Praella/OX become more compelling.

One important caveat: I wouldn't choose based on a pretty ecommerce portfolio. Ask each firm to propose a 2–4 week paid research/discovery sprint involving actual target shoppers. Chicago UX firms commonly quote roughly $7K–$15K for a discovery sprint, while larger redesigns can run substantially higher. clutch.co

For the sprint, I'd want: customer interviews + usability testing + analytics/funnel review + competitive shopping audit → prioritized UX problems → tested prototypes → roadmap. That will tell you much more about the agency than a pitch deck.

If you tell me your product category, Shopify vs. other platform, approximate budget ($25K / $50K / $100K+), and whether you're redesigning an existing store or building from scratch, I can narrow this to the 3 agencies I'd actually contact and what I'd ask each one to quote.

For a Chicago retail startup focused on ecommerce UX research + design, I would prioritize agencies that can do more than visual redesigns: they should be able to uncover shopper behavior, improve conversion funnels, test prototypes, and iterate on product pages, search, navigation, checkout, and retention flows.

My shortlist:

My ranking for a typical retail startup

1. Praella — if you are Shopify/DTC and want ecommerce conversion improvements.
2. Fuzzy Math — if you do not yet understand your shoppers and need research before spending heavily on redesign.
3. Codal — if you need a serious ecommerce rebuild and want design + development together.
4. Grand Studio — if you are building a differentiated shopping experience rather than a standard store.

How I would run the hiring process

Ask each agency for a proposal around a 4–6 week discovery sprint, not a full redesign immediately:

1. Analytics review (conversion funnel, search, product pages, checkout)
2. Customer interviews (existing customers + abandoned-cart users)
3. Usability testing on current site
4. Competitor teardown
5. Prototype improvements
6. Prioritized roadmap tied to revenue metrics

For a startup, I would avoid agencies that jump straight into a new homepage design without showing how they will validate shopper behavior.

A reasonable first engagement in Chicago is often in the tens of thousands of dollars, with larger ecommerce redesigns going substantially higher depending on scope. clutch.co

If you share your stage (pre-launch vs. scaling), ecommerce platform (Shopify, Magento, custom), budget, and category (fashion, beauty, food, etc.), I can narrow this to 2–3 agencies I’d actually interview.

For a Chicago retail startup, I would prioritize agencies that understand consumer behavior, conversion optimization, merchandising, mobile shopping, and ecommerce funnels—not just general UX/UI. The right partner should be able to do customer research (interviews, usability tests, analytics review), translate findings into prototypes, and improve measurable outcomes like conversion rate, AOV, retention, and repeat purchase.

My shortlist:

My ranking for a typical retail startup

1. Grand Studio — if you are still figuring out product-market fit, customer journeys, or your ecommerce strategy.
2. The Office of Experience — if you are building a serious omnichannel retail brand.
3. Nansen — if you already have ecommerce traction and need conversion improvements.
4. Praella — if Shopify is central and you want a commerce-focused partner.
5. Fuzzy Math — if research quality matters more than speed/cost.

What I would ask them to deliver in a first engagement

Avoid hiring someone for “a website redesign” immediately. A good first phase would be:

• Customer interviews (10–20 shoppers)
• Analytics/funnel review (GA4, Shopify analytics, heatmaps)
• Competitor and category audit
• Mobile shopping usability tests
• Customer journey map
• Prioritized UX backlog
• Wireframes/prototypes for highest-impact improvements
• Conversion test plan

Budget expectations

For a startup, a realistic first UX engagement is often:

• $10k–25k: focused ecommerce UX audit + research sprint
• $25k–75k: research + redesign of key shopping flows
• $75k+: full ecommerce redesign, strategy, design system, and implementation support

Before choosing, I would ask each agency:

1. “Show me 2–3 ecommerce projects where UX changes improved conversion or revenue.”
2. “Who will personally conduct the research?”
3. “How many real customers will we test with?”
4. “What happens after the designs are delivered?”

For a consumer retail startup, I would lean toward Grand Studio, OX, or Nansen first, then bring in a specialized ecommerce build partner if needed.

For a Chicago retail startup, I’d prioritize agencies that can do more than visual UI: you want shopper research → information architecture → product discovery → PDP/cart/checkout UX → testing → measurable conversion improvement.

My shortlist would be:

My recommendation

If I were running the startup, I'd interview OX, Praella, and Elevate first.

