ChatGPT answers, unedited

• 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
• EVE - User Experience Design Agency - 7135 N Merrimac Ave, Chicago, IL 60646, United States
• CUX Studio - 122 S Michigan Ave suit 1390, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
• IDE Interactive, Inc. - 2945 W Peterson Ave Ste 103, Chicago, IL 60659, United States
• IDEO Chicago - 626 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60661, 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
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States

For a subscription service onboarding overhaul, I’d look less for a “pretty UI” shop and more for a product UX partner that understands activation, conversion funnels, lifecycle states, experimentation, and subscription economics (trial → activation → paid → retention).

A Chicago shortlist I’d put together:

Strong fits for onboarding + subscription product redesign

UX 4Sight

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

Good fit if you need a research-heavy redesign: user interviews, usability testing, journey mapping, flows, prototypes, and UI execution. They position around UX research, audits, usability testing, and end-to-end product experiences.

Ask them about:

• SaaS activation flows they’ve redesigned
• How they measure onboarding success (activation rate, completion rate, time-to-value)
• Whether they run usability tests before redesigning

Grand Studio

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

A strong option if the onboarding problem is tied to a broader product strategy issue (multiple personas, complex workflows, enterprise customers, unclear value proposition). They focus on research, product strategy, and UX/UI for complex digital products.

Best for:

• B2B subscriptions
• Multi-role products
• Products where onboarding spans email, app, support, billing, and customer success

EVE - User Experience Design Agency

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

Worth talking to if you want a smaller UX-focused partner. Their services include UX research, product strategy, UI design, testing, and design systems.

Best for:

• Teams that already have engineering/product leadership
• A focused onboarding redesign sprint
• Building repeatable UX practices internally

CUX Studio

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 773-644-5238)

A product-design-oriented studio that emphasizes UX/UI, product discovery, research, prototyping, and testing.

Best for:

• Mobile subscription apps
• Consumer products
• Teams wanting design + experimentation thinking

Also worth considering

IDE Interactive, Inc.

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 312-877-6154)

A hybrid design/development studio. Useful if you need not only redesigned flows but also implementation support.

IDEO Chicago

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 312-869-6000)

Better suited for a larger strategic transformation: customer research, service design, and broader experience redesign.

Sandstorm Design

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 773-348-4200)

A research-driven digital experience agency with UX strategy, testing, design, and development capabilities.

My suggested outreach shortlist (5 agencies)

For your specific brief, I’d start with:

1. Grand Studio — if onboarding is a strategic/product problem
2. UX 4Sight — if you need research + UX rigor
3. EVE - User Experience Design Agency — if you want a focused UX partner
4. CUX Studio — if this is a consumer/mobile subscription product
5. IDE Interactive, Inc. — if design and engineering need to move together

Questions I’d use in the first agency calls

• “Show us a subscription onboarding flow you improved. What was the baseline problem and what changed?”
• “How do you identify where users drop off?”
• “Do you run qualitative research with current users before redesigning?”
• “How do you balance reducing friction with collecting enough data for personalization?”
• “What metrics would you expect to move after launch?”
• “Will you help us design experiments after launch, or only deliver Figma files?”

If you share whether this is B2B SaaS vs consumer subscription, your approximate budget, and whether you need research only vs full redesign + engineering, I can narrow this to a tighter 3–4 agency shortlist.

• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• TXI - 10 S Riverside Plaza Ste 875 - #7670, Chicago, IL 60606, 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
• Dom & Tom - 625 N Michigan Ave, Ste 1800, Chicago, IL 60611
• LaunchPad Lab - 220 W Huron St, Ste 2001, Chicago, IL 60654
• 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
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• TEAMS Design - 1812 W Hubbard St #200, Chicago, IL 60622, United States
• IDEO Chicago - 626 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60661, United States
• EVE - User Experience Design Agency - 7135 N Merrimac Ave, Chicago, IL 60646, United States
• IDE Interactive, Inc. - 2945 W Peterson Ave Ste 103, Chicago, IL 60659, United States
• Beyond Design, Inc. - 3759 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• CUX Studio - 122 S Michigan Ave suit 1390, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States

If the project is specifically overhauling onboarding for a subscription product, I’d build the shortlist around agencies that understand activation, SaaS/product UX, user research, and measurable funnel improvement—not just visual UI.

Chicago firms I’d talk to

• UX 4Sight — A Chicago-based UX/UI and research shop offering UX audits, usability testing, user research, wireframing, UI, and design validation. That makes them particularly relevant if you don't yet know why users are dropping out of onboarding. UX Planet
• TXI — More of a product strategy + research + design + engineering partner. Their Chicago team emphasizes product discovery, user research, prototyping, and lean UX. I'd consider them if the onboarding problems are intertwined with product strategy or implementation. UX Planet
• Grand Studio — Chicago product-design consultancy combining research, product strategy, UX/UI, prototyping, and design systems. A good candidate if this is a substantial redesign rather than simply optimizing a few screens. UX Planet
• Sandstorm Design — Research-heavy Chicago UX/digital-experience agency. Their approach emphasizes usability studies and testing to inform IA, navigation, and experience design. UX Planet
• Dom & Tom — Product strategy, UX/UI, and engineering, with a Chicago office. Worth including if you want the same partner to take designs through implementation. Clutch
• LaunchPad Lab — Chicago product-development firm combining discovery, product strategy, UX/UI, engineering, QA, and ongoing iteration. Particularly relevant if the onboarding overhaul will require meaningful product changes rather than a Figma-only redesign.
• The Office of Experience, LLC — Broader customer-experience/digital agency with UX/UI, research, journey work, and implementation capabilities. More appropriate if onboarding touches ecommerce, account management, or the wider customer lifecycle.

One important wrinkle

I'd also consider non-Chicago specialists if geographic proximity isn't actually a requirement. There are firms whose positioning is unusually specific to SaaS onboarding—for example, Studio Scale explicitly focuses on redesigning onboarding/activation flows, while UUX.co and Cluma specifically market SaaS onboarding and activation work. Studio Scale UUX.co Cluma

For your particular brief, I'd probably send an RFP to UX 4Sight, TXI, Grand Studio, and one SaaS-specialist firm and make them solve the same exercise.

What I'd ask them to pitch

Don't ask for "a redesigned onboarding flow." Ask for:

1. Funnel diagnosis — analyze signup → onboarding → first value → subscription activation.
2. Research — 5–10 user interviews/usability sessions plus behavioral analytics review.
3. Journey redesign — identify what should be removed, deferred, personalized, or redesigned.
4. Prototype + testing — test the proposed flow before engineering.
5. UI/design system work — production-ready screens and states.
6. Measurement plan — define activation metrics and an experiment plan so you can determine whether the redesign actually worked.

The key vendor-selection question I'd use is: "Show us a comparable onboarding/activation problem you've solved, including the baseline problem, what you changed, and what happened afterward." That will separate product UX firms from agencies that primarily make interfaces look better.

If you tell me your subscription type (B2C/B2B), approximate company size, and whether you want design-only or design + engineering, I can narrow this to a 4–5 agency shortlist with relevant case studies and contact links.

Yes. For a subscription product where the goal is to overhaul onboarding, I’d focus less on generic web-design agencies and more on studios that can handle user research → journey/activation strategy → UX flows → UI → prototyping/testing → developer handoff.

A Chicago shortlist I’d put in front of your team:

One important distinction

If you're willing to consider non-Chicago-local teams that specialize specifically in SaaS onboarding, I'd also interview a couple of those. For example, Studio Scale explicitly positions around onboarding, activation and flows that leak revenue, while Cluma focuses on SaaS onboarding, UX research, activation and retention. studioscale.co

For a subscription business, that specialization could matter more than having a Chicago office.

How I'd run the RFP

I'd ask each studio to respond to the same brief and specifically request:

1. Onboarding diagnosis — what research/analytics would they need before redesigning?
2. Activation definition — how would they determine the "aha" moment and measure whether onboarding gets users there faster?
3. Funnel analysis — experience with signup → onboarding → first value → subscription conversion/retention.
4. Research plan — interviews, usability testing, session analysis, etc.
5. Prototype + testing — not just polished screens.
6. Experimentation — whether they'll help establish A/B tests or an iteration plan.
7. Engineering handoff — states, edge cases, design system, implementation QA.
8. Relevant case studies — specifically SaaS/subscription onboarding, with measurable outcomes where they can disclose them.

I would not make "best-looking portfolio" the primary selection criterion. For this particular project, evidence that they've changed activation, conversion, completion, or retention is much more useful.

If you tell me your rough company size, B2B vs. B2C, web vs. mobile, and approximate budget, I can narrow this to 3–5 agencies I'd actually put on the RFP list, with relevant case studies and contact links.

• Grand Studio - 444 N Wells St #501, Chicago, IL 60654
• DesignScout - 1801 W Belle Plaine Ave #201, Chicago, IL 60613
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604
• UXM Studio - 230 E Ohio St Ste 210, Chicago, IL 60611
• Beyond Design, Inc. - 3759 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60613
• Design Henge - 2259 W Rosemont Ave, Chicago, IL 60659
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606
• US Digital Studio LLC - 200 S Wacker Dr 31st floor, Chicago, IL 60606
• Fresh Design Studio - 222 W Merchandise Mart Plaza Suit 1212, Chicago, IL 60654
• VERSIONS - 10 S LaSalle St Ste 201, Chicago, IL 60603
• TEAMS Design - 1812 W Hubbard St #200, Chicago, IL 60622
• 10com Web Development - 205 N Michigan Ave Suit 810, Chicago, IL 60601
• WYZ Design - 2GAR, 2128 W Cermak Rd, Chicago, IL 60608

Yes. For a subscription product where the goal is to overhaul onboarding, I’d bias toward studios that understand product UX, activation/conversion, user research, and shipping with engineering—not agencies that primarily do marketing sites.

My Chicago shortlist

• Grand Studio — A strong option if you want a more research-heavy, strategic product-design partner. I’d put them near the top if the onboarding problem is not yet well diagnosed and you need research + journey redesign rather than simply prettier screens.
• DesignScout — Worth talking to for a broader product/UX engagement. Their Chicago presence and design focus make them a good candidate for a hands-on redesign rather than a purely strategic engagement.
• UX 4Sight — Particularly worth considering if you want a UX-focused shop and want to start with discovery/usability work before committing to a major redesign.
• UXM Studio — A smaller Chicago option that could be interesting if you want a relatively focused studio rather than a large consultancy.

One important wrinkle

I'd also interview Studio Scale even though it isn't the traditional Chicago-agency model. They explicitly specialize in redesigning onboarding, checkout and activation flows where users drop off, and position the work around measurable product outcomes. Studio Scale

Likewise, if you're open to a distributed studio rather than requiring the agency itself to be Chicago-based, UUX, Tenscope, and Cluma are unusually relevant to your exact problem: all explicitly market SaaS/product-design work around onboarding, activation and ongoing product UX. UUX.co Tenscope Cluma

How I'd run the selection

I'd invite 4–5 firms to a short paid discovery/RFP process and give each the same brief:

"We have a subscription product. Users are dropping out during onboarding. We want to understand why, redesign the end-to-end activation journey, prototype it, validate it with users, and hand engineering production-ready designs."

Ask each agency to show:

1. A real onboarding/activation case study, preferably subscription/SaaS.
2. How they diagnose activation and drop-off, rather than just conducting a visual redesign.
3. Their approach to user research and usability testing.
4. How they define success — e.g. onboarding completion, time-to-value, trial-to-paid conversion, retention.
5. A concrete 6–10 week engagement plan.
6. Who actually does the work—not just who sells the project.
7. How they collaborate with your product/engineering team and handle design-system/handoff work.

I'd be especially skeptical of anyone who jumps straight to Figma screens without first asking about your activation funnel, cohorts, analytics, customer interviews, and existing onboarding behavior.

If you tell me roughly B2B vs. consumer, current ARR/user scale, and whether you want research + strategy + UI or primarily the redesign itself, I can narrow this to 3 agencies I'd actually put on the RFP and compare their likely strengths, engagement models, and relevant case studies.

• 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
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• TXI - 10 S Riverside Plaza Ste 875 - #7670, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• EVE - User Experience Design Agency - 7135 N Merrimac Ave, Chicago, IL 60646, United States
• CUX Studio - 122 S Michigan Ave suit 1390, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• IDE Interactive, Inc. - 2945 W Peterson Ave Ste 103, Chicago, IL 60659, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• LaunchPad Lab - 220 W Huron St, Ste 2001, Chicago, IL 60654
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• IDEO Chicago - 626 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60661, United States
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States

Yes. For a subscription product where the goal is to overhaul onboarding, I’d bias toward product/UX firms that can work on activation, user journeys, research, and measurable conversion, rather than agencies that primarily do brand or marketing sites.

My Chicago shortlist

• UX 4Sight — Probably one of the best first calls. They combine UX research, usability testing, UX/UI, audits, and product design. That makes them a good fit if you want to diagnose why users are dropping during onboarding before redesigning the flow. Clutch
• Grand Studio — Strong choice if this is a strategic product overhaul, not simply a UI refresh. They combine research, product strategy, UX/UI, prototyping, and design systems. Clutch
• Sandstorm Design — Particularly interesting if you want a research-led engagement with usability testing and iterative validation. UX Planet
• Fuzzy Math — I'd put them high on the list if the onboarding involves complex workflows, multiple user types, or a sophisticated SaaS product. They're known for research-heavy UX strategy and complex-system work. Current Chicago listings put them at roughly $25K+ minimum projects / $150–199/hr. Clutch UX Planet
• TXI — Worth considering if you want the agency to go beyond design into product discovery + engineering + experimentation. Their model combines research, design, delivery and software development. Clutch
• EVE - User Experience Design Agency — A smaller Chicago UX specialist whose positioning specifically includes redesigning complex platforms, workflows and onboarding. I'd include them if you want a more focused UX engagement rather than a large transformation consultancy.
• CUX Studio — Another smaller option; they offer product/UI/UX, user research, prototyping and design systems, with both project and subscription engagement models.

Who I'd actually contact

If this were my RFP, I'd probably invite 4 firms:

I'd also consider TXI if you want the partner to help implement the redesigned experience rather than hand Figma files over to your engineering team.

