A product design studio for people with high standards.
Based in Texas. We partner with high-standard founders to craft premium digital products that feel true and move the needle.
Five ways to
work with us.
A sharp entry engagement for founders or product leaders who know something is off but don't yet need a full redesign.
Product audit, stakeholder interviews, UX review, friction mapping, and an executive-ready strategy deck with next-step recommendations.
A fast, facilitated working session to align your team, solve a concrete product problem, and leave with clear direction instead of endless internal debate.
Includes prep, workshop design, facilitation, decision frameworks, concept exploration, and a post-Blitz summary.
For companies that need to hire an in-house designer but don't trust themselves to define the role, assess candidates properly, or onboard the person well.
Role definition, hiring scorecard, portfolio assessment, interview participation, and onboarding guidance.
A defined product design engagement for a major feature, dashboard, workflow redesign, MVP, or design-system foundation.
Discovery, flows, wireframes, UI direction, core screens, stakeholder reviews, and production-ready handoff assets.
Ongoing senior design leadership for companies that need strong product and design direction without hiring a full-time Head of Design.
Leadership reviews, product direction, stakeholder alignment, design quality oversight, and selective hands-on contribution.
Audit & Strategy
- Product audit & UX review
- Stakeholder interviews
- Friction mapping
- Competitive scan
- Strategy deck with next steps
Design Blitz
- Prep & workshop design
- Facilitation & decision frameworks
- Concept exploration
- Post-Blitz summary & direction
Design Hiring
- Role definition & hiring scorecard
- Portfolio assessment
- Interview participation
- Onboarding guidance
- Optional weekly coaching
Project-Based Design
- Discovery & flows
- Wireframes & UI direction
- Core screens
- Stakeholder reviews
- Production-ready handoff
Fractional Design Lead
- Leadership reviews & product direction
- Stakeholder alignment
- Design quality oversight
- Selective hands-on contribution
The Appricot
Way.
Not your typical design agency. Product people who design, code, and ship — embedded in your team.
AI-Native Expertise
We don't just design for AI products — we use AI to design. From leveraging models in our workflow to understanding LLM interfaces, we speak the language of your product and your engineers.
Time Zone Agility
Your deadline doesn't care about office hours. We flex our schedules to overlap with your team — wherever they are — so momentum never stalls.
Communication Is King
Daily status updates. No surprises. You'll always know where the project stands, what's blocking progress, and what's shipping next. Slack, Loom, Figma comments — pick your weapon.
Designers Who Code
We commit changes, review PRs, and work hand-in-hand with your dev team. No throw-it-over-the-wall handoffs. We're in the repo, in the standup, in the trenches.
Brutally Opinionated. Strategically Flexible.
We'll tell you what we think — directly, clearly, and backed by experience. But we're not precious about it. When the goal is to move fast and get results, we adapt. Strong opinions, loosely held.
Your Questions
Answered!
Timelines vary by scope. An Audit & Strategy engagement typically takes 2–3 weeks. A Design Blitz is 2–3 days. Full project-based engagements run 6–12 weeks depending on complexity, number of screens, and stakeholder review cycles. We'll give you an honest timeline estimate before kicking off.
We're not a generic agency that farms out work. We're product designers who code, ship, and embed with your team. We bring founder-level thinking to every engagement — from strategy to pixel-perfect handoff. No fluff, no bloated teams, just senior talent doing the work.
Our engagements start at $9,500 for an Audit & Strategy sprint and go up from there. Project-based design typically ranges from $35K–$90K+. We also offer fractional design leadership starting at $12,000/month. Every project gets a clear scope and fixed price before we begin.
Absolutely. We work with seed-stage founders through Series B+ teams. Our Audit & Strategy and Design Blitz offerings are specifically designed as accessible entry points for early-stage companies who need senior design help without a massive commitment.
AI is our primary framework. Most of our design work happens in IDE environments using Claude Code and Codex, connected to the design system MCP when available. We also use Figma for visual design and collaboration, and ship prototypes in low or high fidelity based on the project's needs.
You'll get a daily status update — no chasing, no guessing. We integrate into whatever communication tool your team already uses, whether that's Slack, Teams, Discord, or anything else. We treat communication as a core part of the work, not an afterthought.
We focus on product design — strategy, UX, UI, and design systems. We don't do full-stack app development, but our designers code and work directly with your engineering team. For marketing sites, we can design and build in Framer or Webflow.
Let's make
something
worth shipping.
Tell us what you're working on. We'll figure out the right format together.
hello@appricot.design