• OX if your biggest question is “What should the shopping experience be?” and you need serious customer/ journey research before designing it.
• Praella if you've already committed to Shopify and want research/design tightly connected to ecommerce implementation and conversion.
• Elevate if you're building a consumer/DTC brand where brand, merchandising and UX all need to work together.

I'd bring UX 4Sight into the mix if you already have an ecommerce site and primarily need independent research/usability testing rather than a large redesign/build.

One particularly interesting smaller option is Centralis in Evanston: it's much more research-specialized, so it could make sense to pair a research firm with a separate design/development partner. themanifest.com

How I'd run the selection

Don't ask them for a generic “ecommerce redesign proposal.” Give all 3–4 finalists the same 2–3 week discovery brief and ask them to propose:

1. 8–12 shopper interviews/usability sessions
2. Analytics + funnel review
3. Competitive/category UX audit
4. Customer journey + information architecture
5. Prototype of the highest-impact shopping flows
6. Usability test of the prototype
7. Prioritized UX roadmap tied to metrics such as conversion, add-to-cart, search usage and checkout completion

That will tell you much more than looking at portfolios. Chicago UX firms commonly quote roughly $7k–$15k for a discovery sprint, while full redesigns can run substantially higher; actual startup pricing will depend heavily on scope. clutch.co

If you tell me your retail category (fashion, beauty, grocery, furniture, specialty, etc.), approximate budget, and whether you're on Shopify, BigCommerce, or something custom, I can narrow this to the 3 agencies I'd actually put on the RFP.

For a Chicago retail startup, I’d prioritize agencies that combine actual shopper research + ecommerce UX + conversion/design, rather than a general branding or web shop.

My shortlist

If it were my startup

I'd interview three first:

1. The Office of Experience (OX) — if you're trying to figure out what the ideal shopping experience should be, not merely redesigning screens. Their research → strategy → UX → ecommerce capability is unusually aligned with your question. www.officeofexperience.com

2. Nansen — if ecommerce is core to the business and you want one partner capable of taking the experience from research/design into platform and optimization work. www.nansen.comwww.officeofexperience.com

3. UX 4Sight — if you're an early-stage startup where the biggest risk is building the wrong thing and you want a smaller, research-heavy UX partner. Independent Chicago agency comparisons also put them among the city's stronger research-oriented UX firms. themanifest.comwww.officeofexperience.com

I'd add Praella to that pitch list if you're Shopify-based, and Invesp if you already have enough traffic/data to make CRO experimentation worthwhile.

One wildcard: retail-specific research

If your product is physical retail/DTC and you need to understand how people actually shop, I'd also talk to E-Tailing Group. They're a Chicago ecommerce research/consulting boutique focused specifically on digital customer experience, online merchandising and cross-channel shopping journeys. That's a different proposition from a UX design agency, but potentially extremely valuable before you commission the design work.

And if you need very deep qualitative research, C+R Research is a substantial Chicago consumer-insights firm; Next/Now is more relevant to physical/experiential retail than ecommerce UX.

What I'd put in the RFP

Don't ask agencies simply for an "ecommerce redesign." Ask for a 4–6 week research + design discovery sprint containing:

1. 8–12 interviews with target shoppers
2. Competitive/category experience audit
3. Existing analytics + funnel review
4. Mobile usability testing
5. Customer journey + shopping-task mapping
6. Information architecture/navigation recommendations
7. Wireframes for the highest-risk flows
8. Prototype testing with real target customers
9. Prioritized UX roadmap tied to business metrics

Then have the finalists present the same hypothetical problem. You'll learn much more from how they frame the research question than from their prettiest portfolio pieces.

My ranking for a typical Chicago retail startup:
OX → Nansen → UX 4Sight → Praella → Invesp, with the order changing depending on whether you're pre-launch, Shopify-based, or already generating significant ecommerce volume. www.officeofexperience.com

If you tell me what you're selling, your approximate ecommerce revenue/traffic, Shopify vs. another platform, and your budget (e.g. $25–50k vs. $75k+), I can narrow this to 3 agencies and compare likely engagement scope, strengths, weaknesses, and fit.

For a Chicago retail startup, I’d prioritize agencies that can do actual shopper research → UX strategy → interaction design → testing, rather than a traditional web-design shop.