One important wrinkle

There are also non-Chicago/local-first studios that specialize specifically in SaaS onboarding, and I wouldn't exclude them just because they're remote. For example, Studio Scale explicitly markets onboarding/activation redesign and measuring the resulting difference, while other SaaS specialists structure engagements around product UX rather than generic website design. Studio Scale

For this particular project, I'd care much more about demonstrated activation/onboarding work than about having a Chicago office.

When you talk to agencies, I'd give them your current onboarding funnel and ask for a paid 1–2 week diagnostic rather than asking for a proposal for the entire redesign. The deliverable should include funnel analysis, session/user research, a prioritized list of friction points, proposed experiments, and a redesigned flow. That makes it much easier to compare agencies objectively.

If you tell me B2C vs. B2B, approximate user volume, and whether you want design-only or design + implementation, I can narrow this to 3 agencies and give you a suggested RFP/brief for each.

• 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
• CUX Studio - 122 S Michigan Ave suit 1390, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
• IDE Interactive, Inc. - 2945 W Peterson Ave Ste 103, Chicago, IL 60659, 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
• MNML - 170 N Sangamon St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• TEAMS Design - 1812 W Hubbard St #200, Chicago, IL 60622, United States
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• EVE - User Experience Design Agency - 7135 N Merrimac Ave, Chicago, IL 60646, United States

For a subscription service onboarding overhaul, I’d prioritize studios that understand activation, conversion funnels, behavioral UX, product analytics, and SaaS/subscription mechanics—not just visual redesign. A good shortlist in Chicago:

Shortlist to talk to

UX 4Sight

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

Best fit: research-heavy onboarding redesign

• Strong match if you need to diagnose why users drop, run usability testing, map journeys, and redesign flows based on evidence.
• They position around UX research, audits, usability testing, wireframes, UI design, and design systems.
• Good questions to ask: - “How would you identify activation blockers in our first 7/14/30 days?”
• “What onboarding experiments would you prioritize?”

Grand Studio

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

Best fit: complex products or enterprise subscriptions

• Strong if your subscription has multiple user types, account setup complexity, permissions, integrations, or operational workflows.
• They focus on product strategy, research, UX/UI, and service design for complex problems.

CUX Studio

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 773-644-5238)

Best fit: product discovery + conversion improvements

• Worth considering if you want a smaller product-focused partner that can combine UX research, analytics thinking, prototyping, and UI execution.

IDE Interactive, Inc.

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 312-877-6154)

Best fit: if design changes need engineering support

• Useful if your onboarding redesign involves rebuilding flows, integrations, or a broader product experience—not just Figma work.
• They combine experience design and development.

ArtVersion® Creative Agency

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

Best fit: subscription brand + UX/UI refresh

• Consider if onboarding is part of a larger customer experience problem (brand trust, messaging, website-to-product transition).
• Their offering spans brand strategy, UX/UI, research, and digital development.

Sandstorm Design

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 773-348-4200)

Best fit: research-led digital experience work

• A good option if onboarding touches content strategy, accessibility, information architecture, or broader digital experience.
• They emphasize UX strategy, research, testing, and digital experiences.

Also worth considering (not necessarily Chicago-local)

For a subscription product specifically, I’d also look at SaaS-focused product design teams:

• studioscale.co — explicitly focuses on SaaS/product redesigns, including onboarding and activation flows. Studio Scale
• uux.co — focuses on SaaS UX including onboarding, billing, dashboards, and product flows. UUX.co

My recommended first-round outreach

I’d probably start with 4 calls:

1. UX 4Sight — if you need discovery and diagnosis.
2. Grand Studio — if the product is complex or enterprise-facing.
3. CUX Studio — if you want a lean product UX partner.
4. Studio Scale or UUX — if you want a SaaS activation specialist.

What I’d put in the agency brief

Include:

• Current signup → activation funnel
• Conversion rates at each onboarding step
• Trial-to-paid conversion rate (if applicable)
• Screenshots/video of current flow
• Top user complaints from support/sales
• Product analytics (Mixpanel, Amplitude, GA, etc.)
• Success metric: e.g. “increase activated users by 25%” rather than “make onboarding prettier”

The strongest agencies will immediately ask about activation events, cohort retention, and where users abandon, not just request your brand guidelines.

• 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
• TXI - 10 S Riverside Plaza Ste 875 - #7670, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• EVE - User Experience Design Agency - 7135 N Merrimac Ave, Chicago, IL 60646, United States
• LaunchPad Lab - 220 W Huron St, Ste 2001, Chicago, IL 60654
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• 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
• CUX Studio - 122 S Michigan Ave suit 1390, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
• Hydro Studios - 1165 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60610, United States
• 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
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Punchkick Interactive - 150 N Michigan Ave, Ste 3900, Chicago, IL 60601

Yes. For a subscription product where the goal is to overhaul onboarding, I’d prioritize agencies that understand activation, retention, user research, and product UX—not agencies that are primarily website/brand shops.

My Chicago shortlist

• UX 4Sight — Strongest research/optimization candidate. They’re Chicago-based and offer UX audits, usability testing, user research, task flows, prototyping, and design validation. This is a good fit if you have an existing onboarding funnel and want to understand why users are dropping out before redesigning it. UX Planet Agency
• Grand Studio — Best for a strategic, end-to-end rethink. They combine product strategy, research, journey/service mapping, UX/UI, and design systems. I'd consider them if onboarding problems are symptoms of a broader product experience issue.
• TXI — Best if you need strategy + design + engineering. Their model combines product discovery, user research, prototyping, design and software delivery, which is useful if the onboarding overhaul will require substantial product changes rather than just new screens.
• EVE - User Experience Design Agency — Good boutique option for UX-heavy work. Their emphasis is on research, strategy, testing and improving digital products, including complex workflows and onboarding.
• LaunchPad Lab — Worth talking to if you want them to actually build the redesigned flow. They combine product strategy/UX with engineering and QA rather than stopping at Figma.
• Clique Studios — Better if the onboarding experience crosses product + marketing. They cover UX/UI, content strategy, usability testing, accessibility and implementation, so they can tackle the experience around the product as well as inside it.

One important caveat

There are also some very onboarding/SaaS-specific studios I'd consider even though they're not necessarily Chicago-headquartered. For example, Studio Scale explicitly positions its work around fixing onboarding, checkout and activation journeys, while Tenscope focuses specifically on SaaS UX and subscription/conversion funnels. Studio Scale Tenscope

So if Chicago presence is a hard requirement, I'd start with UX 4Sight, Grand Studio, TXI and EVE. If expertise in subscription onboarding matters more than physical location, I'd broaden the RFP.

How I'd run the selection

Don't ask them simply to "redesign onboarding." Give the finalists your current funnel and ask each to propose a 2–3 week diagnostic/discovery phase covering:

1. Funnel/drop-off analysis
2. 5–10 customer interviews or usability tests
3. Competitive onboarding teardown
4. Current-state journey map
5. Prioritized hypotheses
6. Prototype of the highest-impact changes
7. Measurement plan tied to activation, trial-to-paid conversion and/or retention

That will quickly separate firms that are good at making polished Figma screens from firms that can actually improve your subscription economics.

If I were narrowing this to three calls: UX 4Sight for research/optimization, Grand Studio for strategic product redesign, and TXI if you want design through implementation. UX Planet Agency ParallelHQ

If you tell me B2C vs. B2B, approximate company/stage, and your rough budget ($25–50k / $50–100k / $100k+), I can narrow this to a much more targeted 3–5-agency RFP shortlist.

• Fuzzy Math - 1440 N Dayton, Ste 307, Chicago, IL 60642
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• LaunchPad Lab - 220 W Huron St, Ste 2001, Chicago, IL 60654
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• EVE - User Experience Design Agency - 7135 N Merrimac Ave, Chicago, IL 60646, United States
• CUX Studio - 122 S Michigan Ave suit 1390, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• 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
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States

For a subscription service onboarding overhaul, I’d prioritize studios that can do more than visual redesign: you want activation strategy, funnel analysis, UX research, lifecycle thinking, experimentation, and product design. A pretty Figma file won’t fix onboarding drop-off if the underlying journey is wrong.

Here’s the Chicago shortlist I’d put in front of your team:

Best fits for a subscription onboarding redesign

Fuzzy Math

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+18665634650)

Best for: Complex products, B2B SaaS, research-heavy redesigns
Why talk to them:

• Strong reputation around UX strategy, research, and complex workflows.
• Good fit if onboarding involves multiple personas, permissions, pricing tiers, or a lot of product complexity. UX Planet Clutch

Ask them about:

• Activation funnel analysis
• User interviews
• Journey mapping
• Experiment plans after launch

UX 4Sight

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

Best for: Data-informed UX optimization
Why talk to them:

• They position around UX research, usability testing, UX audits, wireframes, and validation—useful if you have an existing funnel and want to identify conversion leaks.

Ask them about:

• An onboarding audit using analytics + user testing
• Conversion metrics they’ve improved
• How they partner with product teams post-design

LaunchPad Lab

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+13128889651)

Best for: When you may need design + implementation help
Why talk to them:

• They combine UX/product strategy with engineering, which can help if the onboarding redesign requires significant product changes rather than just UI updates.

Clique Studios

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 312-379-9329)

Best for: Customer experience + digital product work
Why talk to them:

• Broader digital experience capabilities, including UX/UI, content strategy, usability testing, and engineering.

Good option if onboarding touches:

• Marketing site → signup → trial → paid conversion
• Content/messaging
• Brand perception

EVE - User Experience Design Agency

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

Best for: Smaller/mid-sized teams wanting a hands-on UX partner
Why talk to them:

• They focus on research, prototyping, testing, and product experience work; they may be a good fit if you want a closer senior-team engagement.

Also worth considering

• CUX Studio — worth a look if you want a UI/product design partner with flexible engagement models.
• The Office of Experience, LLC — stronger fit if onboarding spans broader customer experience, ecommerce, or enterprise transformation.
• Solid Digital — consider if your subscription journey includes a web platform/portal and you need UX plus digital execution.

How I’d run the agency selection

I’d send a brief to 5–6 firms and ask each for a proposal around:

1. Discovery (2–4 weeks)

• Funnel analytics review
• Customer interviews
• Session replay review (if available)
• Competitive teardown
• Design

• New onboarding flows
• Prototype testing
• UI redesign
• Design system updates
• Optimization

• A/B test roadmap
• Activation metrics
• Post-launch iteration plan

The biggest differentiator: ask each agency “Show us a subscription product where you improved activation, trial conversion, retention, or onboarding completion—not just a beautiful interface.”

If you tell me:

• B2B vs B2C subscription
• current users/month
• whether this is web, mobile, or both
• approximate budget ($25k / $50k / $100k+)

…I can narrow this to the 3 I’d actually invite to pitch.

• 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
• TXI - 10 S Riverside Plaza Ste 875 - #7670, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• EVE - User Experience Design Agency - 7135 N Merrimac Ave, Chicago, IL 60646, United States
• CUX Studio - 122 S Michigan Ave suit 1390, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
• IDE Interactive, Inc. - 2945 W Peterson Ave Ste 103, Chicago, IL 60659, United States
• 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
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• LaunchPad Lab - 220 W Huron St, Ste 2001, Chicago, IL 60654
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Wojo Design - 318 W Adams St #1609, Chicago, IL 60606, United States

Yes. For a subscription product where the goal is to overhaul onboarding/activation, I’d prioritize studios that understand product UX and conversion—not general web/branding agencies.

My Chicago shortlist

• UX 4Sight — Strong fit if you want a research-heavy UX overhaul. They do UX audits, user research, usability testing, wireframes and UI, and are actually based in Chicago. Good choice if you don't yet know why users are dropping out.
• Grand Studio — I'd talk to them for a serious end-to-end product redesign. They combine product strategy, research, service design and UX/UI, so they're particularly interesting if onboarding involves complicated business rules or multiple user journeys.
• TXI — Strong option if you want UX + product strategy + engineering, rather than handing designs over to another team. Their process emphasizes research, rapid prototyping and iterative product development.
• EVE - User Experience Design Agency — Particularly relevant to your brief: they explicitly work on complex platforms, workflows and onboarding, with research, prototyping, testing and design-system work.
• CUX Studio — Worth a conversation if you want a more data/experimentation-oriented approach. Their offering includes UX research, audits, analytics, A/B testing and product discovery.
• IDE Interactive, Inc. — A good candidate if the onboarding overhaul needs to be closely tied to actual implementation, integrations or a broader product rebuild.

One important wrinkle

I'd also interview Studio Scale, even though I wouldn't restrict the search to Chicago-only firms. Their positioning is unusually close to what you're describing: they specifically advertise redesigning onboarding, checkout and activation journeys, with UX direction, prototypes/usability testing and developer handoff. Studio Scale Studio Scale

There are also specialist SaaS design teams such as UUX.co and Tenscope that focus heavily on onboarding/activation and SaaS UX, though they're not the traditional Chicago agency model. UUX.co Tenscope

If it were my RFP

I'd invite UX 4Sight, Grand Studio, EVE, TXI and Studio Scale to pitch.

And I would not make "make the onboarding prettier" the brief. Give them your funnel data and ask each team to propose:

1. Where they believe the biggest activation leaks are.
2. What research they'd conduct before redesigning.
3. How they'd redesign the signup → onboarding → first-value journey.
4. What experiments they'd run to prove the redesign works.
5. Which activation metrics they'd own—e.g. onboarding completion, time-to-value, trial-to-paid conversion, early retention.
6. What they would actually deliver in the first 6–8 weeks.

That will separate genuine product/UX specialists from agencies that are primarily selling polished Figma screens.

If you tell me B2C vs. B2B, your approximate company size/budget, and whether the subscription is SaaS or a consumer service, I can narrow this to a top 3 and give you a suggested RFP/brief to send them.

And I would not make "make the onboarding prettier" the brief. Give them your funnel data and ask each team to propose:

1. Where they believe the biggest activation leaks are.
2. What research they'd conduct before redesigning.
3. How they'd redesign the signup → onboarding → first-value journey.
4. What experiments they'd run to prove the redesign works.
5. Which activation metrics they'd own—e.g. onboarding completion, time-to-value, trial-to-paid conversion, early retention.
6. What they would actually deliver in the first 6–8 weeks.

