ChatGPT answers, unedited

• 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.