My shortlist

Who I'd actually interview

If you're an early-stage consumer retail startup, I'd narrow it to:

1. Codal — first call
They have the most directly relevant evidence for ecommerce UX and retail. Their Garrett Popcorn engagement is particularly compelling because it went from discovery and research through user journeys, UX/UI and ecommerce implementation. codal.comamplify.designwww.bixaresearch.com

2. Amplify — second call
I'd choose them over Codal if your challenge is more strategic: Who are our highest-value shoppers? Why do they buy? Where are we losing them? What should the experience become across channels? Their positioning is explicitly retail/customer-experience oriented. amplify.design

3. Highland — third call
Especially attractive if you want a relatively lean partner that can work alongside an internal startup team and take research all the way into prototype/product development. www.highlandsolutions.com

I'd bring Bixa into the process if you aren't confident about your customer understanding yet. In fact, for a startup with substantial product-market-fit uncertainty, I'd seriously consider Bixa for the research phase + an integrated design agency afterward, rather than asking a design agency to do everything. Bixa's ecommerce research offering is unusually explicit about shopper behavior, product discovery, navigation and checkout. www.bixaresearch.com

One thing I'd avoid

Don't issue an RFP that simply says "redesign our ecommerce UX." For a startup, I'd ask each agency to propose a 2–4 week paid discovery sprint covering:

• 8–12 customer interviews/usability sessions
• analytics + funnel review
• competitive/heuristic review
• shopping journey + key friction points
• prioritized UX opportunities
• 2–3 tested concepts/prototypes
• recommendations tied to conversion, AOV, retention or another business KPI

Then pick the partner based on how they think, not which portfolio looks prettiest. Current Chicago agency pricing benchmarks put discovery sprints roughly around $7k–$15k, with full redesigns commonly much higher, so a paid sprint is also a relatively low-risk way to evaluate the relationship. clutch.co

My ranking for your specific brief: Codal > Amplify > Highland > Bixa > OX.

If you tell me your retail category, approximate budget, ecommerce platform (Shopify/Shopify Plus/etc.), and whether you're pre-launch or already generating sales, I can narrow this to the 2–3 agencies I'd actually send an RFP to, including relevant case studies and likely fit.

Yes. For a Chicago retail startup, I’d narrow the field differently than a generic “best UX agencies” list: you want a partner that understands consumer shopping behavior, ecommerce conversion, UX research, and rapid startup iteration—not just polished UI.

My Chicago shortlist

If I were the founder, I'd interview these 4 first

1. The Office of Experience — best overall fit

This is probably where I'd start. Their positioning is unusually close to your problem: retail + ecommerce + customer research + journey design + UX, rather than simply website development. They specifically describe work across B2B/B2C ecommerce, taxonomy, requirements, scalable design and user/journey research. www.officeofexperience.comamplify.design

2. Praella — best if you're Shopify-heavy

If your stack is Shopify/Shopify Plus, I'd put them near the top. The Chicago firm is specifically an ecommerce agency and has experience with complex ecommerce requirements and UX/customer-experience work.

3. UX 4Sight — best if research is the priority

If you already have a decent ecommerce site but don't really know why customers aren't converting, what they struggle with, or what the next experience should be, I'd talk to UX 4Sight. Their research/testing orientation makes them a better fit than a conventional creative agency. agency.uxplanet.org

4. Highland — best for a more strategic product engagement

I'd consider Highland if you're still determining the product/customer experience itself. They're positioned around research → strategy → prototyping → product design/build rather than just ecommerce production. www.highlandsolutions.com

One wildcard: Amplify

Amplify is especially worth a conversation if you're a true retail/omnichannel startup, rather than simply an ecommerce company. They explicitly focus on retail customer behavior across the omnichannel journey and use customer research, journey analysis and experimentation to drive shopping behavior. amplify.design

That could be a much better fit than a generic UX shop if you're trying to connect store experience + mobile + ecommerce + loyalty + fulfillment.

What I'd ask them to pitch

I wouldn't send an RFP saying “redesign our ecommerce UX.” I'd ask each agency to propose a 4–6 week discovery + validation sprint:

1. Interview 10–15 customers/non-customers.
2. Analyze analytics, search behavior and conversion funnel.
3. Conduct a heuristic/competitive ecommerce review.
4. Map the end-to-end shopping journey.
5. Identify the 5–10 highest-value UX problems.
6. Prototype the biggest opportunities.
7. Test prototypes with real shoppers.
8. Deliver a prioritized roadmap and design direction.

That gives you a much better way to compare agencies than looking at their portfolios. Current Chicago UX benchmarks put discovery sprints roughly around $7K–$15K, with larger redesign engagements commonly reaching $45K–$120K+, although startup-specific quotes can vary considerably. clutch.co

My ranking for a typical Chicago retail startup:
The Office of Experience → Praella → UX 4Sight → Amplify → Highland, with the order changing depending on whether you're primarily Shopify/DTC, omnichannel retail, or still figuring out product-market fit.