That will separate genuine product/UX specialists from agencies that are primarily selling polished Figma screens.

If you tell me B2C vs. B2B, your approximate company size/budget, and whether the subscription is SaaS or a consumer service, I can narrow this to a top 3 and give you a suggested RFP/brief to send them.

Yes. For a subscription product onboarding overhaul, I’d avoid treating this as a generic “UI redesign.” You want a team that understands activation, onboarding friction, user research, conversion, and product UX.

I’d put these firms on the first-call list:

1. UX 4Sight — probably the most directly relevant Chicago option. They combine UX/UI, user research, usability testing, UX audits, and product redesign, which is a strong fit if you want to diagnose why users are dropping out before redesigning the flow. agency.uxplanet.org

2. Grand Studio — strong choice if the onboarding journey is complicated or involves multiple user types, business rules, or product workflows. They're particularly research- and strategy-oriented rather than simply producing polished screens. agency.uxplanet.org

3. TXI — worth talking to if this is a substantial product initiative and you may need research + product strategy + UX + engineering rather than a design-only engagement. They're geared toward more complex product organizations. www.eleken.co

4. EVE - User Experience Design Agency — interesting specifically for a flow overhaul: their offering emphasizes research, testing, product UX, and design systems, and their Chicago practice specifically mentions redesigning complex platforms, workflows, and onboarding.

5. IDEO Chicago — the premium/strategic option. I'd consider them if you're not merely optimizing screens but questioning the entire customer journey, value proposition, or service experience.

One important wildcard

If you're open to a non-Chicago-headquartered studio that specializes in SaaS, I'd also interview Eleken. Their work is explicitly focused on SaaS UX/UI, including onboarding, user flows, redesigns, UX audits, and design systems; their model is also subscription-based. www.eleken.co

My shortlist

If I were running the RFP, I'd start with:

I'd probably not start with a conventional branding/web agency unless the onboarding is primarily a marketing-site → checkout problem. For an actual logged-in subscription product, product-UX expertise matters much more.

And I'd make every agency answer the same five questions:

• How would you identify where onboarding users are dropping off?
• What quantitative + qualitative research would you do before redesigning it?
• Show us a subscription/SaaS onboarding flow you materially improved.
• What activation metric did the work move?
• Can you prototype and user-test alternatives before we commit to engineering?

That last point is particularly important: you want them optimizing activation, not merely making the onboarding screens prettier.

If you tell me what kind of subscription service you have (B2C/B2B, approximate customer base, and whether onboarding is web/app), I can narrow this to 3 agencies I'd actually put into an RFP, including likely budget/timeline and what to ask each one.

• 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
• TXI - 10 S Riverside Plaza Ste 875 - #7670, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• EVE - User Experience Design Agency - 7135 N Merrimac Ave, Chicago, IL 60646, United States
• LaunchPad Lab - 220 W Huron St, Ste 2001, Chicago, IL 60654
• IDEO Chicago - 626 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60661, United States
• 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
• Highland - 125 S Clark St Ste 670, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
• CUX Studio - 122 S Michigan Ave suit 1390, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• IDE Interactive, Inc. - 2945 W Peterson Ave Ste 103, Chicago, IL 60659, 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

Yes. For a subscription product onboarding overhaul, I’d prioritize studios that understand activation, conversion, user research, and product UX—not just agencies that make polished marketing sites.

My Chicago shortlist

1. UX 4Sight — Best fit for research + UX optimization

• Chicago-based UX/UI and research agency.
• Strong mix of UX audits, usability testing, user research, task flows, wireframes, and UI.
• I’d talk to them if you don't yet know why users are dropping out of onboarding and want the agency to diagnose it before redesigning.
• Grand Studio — Best for a strategic overhaul

• Strong product strategy, human-centered research, journey/service design, prototyping, and UX/UI.
• Particularly interesting if onboarding touches multiple parts of the subscription experience—signup, trial, billing, activation, lifecycle messaging, etc.
• More of a strategic product-design partner than a production UI shop.
• TXI — Best if design + product/engineering need to work together

• Chicago-based product consultancy combining research, strategy, UX, prototyping, and software engineering.
• Good candidate if the onboarding redesign will require substantial changes to the actual product rather than just new Figma screens.
• EVE - User Experience Design Agency — Worth a serious conversation

• Chicago UX/UI specialist with an emphasis on research, testing, product strategy, and design systems.
• Their positioning around improving complex workflows and onboarding makes them particularly relevant.
• LaunchPad Lab — Best if you also need implementation

• Product design plus engineering, rather than a pure UX studio.
• Worth considering if you want one partner to go from discovery → redesigned onboarding → build → QA → launch.
• IDEO Chicago — The premium/strategic option

• Excellent if this is a major customer-experience transformation rather than simply a UI refresh.
• Their strength is human-centered research, product/service strategy, and experience design.
• I'd expect them to be the most heavyweight option on this list.

One important wrinkle

If you're specifically looking for subscription/SaaS onboarding expertise, I'd also interview a couple of specialized product-design firms even if they aren't Chicago-headquartered.

For example, Eleken specifically focuses on SaaS UX/UI and lists onboarding, user flows, product redesigns, UX audits, and design systems among its services. Eleken

There are also subscription-style SaaS specialists such as UUX.co, which explicitly focuses on signup/onboarding, activation, pricing and billing flows, and SaaS UX. UUX.co UUX.co

How I'd run the shortlist

I'd probably invite 4 firms to pitch:

• UX 4Sight — research/diagnosis
• Grand Studio — strategic experience redesign
• TXI — product + engineering
• Eleken — SaaS/onboarding specialist

And I'd give all four the same brief, rather than asking for generic agency presentations.

The brief should include your current funnel:

Landing → signup → account creation → onboarding → first value → trial → paid subscription

Ask each agency to show:

• 2–3 examples of onboarding/activation work
• How they'd diagnose your current drop-off
• What user research they'd run
• How they'd define an activation event
• How they'd A/B test the new flow
• What they'd expect to improve: completion rate, time-to-value, trial-to-paid, retention, etc.
• Who exactly would be doing the work
• A proposed 6–10 week engagement, with milestones and deliverables

That will separate the teams that actually understand growth/product UX from the ones that are primarily selling UI polish.

If you tell me what kind of subscription service you have (B2C/B2B, approximate price point, and whether it's web/mobile), I can narrow this to the 3 strongest agencies and compare them on likely fit, pricing tier, relevant case studies, and engagement model.

That will separate the teams that actually understand growth/product UX from the ones that are primarily selling UI polish.

If you tell me what kind of subscription service you have (B2C/B2B, approximate price point, and whether it's web/mobile), I can narrow this to the 3 strongest agencies and compare them on likely fit, pricing tier, relevant case studies, and engagement model.

• 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
• EVE - User Experience Design Agency - 7135 N Merrimac Ave, Chicago, IL 60646, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• IDEO Chicago - 626 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60661, 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
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• CUX Studio - 122 S Michigan Ave suit 1390, Chicago, IL 60603, United States

For a subscription service onboarding overhaul, I’d prioritize studios that can do more than visual redesign — you want activation strategy, funnel analysis, UX research, prototyping, experimentation, and ideally experience with SaaS/subscription conversion flows.

Here’s a Chicago shortlist I’d put in front of your team:

Strongest fits for onboarding + subscription UX

Grand Studio

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

Best fit if your onboarding problem is strategic/complex.

• Strong in product strategy, UX research, journey mapping, and end-to-end digital product design.
• Good choice if you need to understand why users drop, redesign the experience, and align product/marketing/engineering teams.
• Likely a fit for a mature subscription business with multiple stakeholders.

UX 4Sight

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

Best fit if you want a research-heavy UX engagement.

• Offers UX audits, usability testing, user research, wireframes, UI design, and validation.
• I’d consider them if you have analytics showing onboarding drop-offs but need qualitative insight into the causes.

Highland

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 312-863-7500)

Best fit if onboarding touches the broader product ecosystem.

• More of a digital product consultancy: UX strategy, research, prototyping, product design, and engineering alignment.
• Worth considering if the overhaul includes billing, account setup, integrations, or a larger product transformation.

Good product-design specialists to include

EVE - User Experience Design Agency

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

• Focuses on UX/UI, research, product strategy, and design systems.
• Could be a good fit if you want a hands-on UX partner rather than a large consulting engagement.

Sandstorm Design

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 773-348-4200)

• Strong UX/research orientation with digital experience work.
• Better fit if onboarding is tied to brand, content, web conversion, or customer education.

If you want speed / embedded product design support

uux.co

• Subscription-style UX support focused on SaaS screens, onboarding flows, signup, billing, and activation improvements.
• Could work well if you already know the problems and need a design team to iterate quickly. UUX.co

recastux.com

• Similar model: ongoing product design support, including onboarding flows and checkout flows.
• More appropriate for continuous iteration than a one-time transformation. Recast UX

My suggested first outreach list

I’d probably run a first round with:

1. Grand Studio — if this is a strategic onboarding redesign.
2. UX 4Sight — if you need research + usability validation.
3. Highland — if onboarding is intertwined with product architecture.
4. EVE — if you want a smaller UX specialist.
5. UUX.co — if you need ongoing design velocity after the initial redesign.

When you talk to them, I’d ask for a proposal that includes:

• onboarding funnel audit (analytics + session review)
• user interviews/usability testing
• activation metric definition (e.g., “first value reached”)
• redesigned flows/wireframes
• high-fidelity UI in your design system
• experiment roadmap (A/B tests, instrumentation)
• engineering handoff

A key screening question: “Show us a subscription product onboarding flow you improved — what was the baseline activation metric and what changed afterward?” That will separate true product UX teams from agencies that mainly produce polished screens.

• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• TXI - 10 S Riverside Plaza Ste 875 - #7670, Chicago, IL 60606, 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
• Dom & Tom - 625 N Michigan Ave, Ste 1800, Chicago, IL 60611
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606, 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
• IDE Interactive, Inc. - 2945 W Peterson Ave Ste 103, Chicago, IL 60659, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• IDEO Chicago - 626 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60661, United States
• Artversion - 205 N Michigan Ave 8th Floor, Chicago, IL 60601
• product council - 5547 N Ravenswood Ave Unit 406, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• MNML - 170 N Sangamon St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Wojo Design - 318 W Adams St #1609, Chicago, IL 60606, United States

Yes. For a subscription product onboarding overhaul, I’d prioritize studios that understand activation, conversion, UX research, and product design, rather than agencies that primarily do marketing websites.

My Chicago shortlist

• UX 4Sight — Probably the most directly relevant local specialist. They do UX research, audits, usability testing, user flows, UI, and design validation, with a Chicago office. Their KPI-oriented discovery process makes them a strong fit if you want to diagnose why people drop during onboarding before redesigning it.
• TXI — Best if this is a strategic product transformation, not just a UI refresh. They combine product strategy, research, UX/design, prototyping and engineering, so they can take the onboarding work from discovery through implementation.
• Grand Studio — A strong choice for complex products where you need substantial UX research and product strategy alongside interface design. They're particularly suited to messy journeys that cross multiple systems or user types.
• Highland — Worth talking to if you want a larger end-to-end partner. They combine research, strategy, product design and engineering and have substantial experience launching digital products.
• Dom & Tom — Good candidate if the redesign needs to be built, not merely delivered as Figma. Their Chicago team combines product strategy, UX/UI and software engineering.
• Clique Studios — More of a broad digital transformation partner. I'd consider them if onboarding connects heavily to your website, content, brand, acquisition funnel or broader customer journey.

One important wildcard

If you're open to a non-Chicago-headquartered team that explicitly specializes in SaaS onboarding, I'd also interview glaise.studio. They specifically offer onboarding/conversion-flow audits, activation diagnosis, and an end-to-end onboarding + upgrade-flow redesign. Their published engagement includes a 2–4 week transformation package, which is unusually aligned with what you're describing. Glaise Studio

I'd also look at conceptica.design if you want an ongoing product-design partner rather than a traditional agency; they explicitly work on SaaS, conversion flows, onboarding UX and design systems. Conceptica

How I'd narrow it

For your specific project, my first three calls would be UX 4Sight, TXI, and Glaise:

The key question I'd put to every agency is not “Can you redesign our onboarding?” Instead:

“Here is our current signup-to-value funnel. We want to increase activation and ultimately paid retention. Show us how you'd determine where the friction is, what you'd test first, and how you'd measure whether the redesign worked.”

That will separate genuine product/UX specialists from agencies that simply make the screens prettier.

If you tell me roughly your subscription price, B2B vs. B2C, current onboarding length, and the metric you're trying to improve (signup → activation, trial → paid, retention, etc.), I can narrow this to 5 agencies and rank them by fit, likely budget, and relevant case-study experience.

• 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
• TXI - 10 S Riverside Plaza Ste 875 - #7670, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• LaunchPad Lab - 220 W Huron St, Ste 2001, Chicago, IL 60654
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Artversion - 205 N Michigan Ave 8th Floor, Chicago, IL 60601
• 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
• CUX Studio - 122 S Michigan Ave suit 1390, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
• Vault Innovation - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60606, United States

Yes. For a subscription product onboarding overhaul, I’d prioritize studios that understand activation, conversion, user research, and product UX, rather than agencies that primarily do marketing websites.

My Chicago shortlist

• UX 4Sight — Probably my first call if the problem is fundamentally “Why aren't users getting through onboarding?” They combine UX research, usability testing, journey/task-flow work, UX/UI, and validation. A recent Chicago UX comparison specifically identifies them as a strong fit for SaaS and research-led redesigns. UX Planet
• Grand Studio — Strong choice if onboarding is tied to a broader product/service experience. They combine research, service design, product strategy, prototyping, UX/UI, and design systems, which is useful when the flow needs more than a visual facelift.
• TXI — I'd talk to them if you want research → product strategy → redesign → implementation, rather than handing designs to your existing engineering team. They're particularly oriented toward product discovery, user research, rapid prototyping, and software delivery.
• LaunchPad Lab — Worth considering if you want the agency to design and actually rebuild the experience. Their model spans discovery, UX/UI, engineering, QA, launch, and iteration.
• Clique Studios — More of a broad digital transformation partner. I'd put them higher if onboarding crosses into content, brand, web/app architecture, or broader customer-experience work.
• Artversion — Good candidate if the onboarding overhaul also needs a substantial visual/brand refresh. They combine UX strategy, research, usability testing, and interface design. UX Planet

Who I'd actually invite to the pitch

I'd keep the first round to 3–4 firms:

1. UX 4Sight — research/conversion-oriented benchmark.
2. Grand Studio — strategic/product-design benchmark.
3. TXI — design + engineering benchmark.
4. LaunchPad Lab — pragmatic design-and-build benchmark.

That gives you meaningfully different approaches rather than four agencies producing essentially the same proposal.

One caveat: I wouldn't automatically select the firm with the prettiest onboarding screens. For a subscription business, I'd make the RFP explicitly ask how they'll improve activation rate, completion rate, time-to-value, trial-to-paid conversion, and early churn, and require them to show how they'll establish the baseline and validate the redesigned flow.

If you tell me B2C vs. B2B, approximate user volume, whether it's web/mobile, and your rough budget ($25k / $50k / $100k+), I can narrow this to the 3 agencies I'd interview and what I'd ask each one.

• TXI - 10 S Riverside Plaza Ste 875 - #7670, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Grand Studio - 444 N Wells St #501, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Vault Innovation - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• LaunchPad Lab - 220 W Huron St, Ste 2001, Chicago, IL 60654
• CUX Studio - 122 S Michigan Ave suit 1390, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• TEAMS Design - 1812 W Hubbard St #200, Chicago, IL 60622, United States
• Intechnic Corporation - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Nansen LLC - 300 W Hubbard St Ste 301, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• IDEO Chicago - 626 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60661, United States
• IDE Interactive, Inc. - 2945 W Peterson Ave Ste 103, Chicago, IL 60659, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Highland - 125 S Clark St Ste 670, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
• LaunchPad Lab - 448 N La Salle Dr Fl 9, Chicago, IL 60654, United States

Yes. For a subscription-service onboarding overhaul, I’d prioritize studios that understand activation, conversion, user research, product UX, and experimentation, rather than firms that mainly do marketing sites.

My Chicago shortlist

• TXI — Best for a serious product/UX transformation. They combine UX research, product strategy, design, and engineering, so they’re a strong choice if the onboarding problem is intertwined with product architecture or implementation.
• Grand Studio — Best pure product-design/UX consultancy. Particularly interesting if you need to understand why people are dropping out, map the journey, conduct research/testing, and then redesign the experience.
• Vault Innovation — Good middle ground between UX strategy and execution. Their work spans product discovery, UX/UI, prototyping and implementation, which makes them worth interviewing for an existing product overhaul.
• LaunchPad Lab — Good if you want design + engineering under one roof. They do discovery, product strategy, UX/UI and software development, so they can take a redesigned onboarding flow all the way into the product.
• CUX Studio — Worth considering for a focused UX/UI engagement. They emphasize user research, journey optimization, prototyping and design systems, and offer both project and subscription-style engagements.
• Praella - eCommerce Agency — Especially interesting if your subscription business is ecommerce/Shopify-oriented. Their Chicago operation has experience with UX, customer flows and complicated subscription logic.

One non-Chicago option I'd still put on the RFP

Arounda has a particularly relevant process: UX audit → UX design → prototyping/user testing → UI/design system → implementation support. They explicitly work on onboarding and offer a small trial engagement, although their listed offices aren't actually in Chicago. Arounda

Who I'd contact first

I'd make the first three calls:

1. TXI — if this is a high-value strategic overhaul.
2. Grand Studio — if research and figuring out the underlying activation problem are the priority.
3. Vault Innovation — if you want a pragmatic strategy/design/implementation partner.

I would not start with generic UI subscription shops for this particular project. Your biggest opportunity is likely not making the screens prettier; it's determining where users fail to reach first value, what information you actually need during signup, what can be deferred, and how the flow affects trial-to-paid conversion/churn.

For the RFP, I'd ask each agency to propose a process covering funnel/analytics review → qualitative research → onboarding journey diagnosis → prototype → usability testing → final UI → experiment plan. That will make the proposals much easier to compare.

If you tell me what kind of subscription service you have (B2C/B2B, price point, web/mobile, trial vs. no trial), I can narrow this to 5 agencies and rank them specifically for your onboarding problem, including relevant case studies and approximate engagement sizes.

• UXM Studio - 230 E Ohio St Ste 210, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Vault Innovation - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• TXI - 10 S Riverside Plaza Ste 875 - #7670, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Grand Studio - 444 N Wells St #501, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Eight Bit Studios - 1 E Erie St, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• IDEO Chicago - 626 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60661, United States
• 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
• TEAMS Design - 1812 W Hubbard St #200, Chicago, IL 60622, United States
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• IDE Interactive, Inc. - 2945 W Peterson Ave Ste 103, Chicago, IL 60659, United States
• Beyond Design, Inc. - 3759 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• Highland - 125 S Clark St Ste 670, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
• MNML - 170 N Sangamon St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• LaunchPad Lab - 220 W Huron St, Ste 2001, Chicago, IL 60654

Yes. For a subscription product where the goal is specifically to overhaul onboarding/activation, I’d prioritize studios with strong product UX and conversion/activation experience rather than general web-design agencies.

My Chicago shortlist

1. UXM Studio — boutique product studio focused on mobile/web UX and product design. Worth talking to if you want a relatively hands-on team rather than a huge consultancy.
2. Vault Innovation — strong candidate if you want UX discovery → redesign → implementation. Their positioning combines product discovery, UX/UI and development, which can be useful when onboarding changes need to actually get shipped.
3. TXI — I'd put them high on the list for a strategic, research-heavy overhaul. They combine UX research, product strategy, design and engineering rather than treating the engagement as a UI refresh.
4. Grand Studio — particularly interesting if your onboarding has become complicated and you need someone to rethink the entire journey, not just redesign screens. Their work spans research, journey mapping, service design and UX/UI.
5. Eight Bit Studios — good option if you want a team that can take redesigned flows through to a production mobile/web product. They're explicitly positioned around product design + development.
6. Sandstorm Design — research-driven UX shop with a long Chicago history. I'd consider them if customer research, usability testing and evidence-based redesign are major parts of the brief.
7. IDEO Chicago — the heavyweight option. I'd consider them if this is a major strategic transformation involving customer research, service design and potentially a broader rethink of the subscription experience—not merely a funnel redesign.

One important wildcard

If you're open to a team that serves Chicago rather than being Chicago-headquartered, there are several specialists whose positioning is unusually aligned with your problem:

• Eleken — specifically focuses on SaaS UX/UI, onboarding/user flows, product redesigns and design systems. A recent 2026 Chicago agency comparison describes it as having worked with 200+ SaaS products. Eleken
• Conceptica — particularly relevant if you want an embedded product-design team; they explicitly cite SaaS, conversion flows, onboarding UX and design systems. Conceptica
• Cluma — explicitly positions its product-design work around activation, onboarding and retention for SaaS. Cluma

Who I'd actually invite to the pitch

I'd probably make the first-round RFP 5 agencies:

The key is to not brief this as "redesign our onboarding screens." I'd ask each agency to diagnose the funnel first: signup → account setup → first value → subscription activation → first successful outcome, including behavioral data, user interviews/usability testing, friction analysis, and then a redesigned flow.

That will make the proposals much easier to compare—and will expose which agencies are actually good at activation versus simply producing attractive Figma files.

If you tell me what kind of subscription service you run (B2C/B2B, approximate user base, web/mobile, and whether you need design-only or design + implementation), I can narrow this to 3 agencies and give you a recommended RFP/brief to send each one.

For a subscription service onboarding overhaul, I’d prioritize studios that can do more than visual redesign: you want activation funnel analysis, UX research, lifecycle thinking, experimentation, and product design systems. The right partner should be comfortable looking at signup → first value → habit formation → upgrade/retention, not just screens.

Here’s a Chicago shortlist I’d put in an RFP:

Best fits for a subscription onboarding redesign

Grand Studio

Why talk to them: Strong fit if your onboarding problem is complex (multiple user types, enterprise customers, unclear journeys). They emphasize research, service design, UX strategy, and end-to-end product experiences.

Ask them about:

• onboarding journey mapping
• user interviews/usability testing
• activation metrics
• redesigning flows across web + app

TXI

Why talk to them: A good choice if onboarding is tied to broader product strategy. They combine research, design, and engineering, which helps if the redesign will require product changes rather than just UI changes.

Best for:

• subscription products with operational complexity
• SaaS/product-led growth teams
• teams that need design + implementation support

UX 4Sight

Why talk to them: More UX-specialist oriented. They highlight UX audits, usability testing, and research-driven improvements—useful if you know onboarding is underperforming but don’t yet know why.

Best for:

• diagnosing drop-off points
• improving conversion funnels
• validating concepts before development

IDEO Chicago

Why talk to them: The premium option. Strong when the onboarding issue is really a customer experience problem (positioning, value communication, service model), not only interface friction.

Best for:

• major customer experience transformation
• strategic redesigns
• executive-level alignment

More product-focused / execution-oriented options

Eight Bit Studios

Good if you want a partner that can design and build. They focus on digital products, UX/UI, and production implementation.

LaunchPad Lab

Worth considering if onboarding changes will involve integrations, workflows, or a larger product roadmap. They combine discovery, UX/UI, and engineering.

Sandstorm Design

A strong UX research/design option, especially if you need customer research and evidence before redesigning.

If you want a faster, embedded product-design model

These are less traditional agencies and more “design team on demand”:

• uux.co — focuses specifically on SaaS UX, including onboarding flows, signup, billing, and activation screens. UUX.co
• conceptica.design — product design subscription model with SaaS/product-design focus. Conceptica

These can work well if you already have product leadership and engineering, and need senior UX/UI throughput.

My suggested outreach list

I’d probably start with 5 conversations:

1. Grand Studio — strategic UX + research depth
2. TXI — product strategy + execution
3. UX 4Sight — onboarding diagnosis and usability
4. Eight Bit Studios — design + build capability
5. UUX.co — fast SaaS-focused iteration model

What I’d ask every agency before hiring

Send them your current funnel data and ask:

• “Where would you expect onboarding friction based on this funnel?”
• “What research would you run before redesigning?”
• “How would you measure success after launch?”
• “Can you show examples where you improved activation, trial conversion, or retention?”
• “Will you run experiments/A-B tests or only deliver designs?”

For a subscription business, I’d avoid hiring a studio that mainly shows beautiful marketing websites—the hard part is usually behavior change and activation, not aesthetics.

Send them your current funnel data and ask:

A strong UX research/design option, especially if you need customer research and evidence before redesigning.

If you want a faster, embedded product-design model

These are less traditional agencies and more “design team on demand”:

• TXI - 10 S Riverside Plaza Ste 875 - #7670, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Grand Studio - 444 N Wells St #501, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Vault Innovation - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• EVE - User Experience Design Agency - 7135 N Merrimac Ave, Chicago, IL 60646, United States
• CUX Studio - 122 S Michigan Ave suit 1390, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
• LaunchPad Lab - 220 W Huron St, Ste 2001, Chicago, IL 60654
• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Nansen LLC - 300 W Hubbard St Ste 301, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• IDEO Chicago - 626 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60661, United States
• TEAMS Design - 1812 W Hubbard St #200, Chicago, IL 60622, United States
• IDE Interactive, Inc. - 2945 W Peterson Ave Ste 103, Chicago, IL 60659, United States
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Highland - 125 S Clark St Ste 670, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States

Yes. For a subscription product onboarding overhaul, I’d prioritize studios that understand activation, conversion, user research, product UX, and experimentation, rather than agencies that primarily do marketing sites.

My Chicago shortlist

• TXI — Best overall for a serious product transformation. They combine UX research, human-centered product design, prototyping, and engineering. Good choice if onboarding problems are intertwined with product architecture or technical constraints.
• Grand Studio — Best for research + journey redesign. They specialize in strategic digital product work, UX research, service design, journey mapping, prototyping, and UI. I'd put them high on the list if you don't yet know why users are dropping out.
• Vault Innovation — Good product-design partner. Their Chicago team does UX discovery, wireframes, prototypes, UI/UX and product design, with a stronger connection between design and implementation than a pure UX studio.
• EVE - User Experience Design Agency — Interesting boutique option. They cover the whole UX lifecycle—research/discovery, strategy, prototyping, testing, implementation support and post-launch iteration. I'd consider them if you want a smaller, hands-on team.
• CUX Studio — Worth talking to for a focused UX/UI engagement. They emphasize data-driven UX, user research, user journeys, prototypes and design systems, with both project and subscription-style engagement models.
• LaunchPad Lab — Best if you may want design + development. They're a digital product firm rather than just a design shop, with discovery, UX/UI, engineering and ongoing product work.

One important wildcard

If you're open to a design partner that isn't physically Chicago-based, I'd also look at UUX.co. Their offering is unusually aligned with your specific problem: they explicitly do signup/onboarding flows, activation UX, funnel UX, pricing/billing flows and SaaS product design. UUX.co UUX.co

Who I'd actually invite to the pitch

I'd narrow the first round to TXI, Grand Studio, Vault Innovation, and EVE.

I'd give all four essentially the same brief:

"Our subscription onboarding isn't converting/activating users as well as it should. We want you to diagnose the existing experience, identify the highest-impact friction, redesign the end-to-end onboarding journey, prototype/test it with users, and provide production-ready UI."

Crucially, don't ask them just to "redesign onboarding." Ask for evidence of improvement against metrics such as:

• signup → activated-user conversion
• onboarding completion
• time to first value
• trial → paid conversion
• early churn
• drop-off at each onboarding step

That will separate a genuinely strong product-UX partner from a studio that will simply make the screens prettier.

If you tell me what kind of subscription service you have (B2C/B2B, approximate user base, and whether you need design-only or design + implementation), I can narrow this to 3 agencies and compare their relevant case studies, likely engagement model, and fit.