If you tell me your retail category (fashion, beauty, food, home, etc.), ecommerce platform, approximate budget, and whether you're pre-launch or already generating sales, I can narrow this to 3 agencies and tell you exactly why I'd choose one over the others.

If you’re a Chicago retail startup, I’d prioritize agencies that understand consumer ecommerce, conversion, mobile shopping, and actual user research—not just agencies that make beautiful websites.

My shortlist

If I were the founder

I'd probably interview three:

1. Nansen — if the mandate is “understand our shoppers, redesign the ecommerce journey, and improve conversion.”
2. Elevate Studios — if you're a DTC/consumer brand where brand expression and shopping UX have to work together.
3. UX 4Sight — if the biggest uncertainty is “we don't really understand why customers aren't behaving the way we expect.”

I'd swap Praella in for one of those if you're already committed to Shopify/Shopify Plus.

For a larger/more complex engagement, Codal is another Chicago option worth considering: it combines UX with ecommerce development, but its typical engagement size makes it more appropriate once you've got a substantial budget. agency.uxplanet.org

One important distinction

Don't hire an agency based on the phrase “UX design.” For a retail startup, I'd specifically ask them to demonstrate:

• 5–8 customer interviews before design
• usability testing of your existing site/app
• mobile shopping research
• product-discovery / search / filtering research
• PDP → cart → checkout friction analysis
• information architecture / taxonomy work
• quantitative funnel analysis
• prototypes tested with real shoppers
• a measurement plan tied to conversion, AOV, repeat purchase, and retention

Chicago agencies commonly quote roughly $110–$200/hour, with discovery sprints around $7K–$15K and larger ecommerce/product redesigns potentially reaching $45K–$120K+. clutch.co

My strongest recommendation: don't start with a six-month redesign. Give the finalists a 2–3 week paid research/discovery sprint and compare the quality of the insights they produce. The best partner will usually become obvious from that exercise.

If you tell me your retail category (fashion, beauty, grocery, furniture, specialty, etc.), ecommerce platform (Shopify, custom, etc.), approximate budget, and whether you need research only vs. research + design + development, I can narrow this to 3 Chicago agencies and rank them for your specific startup.

For a Chicago retail startup, I’d narrow the field to four agencies, with the best choice depending on whether you need shopper research, UX/product design, or ecommerce execution.

My shortlist

I'd also put UX 4Sight on the interview list if you want a smaller UX-specialist shop. Its positioning is explicitly research/data-informed UX/UI, usability testing and design validation. agency.uxplanet.org

If I were the founder, I'd interview these 3

1. The Office of Experience — first call.
This is probably the closest match to retail startup + ecommerce + research + design. Their work spans the whole customer journey rather than just making screens prettier. www.officeofexperience.com

2. Highland — second call.
I'd choose them if your problem is still somewhat ambiguous—for example, "we know our ecommerce experience isn't working, but we're not sure why." Their research-to-design process is unusually explicit, and they work with startups as well as larger organizations. www.highlandsolutions.com

3. Praella — third call if you're Shopify.
I'd move them to #1 if you're already committed to Shopify Plus and want one partner capable of translating UX recommendations into an actual ecommerce implementation.

One wildcard: Amplify

Amplify is worth a conversation if your startup is trying to build a distinctive retail/customer experience, rather than simply optimize an online store. Its positioning is specifically around retail, omnichannel journeys, shopper behavior and customer-driven growth. amplify.design

How I'd structure the hiring process

Don't ask agencies for a generic "UX redesign." Give the finalists a 2–3 week paid discovery brief:

• Interview 8–12 target customers
• Analyze analytics/funnel and existing customer behavior
• Competitive ecommerce teardown
• Test your current site/app with real shoppers
• Identify the 5–10 highest-value friction points
• Produce prioritized UX recommendations
• Prototype the 2–3 highest-impact flows
• Test those prototypes with customers
• Give you a roadmap tied to conversion, AOV, retention and/or checkout completion

That will tell you much more than a portfolio presentation.

My ranking for a typical Chicago retail startup:
The Office of Experience → Highland → Praella → First Insights, with UX 4Sight as the smaller-specialist alternative.

If you tell me your product category, ecommerce platform (Shopify/etc.), approximate budget, and whether you're pre-launch or already generating sales, I can narrow this to the best 2–3 agencies and estimate what I'd expect each engagement to cost. The Office of Experience Highland Praella