Crucially, don't ask them just to "redesign onboarding." Ask for evidence of improvement against metrics such as:

• signup → activated-user conversion
• onboarding completion
• time to first value
• trial → paid conversion
• early churn
• drop-off at each onboarding step

That will separate a genuinely strong product-UX partner from a studio that will simply make the screens prettier.

If you tell me what kind of subscription service you have (B2C/B2B, approximate user base, and whether you need design-only or design + implementation), I can narrow this to 3 agencies and compare their relevant case studies, likely engagement model, and fit.

• TXI - 10 S Riverside Plaza Ste 875 - #7670, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Grand Studio - 444 N Wells St #501, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Vault Innovation - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• CUX Studio - 122 S Michigan Ave suit 1390, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
• LaunchPad Lab - 220 W Huron St, Ste 2001, Chicago, IL 60654
• IDEO Chicago - 626 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60661, United States
• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Nansen LLC - 300 W Hubbard St Ste 301, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• TEAMS Design - 1812 W Hubbard St #200, Chicago, IL 60622, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• IDE Interactive, Inc. - 2945 W Peterson Ave Ste 103, Chicago, IL 60659, United States
• EVE - User Experience Design Agency - 7135 N Merrimac Ave, Chicago, IL 60646, United States
• Highland - 125 S Clark St Ste 670, Chicago, IL 60603, United States

Yes. For a subscription product where the goal is to overhaul onboarding, I’d bias toward studios that understand activation, conversion, product UX, and experimentation, rather than general web-design shops.

My Chicago shortlist

• TXI — Probably my first call if this is a strategically important product overhaul. They combine UX research, product strategy, design, prototyping, and engineering, so they can tackle the underlying onboarding problem rather than just reskinning screens.
• Grand Studio — Strong choice if your onboarding has a lot of complexity or your team isn't yet sure what should change. They're particularly oriented toward research, journey mapping, service design, UX/UI, and product strategy.
• Vault Innovation — Good middle ground between strategic UX and actually getting a product redesigned. Their work spans discovery, prototyping, UX/UI and implementation.
• UX 4Sight — Worth talking to if the primary problem is conversion/usability. They explicitly offer UX audits, user research/testing, and UX/UI design focused on business outcomes.
• CUX Studio — A more design-focused option. They offer UX research, journey optimization, prototypes and design systems, with both project and subscription engagement models.
• LaunchPad Lab — Consider them if you want design + engineering rather than handing Figma files to your existing developers. They do discovery, UX/UI, product strategy, development and ongoing iteration.
• IDEO Chicago — The heavyweight option if this is a major strategic transformation rather than a straightforward flow redesign. Their Chicago team does product/service/experience design and human-centered research.

One interesting wildcard

If you're open to a non-Chicago-headquartered team that specializes specifically in SaaS onboarding, I'd also interview Conceptica. They explicitly focus on SaaS/product design and list conversion flows, onboarding UX and design systems among their capabilities. Conceptica

There are also specialist SaaS design teams such as Studio Scale, which explicitly positions itself around fixing revenue-leaking onboarding and activation flows. Studio Scale

Who I'd actually invite to the first round

I'd keep the RFP to 4–5 firms:

1. TXI — best for deep product discovery + transformation
2. Grand Studio — best for research/strategy-heavy onboarding work
3. Vault Innovation — strong end-to-end product option
4. UX 4Sight — strong conversion/usability specialist
5. Conceptica — SaaS-specific benchmark, even though not Chicago-local

The key thing I'd ask each agency to demonstrate isn't "show us your prettiest UI." I'd give them your current onboarding funnel and drop-off data and ask:

"How would you determine why users aren't reaching activation, and what would you do in the first 4–6 weeks?"

That will separate genuine product/UX specialists from agencies that primarily do visual redesigns.

If you tell me what kind of subscription service you have (B2C/B2B, price point, web/mobile, and roughly how many users), I can narrow this to 3 agencies I'd hire and explain why, including likely budget/engagement style.

• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• TXI - 10 S Riverside Plaza Ste 875 - #7670, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Grand Studio - 444 N Wells St #501, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Vault Innovation - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• IDEO Chicago - 626 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60661, United States
• Nansen LLC - 300 W Hubbard St Ste 301, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Highland - 141 W Jackson Blvd, Ste 2200, Chicago, IL 60604
• IDE Interactive, Inc. - 2945 W Peterson Ave Ste 103, Chicago, IL 60659, United States
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Highland - 125 S Clark St Ste 670, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
• TEAMS Design - 1812 W Hubbard St #200, Chicago, IL 60622, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• LaunchPad Lab - 220 W Huron St, Ste 2001, Chicago, IL 60654

Yes. For a subscription product onboarding overhaul, I’d prioritize studios that understand activation, conversion, retention, and product UX—not just visual redesigns.

My Chicago shortlist

• Praella - eCommerce Agency — Strongest if your subscription is commerce/e-commerce-heavy. Their Chicago team has experience with UX/customer flows and, notably, a project involving complicated subscription logic, personalization, and a new customer flow.
• TXI — Best for a serious product transformation. They combine UX research, product strategy, design, prototyping, and engineering, so they're a good choice if the onboarding problem is intertwined with product architecture or implementation.
• Grand Studio — Best for research-heavy onboarding work. They specialize in UX research, journey mapping, service design, UX/UI and product strategy, which is useful if you don't yet know why users are abandoning onboarding.
• Vault Innovation — Good product-design + engineering option. They explicitly connect product discovery, UX/UI, prototyping and development, making them worth considering if you want the redesigned flow actually built rather than just handed over in Figma.
• The Office of Experience, LLC — Worth a look for a consumer/subscription experience. Their work spans customer experience, UX/UI, ecommerce and ongoing optimization, including journey mapping and UX improvements.
• IDEO Chicago — The premium strategic option. IDEO is appropriate if this is a major customer-experience transformation involving research, service design and broader business/product strategy—not merely a UI refresh.

One I'd put at the top of the RFP

Fuzzy Math deserves a conversation even though it didn't surface in the local-business results. It's repeatedly identified among Chicago's leading UX firms, with a particularly strong reputation for research, journey mapping and complex workflow design. UX Planet 925 Studios

For your specific brief, I'd probably invite Fuzzy Math, TXI, Grand Studio, and Praella to pitch. That gives you four meaningfully different approaches: research-led UX, product strategy + engineering, service/journey design, and subscription/e-commerce optimization.

One important distinction: don't ask them to "redesign onboarding." Ask them to improve activation and paid conversion through onboarding, and require them to show how they'll establish a baseline, identify drop-off points, prototype alternatives, test them, and measure the resulting change. That will separate a product-growth agency from a pretty-Figma agency.

If you tell me B2C vs. B2B, approximate company size, and whether the subscription is SaaS/e-commerce/media/etc., I can narrow this to a 3-agency shortlist and tell you what I'd ask each one in the first call.

• TXI - 10 S Riverside Plaza Ste 875 - #7670, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Vault Innovation - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60606, 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
• Eight Bit Studios - 1 E Erie St, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• LaunchPad Lab - 448 N La Salle Dr Fl 9, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• IDEO Chicago - 626 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60661, United States
• 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
• TEAMS Design - 1812 W Hubbard St #200, Chicago, IL 60622, United States
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• IDE Interactive, Inc. - 2945 W Peterson Ave Ste 103, Chicago, IL 60659, United States
• Beyond Design, Inc. - 3759 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• LaunchPad Lab - 220 W Huron St, Ste 2001, Chicago, IL 60654
• Highland - 125 S Clark St Ste 670, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
• MNML - 170 N Sangamon St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States

Yes. For a subscription product onboarding overhaul, I’d bias toward studios that understand activation, conversion, product UX, and experimentation, rather than agencies that mainly do marketing sites.

My Chicago shortlist would be:

1. TXI — best for a strategic, research-heavy overhaul. They combine product strategy, UX research, design, and engineering, so they’re a strong choice if you need to figure out why onboarding is failing before redesigning it. Clutch
2. Vault Innovation — best for product UX + implementation. Their work spans discovery, wireframes/prototypes, UI/UX, and development, which makes sense if you want the agency to stay close to the eventual build.
3. Grand Studio — best for a complex customer journey. They combine research, service design, UX/UI, prototyping, and product strategy. I'd talk to them if onboarding touches multiple personas, plans, billing, support, or operational workflows.
4. Sandstorm Design — best if research and usability testing are central. They're particularly research-driven, using usability studies and prototype testing to inform UX and IA. UX Planet
5. Eight Bit Studios — best if you want design + engineering under one roof. They're a Chicago product studio working across mobile/web product strategy, design, and implementation.
6. LaunchPad Lab — another strong full product partner, particularly if the onboarding redesign will require substantial engineering, integrations, or modernization alongside UX/UI.
7. IDEO Chicago — worth considering for a high-stakes strategic transformation, especially if this isn't just "make the screens prettier" but involves rethinking the entire customer experience. Expect a more consultancy-style engagement.

The three I'd interview first

I'd probably send an RFP to TXI, Grand Studio, and Vault Innovation.

They give you three useful approaches to compare:

• TXI: research + product strategy + UX + engineering
• Grand Studio: journey/service design + UX/UI + research
• Vault: product discovery + UX/UI + implementation

There's also a second category I'd consider if you want a leaner, faster engagement rather than a traditional Chicago agency. For example, Studio Scale explicitly positions itself around fixing revenue-leaking onboarding/activation flows, while Parallel says it specializes in SaaS onboarding teardowns and activation problems. Studio Scale ParallelHQ

What I'd ask each agency

Don't just ask them for a portfolio. Give them your current onboarding funnel and ask them to respond to:

• Where would you expect the biggest activation leaks to be?
• What research would you do before redesigning anything?
• How would you distinguish UX friction from a weak value proposition?
• What onboarding metrics would you optimize—completion, time-to-value, trial activation, paid conversion, retention?
• How would you test the redesigned flow?
• Can you work directly with our product/engineering team and existing design system?
• Show us one before/after onboarding or activation case study with measurable results.

That last one is especially important. A beautiful Figma prototype isn't evidence that an agency can improve a subscription business.

If you tell me B2B vs. consumer, approximate company size, current monthly/annual subscription price, and whether you need research + strategy or mainly UX/UI execution, I can narrow this to 5 agencies and rank them by likely fit, budget, and relevant case-study experience.

• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604
• Grand Studio - 444 N Wells St #501, Chicago, IL 60654
• CUX Studio - 122 S Michigan Ave suit 1390, Chicago, IL 60603
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607
• DesignScout - 1801 W Belle Plaine Ave #201, Chicago, IL 60613
• US Digital Studio LLC - 200 S Wacker Dr 31st floor, Chicago, IL 60606
• UXM Studio - 230 E Ohio St Ste 210, Chicago, IL 60611
• Fresh Design Studio - 222 W Merchandise Mart Plaza Suit 1212, Chicago, IL 60654
• Design Henge - 2259 W Rosemont Ave, Chicago, IL 60659
• TEAMS Design - 1812 W Hubbard St #200, Chicago, IL 60622
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606
• PKG Brand Design - 2045 W Grand Ave B-27332, Chicago, IL 60612
• WYZ Design - 2GAR, 2128 W Cermak Rd, Chicago, IL 60608
• Beyond Design, Inc. - 3759 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60613
• Studio One Digital Inc - 180 N Wabash Ave #300, Chicago, IL 60601

Yes. For a subscription-service onboarding overhaul, I’d bias toward studios that can do product UX + conversion/activation strategy + UI, rather than a general branding or web-design shop.

My Chicago shortlist

• UX 4Sight — Worth talking to for UX-heavy work. Their positioning is centered on user experience, so I’d put them on the shortlist if you need research, journey mapping, usability work, and redesign—not just prettier screens.
• Grand Studio — Strong candidate for a more strategic engagement. I'd investigate them if the onboarding problem involves service design, customer journeys, or figuring out why users aren't reaching activation.
• CUX Studio — Another Chicago UX-focused option worth interviewing, particularly if you want a relatively focused UX engagement rather than a giant agency.
• Design In Chicago — Potential fit if you want a local team that can combine digital experience and implementation. I'd specifically ask for examples involving product onboarding rather than marketing websites.
• DesignScout — A broader design agency, but worth considering if the onboarding overhaul touches the overall product/service experience and brand, not just the funnel UI.

I'd also look beyond Chicago

There are some specialized product-design teams that are unusually well aligned with your exact problem.

• recastux.com — Specifically positions itself around ongoing product UX and explicitly lists onboarding flows, checkout flows, UX improvements, and design systems. This could be interesting if you want an embedded design partner rather than a conventional agency project. Recast UX
• uux.co — Particularly relevant to SaaS/subscription products: they explicitly offer signup & onboarding flows, UX audits, wireframes, prototypes, and SaaS UX. Their process starts by learning the existing product before redesigning it. UUX.co UUX.co
• designpal.io — Offers the whole chain from UX research/audits → user flows → UI → prototypes → usability testing, and cites onboarding-flow work as a typical project. DesignPal
• conceptica.design — Product-design-focused and explicitly works on conversion flows, onboarding UX, and design systems. Their model is closer to having a dedicated product-design team than hiring a traditional agency. Conceptica

Who I'd contact first

If this were my RFP, I'd probably start with 4 conversations:

1. Grand Studio — strategic/experience-design perspective.
2. UX 4Sight — UX research and usability perspective.
3. UUX.co — highly specific SaaS/onboarding expertise.
4. Recast UX — embedded product-design model and strong fit if you expect ongoing iteration.

The key is to not let the agencies treat this as a UI redesign. For a subscription business, I'd ask each one to show how they'd diagnose:

Acquisition → signup → onboarding → first value → activation → first payment → habit/retention

and specifically how they'd use funnel data, session/user research, usability testing, and experimentation to identify the biggest drop-offs.

If you tell me what kind of subscription service you have (B2C/B2B, approximate user volume, web/mobile, and rough budget), I can narrow this to 3–5 agencies and rank them by fit, including what I would ask each one in the first call.

• TXI - 10 S Riverside Plaza Ste 875 - #7670, Chicago, IL 60606, 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
• Eight Bit Studios - 1 E Erie St, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• LaunchPad Lab - 448 N La Salle Dr Fl 9, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• IDEO Chicago - 626 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60661, United States
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• IDE Interactive, Inc. - 2945 W Peterson Ave Ste 103, Chicago, IL 60659, United States
• Artversion - 205 N Michigan Ave 8th Floor, Chicago, IL 60601
• 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
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Highland - 125 S Clark St Ste 670, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
• Intechnic Corporation - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• MNML - 170 N Sangamon St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States

For a subscription service onboarding overhaul, I’d prioritize studios that understand activation funnels, conversion optimization, user research, lifecycle UX, and product iteration—not just visual redesign. A good shortlist in Chicago:

Best fits to talk to

TXI

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 312-244-3766)

Best for: complex products, subscription platforms, product strategy + UX research

• Strong if your onboarding problems are tied to product strategy, unclear value proposition, retention, or a messy customer journey.
• They combine research, product design, and engineering, so they’re useful if the redesign may require product changes—not just Figma screens.

Grand Studio

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

Best for: human-centered UX overhaul and journey redesign

• Good fit if you need discovery work: user interviews, journey mapping, usability testing, prototyping, and redesign.
• Particularly strong when you need to understand why users abandon onboarding before deciding what to build.

UX 4Sight

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

Best for: UX audit + conversion improvements

• Worth considering if you already have a product and want a structured evaluation of friction points.
• Their services include UX audits, research/testing, and UI design work.

Eight Bit Studios

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 312-281-8823)

Best for: consumer apps and subscription products where design and implementation need to stay close

• More product-studio oriented: UX/UI plus development.
• A good choice if the onboarding redesign will likely involve shipping new flows, experiments, or app changes.

LaunchPad Lab

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 312-888-9651)

Best for: digital product modernization

• Fits teams that want strategy, UX, and engineering support together.
• Useful if onboarding is intertwined with account creation, billing, integrations, or backend workflows.

Also worth a conversation

• Sandstorm Design — research-heavy UX and digital experience work; a fit if content, messaging, and trust-building are major onboarding issues.
• IDEO Chicago — premium option for broader customer experience transformation and service design.
• Clique Studios — broader digital transformation partner with UX/UI, strategy, and implementation capabilities.

My suggested shortlist for your specific project

If I were sending out 5 RFPs, I’d start with:

1. TXI — if onboarding is hurting activation/retention and needs product thinking.
2. Grand Studio — if you need research to uncover why users drop.
3. UX 4Sight — if you want a focused UX audit and redesign.
4. Eight Bit Studios — if you need design + build execution.
5. LaunchPad Lab — if onboarding touches subscription infrastructure.

When you talk to them, I’d ask for examples specifically involving:

• signup → first value moment optimization
• free trial conversion improvements
• subscription/paywall flows
• activation metrics (not just “beautiful redesigns”)
• A/B testing or post-launch measurement
• reducing time-to-value

A useful screening question: “What onboarding flow did you redesign, what was the activation metric, and what changed after launch?” The strongest product UX teams should be able to answer with specifics.

Yes. For a subscription product onboarding overhaul, I’d prioritize studios that understand activation, conversion, user research, and product UX—not agencies that mainly do marketing sites.

My Chicago shortlist

1. Grand Studio — best for deep UX/product discovery
   • Strong fit if the onboarding problem is fuzzy and you need research, journey mapping, service design, prototyping, and UX/UI—not just a visual redesign.
   • Particularly good if multiple teams/stakeholders touch the customer journey.

2. TXI — best for strategy + design + implementation
   • Human-centered product work with user research, usability testing, prototyping and engineering.
   • I'd shortlist them if you want the agency to help determine what should change and potentially help ship it.

3. One Design Company — best boutique option
   • Chicago-based and research-driven, combining product/digital design with development.
   • Worth talking to if you want a smaller studio with strong design craft rather than a huge consultancy.

4. LaunchPad Lab — best if engineering needs to be part of the engagement
   • They combine discovery, UX/UI, product strategy and software development.
   • Good choice if your onboarding redesign will require substantial changes to the actual product.

5. Eight Bit Studios — best for a hands-on product studio
   • Product strategy + UX/UI + engineering, with a senior-led approach.
   • I'd consider them particularly if you're looking for a partner who can move from redesign into implementation.

6. Highland — best for a larger product/innovation engagement
   • Their offering includes UX research, experience mapping, rapid validation, UX/UI, product strategy and optimization. www.parallelhq.com

7. Praella — especially interesting if your subscription is ecommerce/Shopify-based
   • Their Chicago operation has UX/CX capabilities, and their work specifically includes complicated subscription logic and customer-flow challenges. loyalty360.org

One I'd put at the top of the RFP

If I had to pick three to interview first, I'd do:

Grand Studio → TXI → One Design Company

That gives you three somewhat different approaches: deep product research, strategy/design/engineering, and boutique design + development.

One important caveat: I'd make the agencies prove they can work on activation, rather than simply showing you pretty onboarding screens. Ask each one to walk through how they'd diagnose:

acquisition → signup → account setup → first value → paywall/trial → activation → first renewal

The strongest proposal should include funnel/behavioral analysis, user interviews, usability testing, rapid prototyping, and measurement of activation/retention, not just a Figma redesign. A current Chicago UX comparison similarly emphasizes mapping the existing journey and testing prototypes before jumping into implementation. www.parallelhq.com

If you tell me what kind of subscription service you have (B2C/B2B, price point, web/app, and roughly how many users), I can narrow this to 5 agencies with the best relevant case studies and estimated engagement size.

• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• TXI - 10 S Riverside Plaza Ste 875 - #7670, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Grand Studio - 444 N Wells St #501, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• CUX Studio - 122 S Michigan Ave suit 1390, Chicago, IL 60603, 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
• Nansen LLC - 300 W Hubbard St Ste 301, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• IDE Interactive, Inc. - 2945 W Peterson Ave Ste 103, Chicago, IL 60659, United States
• Vault Innovation - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• LaunchPad Lab - 220 W Huron St, Ste 2001, Chicago, IL 60654
• LaunchPad Lab - 448 N La Salle Dr Fl 9, 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
• Intechnic Corporation - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1200, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States

Yes. For a subscription product onboarding overhaul, I’d bias toward studios that understand activation, conversion, product UX, and iterative experimentation, rather than agencies that mainly do marketing sites.

My Chicago shortlist:

• UX 4Sight — Strongest pure UX fit. They do UX audits, user research/usability testing, UX/UI redesign, and explicitly focus on improving digital experiences and business outcomes. Good choice if you want to diagnose why onboarding is leaking before redesigning it. UX Planet
• TXI — Best for a substantial product transformation. They combine product strategy, research, UX/design and engineering, so they're attractive if the onboarding changes will require significant product/technical work too.
• Grand Studio — Best research/strategy-heavy option. They specialize in human-centered product design, journey mapping, service design, research and UX/UI. I'd talk to them if you're not yet sure whether the problem is the onboarding UI or the underlying customer journey.
• CUX Studio — Good focused UI/UX option. Their offering includes user research, journey optimization, prototypes and design systems, with both project and subscription engagement models.
• Praella - eCommerce Agency — Worth a serious look if you're e-commerce/subscription-commerce. Their Chicago operation is particularly relevant if your subscription runs through Shopify/Shopify Plus; their work includes UX/customer-flow improvements and complicated subscription logic.
• Highland — Good if onboarding is part of a broader product rebuild. They cover UX research, product strategy, prototyping, UI/UX and engineering, rather than treating design as an isolated deliverable.
• Nansen LLC — Good growth/experience-design candidate. They combine UX/UI, research, journey mapping, analytics/optimization and digital experience strategy.
• IDE Interactive, Inc. — Good design + build option. Particularly useful if you want the same team to take redesigned onboarding into production.

The three I'd interview first

I'd probably make the first RFP UX 4Sight, TXI, and Grand Studio.

There are also some non-Chicago-headquartered product studios worth considering if "Chicago" means you want someone who can work closely with your Chicago team, rather than requiring a Chicago office. For example, Studio Scale specifically positions itself around redesigning onboarding/checkout/activation flows and measuring the effect, while Conceptica focuses heavily on SaaS/product design. Studio Scale Conceptica

One thing I'd put in the RFP

Don't ask agencies to simply "redesign onboarding." Give them the business problem:

Increase onboarding completion and paid activation without increasing time-to-value.

Then ask each studio to propose:

1. analytics/funnel audit,
2. qualitative research with new/churned users,
3. onboarding journey diagnosis,
4. prototype/testing,
5. final UI + design system,
6. engineering handoff,
7. post-launch measurement/experimentation.

That will quickly separate genuine product/UX firms from agencies that are primarily going to make the screens prettier. Current Chicago UX pricing benchmarks are roughly $110–$200/hour, with a focused discovery sprint commonly around $7k–$15k and larger redesigns roughly $45k–$120k, though the actual quote will depend heavily on research and implementation scope. Clutch

If you tell me B2C vs. B2B, your approximate company/stage, current onboarding conversion, and budget, I can narrow this to 5 agencies and rank them specifically for your situation, including which ones have the most relevant subscription/onboarding case studies.

Increase onboarding completion and paid activation without increasing time-to-value.

Then ask each studio to propose:

Yes. For a subscription service onboarding overhaul, I’d prioritize studios that understand product UX, activation/conversion, user research, and experimentation, rather than general web-design agencies.

My Chicago shortlist

1. TXI — strongest overall fit
   • Chicago product strategy + UX research + design + engineering.
   • Particularly good if the onboarding redesign needs to be grounded in user research and then actually implemented.
   • Their process emphasizes interviews, usability testing, prototyping and challenging assumptions. www.eleken.co
   • I'd talk to them if: onboarding is strategically important and you want more than a UI facelift.

2. Vault Innovation — strong product-design option
   • Chicago-based product/design + software firm.
   • Good fit for redesigning an existing product rather than just creating marketing pages.
   • Their UX work connects discovery, wireframing/prototyping and implementation.
   • I'd talk to them if: you want a relatively hands-on product partner.

3. Grand Studio — research-heavy
   • Digital product and strategic design consultancy with a strong human-centered-design orientation.
   • Particularly interesting if you don't yet know why users abandon onboarding and need journey research, service design and UX strategy before jumping into screens. www.eleken.coagency.uxplanet.org
   • I'd talk to them if: the problem is ambiguous and you want to diagnose it properly.

4. EVE - User Experience Design Agency — boutique UX specialist
   • Chicago boutique focused specifically on UX/UI.
   • Offers the full cycle from research/discovery through prototyping, testing and post-launch iteration.
   • I'd talk to them if: you want a smaller, more specialized UX team rather than a large consultancy.

5. Nansen LLC — good for data/optimization-oriented work
   • Chicago digital experience firm with UX research, information architecture, journey mapping, rapid prototyping/testing and design systems.
   • I'd talk to them if: your onboarding problem involves analytics, experimentation and broader digital-experience optimization.

6. IDEO Chicago — premium/strategic wildcard
   • Very strong human-centered design and innovation pedigree.
   • I'd consider them if this is a major strategic repositioning of the subscription experience, rather than simply improving signup conversion.
   • Likely a different budget tier from the boutiques above.

One important distinction

There are also agencies that specifically market themselves around SaaS onboarding/activation, but aren't necessarily Chicago-local. For example, some current SaaS-focused firms explicitly offer onboarding-flow redesign and activation work. www.parallelhq.com

So I'd actually run two tracks:

If I were running the agency selection, I'd invite TXI, Vault Innovation, Grand Studio and EVE to pitch. I'd give each the same onboarding funnel data and ask them to explain what they'd investigate before designing anything.

The key question I'd put in the RFP isn't "redesign our onboarding." It's:

"Increase the percentage of new subscribers who reach the first meaningful value event, while reducing time-to-value and early churn."

That forces agencies to think about activation, not just prettier screens.

If you tell me roughly B2C vs. B2B, monthly price, current conversion/activation rate, and whether you need design-only or design + implementation, I can narrow this to the 3 agencies I'd actually hire to pitch, including relevant case studies, likely budget tier, and what to ask each one.

Yes. For a subscription-service onboarding overhaul, I’d avoid generic web-design agencies and prioritize studios that can tackle activation, conversion, user research, journey design, UX/UI, and ideally experimentation.

My Chicago shortlist

1. Praella — Worth talking to if your subscription is commerce-heavy. They’re Chicago-based and have specific experience with subscription logic, personalization, UX challenges, and redesigning customer flows.

2. TXI — Best for a serious product transformation. They combine UX research, product strategy, design, and engineering, so they’re a strong candidate if onboarding problems are intertwined with the underlying product.

3. Grand Studio — Strong UX-first option. They specialize in research, product/service strategy, and UX/UI, including redesigning existing digital products. Good if you don't yet know exactly why users are abandoning onboarding.

4. Vault Innovation — Good design + build candidate. Their work spans product discovery, UX/UI, prototyping, and development, which is useful if you want the same partner to take redesigned flows toward production.

5. EVE - User Experience Design Agency — Interesting boutique option. They cover research/discovery → strategy → prototyping → testing → implementation, and explicitly work on improving existing products and design systems.

6. Nansen LLC — Worth considering if data/optimization matters. Their experience-design practice includes research, journey mapping, rapid prototyping/testing, analytics/optimization, and UX/UI.

Also put Fuzzy Math on the list

Fuzzy Math is one of the more established Chicago UX specialists. It would be particularly compelling if your onboarding has complicated flows, multiple user types, or a lot of research/strategy work behind it. A recent 2026 Chicago UX review specifically identifies Fuzzy Math as strongest for complex, research-heavy UX. agency.uxplanet.org

If I were running the RFP

I'd probably invite 4 firms to pitch:

One important distinction: don't ask them simply to "redesign onboarding." Give them the funnel data—signup → onboarding completion → first value → trial conversion → paid retention—and ask each agency to propose how they'd identify the biggest leaks before designing screens.

There are also some non-Chicago firms specifically focused on SaaS onboarding that I'd seriously consider alongside the local agencies. For example, Studio Scale explicitly focuses on redesigning onboarding/checkout/activation flows and measuring the impact, while Conceptica specializes in SaaS product design and onboarding UX. studioscale.co

If you tell me (1) B2C vs B2B, (2) approximate subscriber/user base, (3) whether it's web/app/both, and (4) rough budget, I can narrow this to the 3 agencies I'd actually take into an RFP, with relevant case studies and contact links.

For a subscription service onboarding overhaul, I’d prioritize studios that understand activation, conversion funnels, lifecycle UX, experimentation, and product metrics—not just visual redesign. In Chicago, these are the ones I’d put on the shortlist:

A few non-Chicago-local but very relevant product-design specialists are also worth considering for a subscription SaaS onboarding project:

• Eleken — SaaS-focused UX/product design; they specifically position around onboarding, UX audits, and product redesign work. www.eleken.co
• Tenscope — product design subscription model with SaaS onboarding/UX overhaul positioning. www.tenscope.com
• Studio Scale — focused on fixing product flows like onboarding and activation journeys. studioscale.co

For your specific use case, I’d probably run a first-round conversation with:

1. TXI — if onboarding is hurting retention and you need strategic/product thinking.
2. UX 4Sight — if you suspect usability/conversion leaks and want research + testing.
3. Grand Studio — if the onboarding experience needs a more fundamental rethink.
4. Eleken or Studio Scale — if you want a faster, product-team-style engagement.

When you talk to them, I’d ask for:

• examples where they improved activation rate, trial-to-paid conversion, or onboarding completion
• their process for combining analytics + user research + usability testing
• whether they’ll design experiments/A-B tests or only deliver Figma files
• how they handle subscription-specific moments: pricing selection, trial setup, paywall, first value moment, cancellation prevention, and lifecycle nudges

If you share your subscription model (B2B SaaS vs consumer, mobile vs web, trial vs paid-first, current funnel metrics), I can narrow this to a tighter 3–5 agency shortlist.

Yes. For a subscription product where the goal is to overhaul onboarding, I’d prioritize agencies that understand activation/conversion, user research, flows, and product UX—not agencies that are primarily branding or marketing shops.

My Chicago shortlist

1. TXI — strongest overall fit
   • Strategy + UX research + product design + engineering.
   • Particularly good if the onboarding problem is partly a product/strategy problem, not just a UI problem.
   • Their process includes interviews, usability testing, prototyping and iterative validation. agency.uxplanet.org
   • I'd talk to them if you have meaningful product complexity and a substantial budget.

2. Grand Studio — research/strategy-heavy
   • Strong choice if you don't yet know why users abandon onboarding.
   • They specialize in research, product strategy, service design and UX/UI redesigns. agency.uxplanet.org
   • Good for a company that wants to rethink the journey rather than simply redesign screens.

3. Praella — especially interesting for commerce/subscription
   • Chicago-based and has specific experience with subscription logic, personalization and customer-flow UX.
   • I'd move them toward the top if your subscription service involves Shopify/Shopify Plus or e-commerce-style acquisition and retention.

4. IDE Interactive — product + design + implementation
   • Worth considering if you want the same partner to take the redesigned onboarding into production.
   • Their work spans UX/product design, custom software, web and mobile.

5. UXM Studio — boutique option
   • Smaller Chicago product studio doing UX/UI and digital-product work.
   • I'd include them if you want a more hands-on boutique relationship rather than a larger consultancy.

6. ArtVersion® Creative Agency — if brand + UX both need work
   • Stronger choice if onboarding is intertwined with brand perception, visual identity and web experience.
   • They combine UX research/UI with branding and development.

One non-Chicago option I'd seriously consider

Studio Scale is particularly relevant to your exact problem: they explicitly position themselves around redesigning onboarding, checkout and activation journeys and offer ongoing product-design support. studioscale.co

If "Chicago agency" means the team must physically be based there, I'd stick with the first five. If it means you want a partner who can work closely with your Chicago team, I'd absolutely put Studio Scale in the RFP.

Who I'd actually interview

I'd narrow it to TXI, Grand Studio, Praella, and Studio Scale.

They're four quite different bets:

One important caveat: I wouldn't select based on portfolio aesthetics. For this project, I'd ask each agency to show one case where they changed a measurable funnel or activation metric, not merely redesigned an interface. Chicago has plenty of agencies that can make an onboarding flow prettier; fewer can demonstrate that they made it convert better. agency.uxplanet.org

If you tell me roughly B2C vs. B2B, your monthly subscriber volume, current onboarding conversion, and budget range, I can narrow this to the 3 agencies I'd invite to pitch and what I'd ask each one to propose.

Yes. For a subscription product onboarding overhaul, I’d bias toward studios that understand activation, conversion, retention, user research, and product UX—not agencies that mainly do marketing websites.

My Chicago shortlist

1. UX 4Sight — strongest research/UX fit
   • Chicago-based UX/UI consultancy with UX audits, user research, usability testing, and end-to-end experience design.
   • Good choice if you don't just want a prettier onboarding flow—you want to understand why users drop off and redesign around evidence. agency.uxplanet.orgwww.scenicwest.co

2. TXI — best for strategic product overhaul
   • More of a product strategy + design + engineering partner.
   • Strong fit if onboarding changes will require product/technical changes rather than just Figma work. Their approach includes discovery, user research, prototyping and implementation.

3. Grand Studio — best design-strategy option
   • Chicago product/design consultancy with a human-centered research orientation.
   • I'd consider them if your onboarding problem is tangled up with positioning, product strategy, information architecture, or a complicated service journey.

4. Vault Innovation — good end-to-end product partner
   • Product discovery → UX/UI → development.
   • Particularly interesting if you want the agency to actually help get the redesigned onboarding into production rather than hand off Figma files.

5. CUX Studio — good leaner studio option
   • Focused specifically on UI/UX and product design, including UX audits and user research.
   • They also offer a subscription model, which could make sense if you expect substantial post-overhaul iteration.

6. ArtVersion — best if brand + product experience need to converge
   • Chicago-based design consultancy combining UX research, UI/UX, brand and development.
   • I'd put them higher if the onboarding needs to feel substantially more premium/on-brand, rather than being purely an activation optimization exercise.

One important wildcard

Scenic West Design isn't necessarily the first name I'd pick based purely on Chicago location, but their specialization is unusually close to your problem: they explicitly position themselves around SaaS UX, user onboarding, adoption, retention and reducing churn, including UX audits and user testing. www.scenicwest.co

How I'd narrow it

If I were running the agency selection, I'd invite 4 firms to pitch:

I'd give all four the same brief and same data and ask them to propose a 2–3 week discovery phase before committing to the full redesign.

The brief should explicitly ask for:

• funnel/drop-off analysis
• user interviews/usability testing
• current-state onboarding journey map
• hypotheses for activation improvement
• redesigned flow/prototype
• usability validation
• instrumentation/measurement recommendations
• production-ready UI/design system work

That will separate agencies that are genuinely good at product onboarding from those that are simply good at making interfaces look better.

If you tell me what kind of subscription service this is (B2C/B2B, approximate user base, and whether onboarding is web/mobile), I can narrow this to 3 agencies and give you a suggested RFP/scorecard for comparing them.

For a subscription service onboarding overhaul, I’d prioritize studios that can do more than visual redesign: you want activation funnel analysis, UX research, journey mapping, paywall/trial conversion thinking, lifecycle UX, experimentation, and product design systems.

A Chicago shortlist I’d put together:

A few non-Chicago but very relevant subscription/product specialists I’d also consider:

• Studio Scale — explicitly positions around fixing leaking product flows like onboarding, checkout, and activation. studioscale.co
• Tenscope — SaaS-focused product design subscription model with UX research, wireframes, prototypes, and ongoing optimization. www.tenscope.com
• Recast UX — embedded UI/UX design support, including onboarding flows and checkout flows. www.recastux.com

For your specific project, I’d ask every agency these questions before selecting:

1. Show us a subscription onboarding teardown you’ve done. What changed and what metric moved?
2. How do you diagnose activation drop-off? (analytics review, session recordings, interviews, usability tests, surveys)
3. Will you own experiments after launch, or just deliver Figma files?
4. Have you worked on free trial → paid conversion, subscription upgrades, retention, or cancellation flows?
5. Who will actually do the work (senior product designer vs. account team)?

My first calls would probably be:

1. TXI — if this is a strategic product problem
2. Grand Studio — if the journey is messy and needs research
3. CUX Studio or UX 4Sight — if you already know the product and need a focused UX conversion overhaul
4. Studio Scale/Tenscope — if you want speed and iterative product design support rather than a traditional agency engagement

If you share your subscription model (B2C vs B2B, free trial vs paid-first, app vs web, and current onboarding conversion rate), I can narrow this to a shorter list.

Yes. For a subscription-service onboarding overhaul, I’d prioritize firms that can do more than make the screens prettier—especially user research, funnel/activation analysis, UX strategy, prototyping/testing, and ideally experimentation after launch.

My Chicago shortlist

1. TXI — strongest overall fit
   • Strategy + UX research + product design + engineering.
   • Particularly good if onboarding problems are tied to broader product/technical issues.
   • Their approach emphasizes human-centered research, usability testing and iterative product development.
   • Talk to them if: you want to rethink the onboarding experience rather than simply redesign it.

2. Grand Studio — strongest pure product/experience design option
   • Human-centered product and service design, with research, UX/UI and redesign work.
   • Good candidate if you have a complex onboarding journey involving multiple steps, personas or service touchpoints.
   • Talk to them if: the problem is fundamentally “we don't understand why people drop out / get confused.”

3. Eight Bit Studios — good if design needs to connect directly to implementation
   • Chicago product studio combining UX/UI, product strategy and engineering. Their published case work includes research, feature prioritization and experience design. eightbitstudios.comclutch.co
   • Talk to them if: you want the same partner to redesign and then actually ship the new flow.
   • Clutch currently lists a $50K+ minimum and $150–199/hour range, so they're more of a substantial product engagement than a lightweight design sprint. clutch.co

4. Highland — strong for a larger/complex organization
   • Product strategy, UX research, experience mapping, prototyping and design sprints.
   • Talk to them if: onboarding crosses product, service, operations or organizational boundaries.

5. LaunchPad Lab — practical design + build partner
   • Discovery, UX/UI, research/usability and product development.
   • Talk to them if: you want a relatively hands-on team that can take a redesigned flow into production.

6. Intechnic Corporation — research/conversion-oriented option
   • UX research, information architecture, interaction/UI design and measurable experience outcomes.
   • Talk to them if: your onboarding is a high-stakes conversion funnel and you want a rigorous UX/research process.

One non-Chicago option I'd seriously consider

Eleken specializes in SaaS product design and specifically lists onboarding flows, product redesigns, UX audits and design systems among its work. www.eleken.co If “Chicago agency” really means Chicago-based team preferred rather than must be local, I'd put them in the RFP alongside the Chicago firms.

Who I'd actually invite to the first round

I'd keep it to 4 firms:

For a subscription business, I'd make the RFP unusually specific. Ask each agency to show 2–3 examples where they improved activation, onboarding completion, conversion, trial-to-paid, or retention, rather than generic UI redesigns. Chicago UX agencies commonly quote roughly $110–$200/hour, with full redesigns often landing around $45K–$120K, although your scope could fall outside those ranges. clutch.co

The biggest interview question I'd ask:

“Show us a case where you discovered that the obvious UX problem wasn't actually the root cause—and what changed after you tested your hypothesis.”

That will separate a genuine product-design partner from an agency that's primarily going to produce attractive Figma screens.

Yes. For a subscription-service onboarding overhaul, I’d bias toward studios that can do product UX + user research + conversion optimization, rather than a shop that is primarily a branding or website agency.

My Chicago shortlist

1. UX 4Sight — strongest UX-specialist option
   • Chicago UX/UI consultancy with UX audits, user research, usability testing, and end-to-end experience evaluation.
   • Particularly interesting if you want to diagnose why people abandon onboarding before redesigning it. agency.uxplanet.org
   • Ask them for: an onboarding funnel audit + moderated/unmoderated testing + redesigned flow.

2. TXI — strongest product-strategy option
   • Strategy, research, product design, and engineering under one roof.
   • Their discovery work includes interviews, observational research, usability testing, prototyping and lean UX, which is useful if the onboarding problem involves product/business assumptions rather than just UI.
   • Best if: you want the agency to rethink the actual onboarding experience, not simply reskin screens.

3. Grand Studio — strong service/product-design option
   • Focused on human-centered design, research, service design, product strategy and UX/UI.
   • I'd consider them if onboarding crosses multiple touchpoints—signup, billing, emails, activation, account setup, etc.—rather than being confined to a handful of screens.

4. Vault Innovation — good design + implementation candidate
   • Chicago product/design shop with UX-focused discovery, wireframes, prototypes, UI/UX and development.
   • Worth talking to if you want the same partner to carry the redesigned experience into production.

5. LaunchPad Lab — good if engineering needs to be part of the engagement
   • Product strategy, discovery workshops, UX/UI, user research/usability work and software development.
   • A particularly sensible choice if the onboarding overhaul will require substantial changes to the actual subscription/product architecture.

6. Solid Digital — consider if this is heavily web/conversion oriented
   • Stronger fit if the "onboarding" experience includes marketing site → pricing → signup → conversion, rather than being entirely inside an existing SaaS/app product.

One wildcard I'd seriously investigate

Tenscope isn't Chicago-local, but its specialization is unusually close to your problem. It explicitly works with SaaS companies on UX overhauls, including UX audits, user-journey analysis, user research, prototyping, usability testing and performance tracking, and has case-study evidence around reducing friction in SaaS experiences. www.tenscope.com

For a subscription business, I'd rather hire a remote specialist with 20 relevant SaaS onboarding projects than a Chicago agency with a beautiful portfolio but little evidence of activation/conversion work.

How I'd narrow it

I'd invite UX 4Sight, TXI, Grand Studio, and Tenscope to pitch.

And I would not send them a generic "redesign our onboarding" brief. Ask each to respond to the same challenge:

We need to increase the percentage of new subscribers who reach [activation event] within [X] days, while reducing onboarding abandonment. We want research, funnel diagnosis, redesigned UX/UI, validation, and implementation-ready specs.

Then ask for:

• 2–3 subscription/SaaS onboarding case studies
• Their approach to behavioral/funnel data + qualitative research
• How many actual users they'll test with
• Whether they'll test the current flow before designing
• How they'll measure success after launch
• Who actually does the work
• A fixed-price discovery/diagnostic phase before committing to the full redesign

That last point is important: I'd be wary of anyone who jumps straight into Figma without first figuring out where activation is breaking and why.

If you tell me roughly B2C vs. B2B, web vs. mobile, your subscriber count, and what the current onboarding looks like, I can narrow this to 3 agencies and give you a side-by-side comparison of likely fit, strengths, weaknesses, and questions to ask each.

Yes. For a subscription-service onboarding overhaul, I’d prioritize studios that can do more than visual UI—specifically journey mapping, user research, activation/conversion optimization, prototyping, and usability testing.

My Chicago shortlist

1. TXI — Best overall for a strategic product overhaul. They combine product strategy, UX research, design, and engineering, so they’re a strong choice if onboarding problems are intertwined with product/business logic rather than just screens. clutch.co

2. Grand Studio — Best for rethinking the journey itself. Their strength is human-centered research, service/product strategy, journey design and UX/UI—good if you suspect the onboarding flow needs fundamental restructuring rather than a cosmetic redesign.

3. Vault Innovation — Good design + product-thinking option. They work across discovery, wireframes, prototypes, UX/UI and development, which makes them interesting for a redesign that needs to make it into production.

4. LaunchPad Lab — Good if you want design and implementation together. Their offering spans discovery, UX/UI, research/usability and engineering, so there's less handoff between the agency and your product team.

5. The Office of Experience — Worth considering for a customer-experience-heavy subscription business. They combine experience strategy, UX/UI and technology, with both B2B and B2C experience work.

6. Intechnic Corporation — Strong research/UX specialist. Particularly worth talking to if your onboarding has complicated information architecture, multiple user types, or a lot of friction that needs to be diagnosed before redesigning.

One wildcard

Praella is especially interesting if the subscription business runs on Shopify/Shopify Plus or has substantial ecommerce mechanics. Their Chicago team specifically has experience with subscription logic, personalization and customer-flow UX. clutch.co

Who I'd actually put into an RFP

I'd start with TXI, Grand Studio, Vault Innovation, and LaunchPad Lab. That's a good spread:

There are also more conventional UX specialists in Chicago—Fuzzy Math, for example, is currently positioned particularly strongly around complex, research-heavy UX work. agency.uxplanet.org

One important distinction: I'd avoid choosing based primarily on “UI/UX agency” credentials. For onboarding, I'd ask each candidate to show a before/after activation funnel, not just pretty screens. Specifically ask for evidence of improving signup completion, time-to-value, first-session activation, trial-to-paid conversion, and early retention.

If you tell me what kind of subscription service you have (B2C/B2B, roughly how many users, and whether the onboarding is web/app), I can narrow this to 3 agencies I'd actually interview and pull relevant case studies, estimated budgets, and contact links for each.

Yes. For a subscription service onboarding overhaul, I’d bias toward studios that understand product UX, activation/conversion, user research, and SaaS—not just visual/UI redesign.

My Chicago shortlist

1. UX 4Sight — Probably the most directly relevant starting point. They focus specifically on UX/UI, UX audits, user research, usability testing, and improving digital experiences against business outcomes. agency.uxplanet.org

Best for: diagnosing why users drop during signup/onboarding and redesigning the flow around evidence.

2. TXI — Stronger choice if this is a substantial product transformation rather than a UI project. They combine product strategy, research, UX, design, and engineering.

Best for: rethinking the entire onboarding experience and potentially implementing it.

3. Grand Studio — Research-heavy product/service design consultancy with a strong human-centered approach.

Best for: complicated onboarding involving multiple user types, service touchpoints, or a bigger customer-journey problem.

4. LaunchPad Lab — Product strategy + UX/UI + engineering, so useful if you want the redesign to move directly into development.

Best for: design-to-build engagements rather than handing designs to another engineering team.

5. Vault Innovation — Smaller Chicago product/design/engineering shop. Their positioning around product discovery, UX/UI and implementation makes them worth including if you want a more hands-on partner.

Best for: a pragmatic redesign with engineering close to the design team.

6. Praella — Particularly interesting if your subscription is ecommerce/DTC. Their Chicago team works heavily in Shopify/Shopify Plus and has experience with subscription logic, personalization and customer-flow UX.

Best for: consumer subscriptions/ecommerce.

One important wildcard

If Chicago-based isn't an absolute requirement, I'd also talk to a couple of product-design specialists that explicitly work on SaaS onboarding. For example, Studio Scale says it focuses on redesigning onboarding, checkout and activation journeys where users drop off, while The Design Project has substantial SaaS/product-design experience. studioscale.co

Who I'd actually invite to the pitch

I'd keep the first round to 4 agencies:

Then give all four the same brief and ask them to respond to the same problem. That will tell you much more than comparing portfolios.

For this particular project, I'd ask each agency to demonstrate one onboarding case study with measurable results—e.g. activation rate, trial-to-paid conversion, completion rate, time-to-value, or reduction in abandonment. I'd also explicitly ask whether they will instrument/test the redesigned flow, rather than simply deliver Figma files.

If you tell me B2B vs B2C, approximate company size, current onboarding funnel, and rough budget ($25–50k / $50–100k / $100k+), I can narrow this to 3 agencies I'd contact first and find the most relevant case studies/contact pages.

Yes. For a subscription service onboarding overhaul, I’d prioritize studios that understand activation, conversion, product UX, and experimentation, rather than agencies that mainly do marketing websites.

My Chicago shortlist

1. Vault Innovation — strongest overall fit
   • Product/UX-focused Chicago shop with discovery, wireframing, prototyping, UI/UX and development.
   • Their client feedback specifically highlights UX work that changed how teams thought about their products.
   • Good choice if you want the agency to diagnose the existing onboarding, redesign it, and help implement it.

2. TXI — best for research + product strategy
   • Strong human-centered design and UX research, including interviews, usability testing and prototyping.
   • Particularly compelling if you don't yet know why users are abandoning onboarding and want the agency to uncover that before jumping into UI.
   • They can also handle engineering, which is useful if implementation is part of the engagement.

3. Grand Studio — best research/design specialist
   • Chicago product and strategic design consultancy focused on turning ambiguous problems into clearer product experiences.
   • I'd talk to them if this is a fundamental rethink of the onboarding journey, rather than simply making the screens prettier.

4. EVE - User Experience Design Agency — good boutique option
   • End-to-end UX: research/discovery → strategy → wireframes/prototypes → testing → implementation support → post-launch iteration.
   • A potentially good fit if you want a smaller team and a hands-on UX engagement.

5. LaunchPad Lab — best if design + build matters
   • Chicago digital-product firm combining discovery, UX/UI, research/usability and engineering.
   • Worth considering if the onboarding overhaul involves substantial product changes rather than just a Figma redesign.

6. Dialogue Theory — good strategy + UX/UI option
   • More of a strategy/design/development partner, with UX/UI and digital experience work.
   • I'd put them behind the product-specialist shops above for a pure SaaS onboarding problem.

One wildcard I'd seriously consider

Tenscope isn't Chicago-based, so it doesn't meet your local-studio requirement, but its specialization is unusually close to what you're describing. It explicitly works with SaaS companies on UX overhauls, including UX audits, user-journey analysis, user research, prototyping, testing, implementation and measurement. Its current product-design subscription is listed at $4,995/month. www.tenscope.com

Similarly, Studio Scale specifically positions its work around redesigning onboarding, checkout and activation flows where users drop off. studioscale.co

How I'd narrow it

If I were sending out 4 discovery calls, I'd do:

And I'd ask every one of them to respond to the same brief, rather than asking for a generic capabilities deck.

The brief should include your current onboarding funnel and metrics—e.g. signup → onboarding completion → first meaningful action → trial conversion → paid retention—and ask them to explain how they'd determine where the experience is breaking.

One important distinction: if you already know exactly where the funnel leaks, I'd favor a conversion/product-design specialist. If you don't know why people aren't activating, I'd favor TXI or Grand Studio because the research/diagnostic phase becomes much more important.

If you want, I can also build you a tighter Chicago shortlist of ~8 firms with estimated budget, team size, SaaS/subscription experience, notable clients, and who I'd contact first.

Yes. For a subscription service onboarding overhaul, I’d prioritize studios that understand activation, conversion, retention, UX research, and product flows—not just firms that make attractive interfaces.

My Chicago shortlist

1. TXI — strongest overall fit
   • Chicago-based product strategy + UX + engineering.
   • Particularly good if the onboarding problem isn't fully defined yet and you need research → journey redesign → prototype → implementation.
   • Their process emphasizes user research, usability testing, prototyping, and challenging assumptions rather than jumping straight into UI.
   • I'd talk to them if: this is a strategic overhaul and you want measurable improvements, not simply a visual redesign.

2. Grand Studio — excellent UX/research choice
   • Chicago digital-product and strategic-design consultancy.
   • Strong fit for rethinking an existing experience: research, product strategy, service design, UX/UI, and redesign/reimagination of digital products.
   • I'd talk to them if: you suspect the onboarding journey itself is wrong and need to understand why users drop out.

3. Clique Studios — good strategy + design + build option
   • Combines UX research, interviews, information architecture, usability testing, UX/UI and engineering.
   • Useful if you want the same partner to take the redesigned onboarding into production.
   • I'd talk to them if: implementation capacity matters as much as UX.

4. IDE Interactive, Inc. — smaller Chicago product studio
   • Focuses on human-centered digital products, including custom software, SaaS, mobile apps and UX/UI.
   • Could be attractive if you want a more hands-on studio rather than a large consultancy.

5. One North, A TEKsystems Company — larger-scale option
   • Strategy-led digital experience agency with UX/UI, service/experience design, design systems and engineering capabilities.
   • Better suited if the subscription experience spans product + website + CRM/marketing touchpoints rather than just in-product onboarding.

6. The Office of Experience, LLC — experience transformation
   • Chicago consultancy spanning research/strategy, UX/UI, digital experience and implementation.
   • Worth considering if onboarding is part of a broader customer-experience problem.

One important caveat

There are also SaaS-specialist design subscriptions that aren't necessarily Chicago-based but may actually be a better fit for this particular problem. For example, Tenscope explicitly focuses on SaaS onboarding, activation, trial-to-paid conversion and retention, while Prodular specifically markets onboarding-flow and product-design work for startups. www.tenscope.com

For a subscription business, I'd put domain expertise ahead of Chicago geography if you're open to remote teams.

How I'd run the shortlist

I'd invite 3 firms to a paid discovery/RFP:

The key is not to ask them to "redesign our onboarding." Give them the business problem and ask each to diagnose it. I'd want their proposal to cover:

• funnel/behavioral-data analysis
• qualitative user research
• onboarding journey mapping
• activation definition and KPI framework
• friction/drop-off diagnosis
• information architecture and interaction redesign
• prototype + usability testing
• final UI/design system work
• engineering handoff
• post-launch experiment plan

For a subscription service, I'd specifically ask each agency: "How would you determine whether an onboarding redesign actually improves activation and downstream paid retention?" The quality of the answers will tell you a lot more than their portfolio aesthetics.

If you tell me what kind of subscription service you have (B2C/B2B, approximate scale, web/app, and your rough budget), I can narrow this to 3–5 agencies and compare their likely fit, strengths, and engagement model.

Yes. For a subscription product onboarding overhaul, I’d bias toward studios that understand activation, conversion, retention, and product UX, rather than agencies that are primarily website/brand shops.

My Chicago shortlist

1. UX 4Sight — best research/optimization fit

Chicago-based and explicitly focused on UX/UI, UX audits, user research, usability testing, and conversion-oriented digital experiences. This is a strong choice if you want to understand why users abandon onboarding before redesigning it. agency.uxplanet.org

2. LaunchPad Lab — best design + implementation fit

They combine product strategy, UX/UI, research and software development, so they're attractive if you want the agency to take the redesigned onboarding all the way into production rather than just hand over Figma files. Their UX/UI process explicitly covers user flows, wireframes, visual design and development collaboration. launchpadlab.com

3. TXI — best strategic/product-design option

More of a serious product consultancy than a conventional UX shop. They combine research, product strategy, human-centered design and engineering. I'd talk to them if the onboarding problem is symptomatic of a larger product/activation problem. clutch.co

4. Grand Studio — best for a deeper experience rethink

Strong fit if you're willing to reconsider the entire journey rather than simply redesigning screens. They do research, product strategy, service design and UX/UI, including redesigns of existing digital products. agency.uxplanet.org

5. Vault Innovation — good pragmatic product-design option

Their positioning connects discovery, UX/UI and implementation, with client feedback specifically highlighting their ability to rethink existing products rather than merely polish interfaces.

One important wrinkle

If "Chicago" means you want a Chicago-based team, but they don't literally have to work from your office, I'd broaden the search. There are several SaaS-specialist firms that may actually be better suited to onboarding than a general Chicago agency.

For example, Eleken specializes in SaaS UX and specifically lists onboarding, product redesigns and design systems; it operates as an embedded design subscription rather than a traditional agency engagement. www.eleken.co

Likewise, Studio Scale specifically positions its work around fixing revenue-leaking flows such as onboarding and checkout, while Saasfactor offers a fixed-timeline SaaS UX overhaul specifically aimed at onboarding, activation and retention. studioscale.co

If it were my RFP

I'd invite UX 4Sight, LaunchPad Lab, TXI, and Grand Studio to pitch, and add one SaaS-specialist firm such as Eleken as the outside benchmark.

I'd ask every bidder to address the same five things:

• Research: How will you identify where and why users drop out?
• Activation: What event constitutes our "aha" / first value moment?
• Experimentation: How will you validate the new flow before engineering commits?
• Metrics: What happens to signup → onboarding completion → activation → paid conversion?
• Implementation: What exactly do we receive—research, prototypes, production UI, design system, experiments, analytics instrumentation?

That's important because a beautiful onboarding flow that doesn't improve time-to-value or paid conversion isn't really a successful redesign. Current Chicago agency pricing benchmarks put many firms around $110–$200/hour, with end-to-end redesigns often landing around $45K–$120K, although the actual range varies considerably by scope. clutch.co

If you tell me B2B vs. B2C, approximate monthly subscribers/signups, and your rough budget, I can narrow this to 3 agencies I'd actually put on the shortlist, with relevant case studies and contact links.