A design studio for hardware and IoT startups designs the product or the software around a connected device: the device itself, its companion app, the operator dashboard or the website. The only published starting price on this list is $25,000, and Cieden's Clutch minimum is $10,000+.
Your device ships once, and the software ships every week. The app, the dashboard and the website all have to match a product that's already in someone's hands. Some studios design the hardware, some design the software, and few do both.
We design the software and websites for connected-product companies, not the devices, so this list isn't ranked. Studios are in alphabetical order, us included, and nobody paid to be on it.
How we picked
A studio made the list if:
- its own site shows work for connected devices, robotics or hardware products, whether the device, an app, a dashboard or a website
- it works with startups or funded product teams, by its own account
- it shows client work on its own site
- it's a studio, not a solo freelancer
We left out freelancers, template shops, and firms that describe themselves as development agencies or that never mention startups or funded teams. Prices, ratings and client names come from each studio's own site or Clutch profile.
The seven studios at a glance
One of the seven publishes a starting price (Fuselab Creative). Cieden sets a Clutch minimum. The other five, Hexcode included, publish none.
| Studio | Based | Best for | Price signal (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cieden | Lviv, Warsaw and Wilmington, per its site | Companion apps and smart home software | Clutch minimum $10,000+, $50 to $99/hr |
| Design 1st | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada | The device and its electronics, end to end | Not published |
| Fuselab Creative | McLean, Virginia | Robotics and fleet dashboards | Projects from $25,000, hourly $100 to $149 |
| Hexcode (us) | Indore, India | Software and websites for connected products | Not published |
| Layer Design | London, per its site | Industrial design for premium hardware | Not published |
| Stormotion | Not stated on its site | Companion apps for real devices | Not published |
| Tandem Design | Santa Monica, California | Hardware, firmware and the app together | Not published |
The numbers behind it
| Studio | Clutch | Named clients |
|---|---|---|
| Cieden | 4.9 (46 reviews) | Apollo.io, Blizzard, Sitenna, Lykon |
| Design 1st | 4.8 (per its site) | ArcheOptix, SkyX, Swabbot, TritonWear |
| Fuselab Creative | 5.0 (15 reviews, per its site) | Automatize, Hyperfab, Robodog AGV |
| Hexcode (us) | Profile, no reviews yet | Ayla Networks, Rayhawk |
| Layer Design | Not checked | Bang & Olufsen, Ledger, SAGA, Viture |
| Stormotion | Not checked | Egret, Milence, Norsk Guardian, STEPR |
| Tandem Design | Not checked | AJNA, FellowRobots, Sensei, SOMABAR |
Figures from each studio's own site or Clutch profile, checked . A Clutch minimum is the smallest project a studio sets on Clutch, not a quote. Where a studio says "Not checked" for Clutch, we haven't looked at its Clutch profile. Where a rating says "per its site", the studio states it and we haven't checked it on Clutch. Named clients are ones the studio names on its own site.
Notes on each studio
Cieden
A UI/UX studio with offices in Lviv, Warsaw and Wilmington, Delaware, per its site. Its IoT page covers smart home, wearable health, automotive and energy management apps, and describes a smart home monitoring system designed for three user roles in under three months. It lists no named hardware clients on that page and publishes no price. Clutch shows 4.9 from 46 reviews and a $10,000+ minimum.
Good fit if: the device works and you need the app or monitoring interface designed for several kinds of user.
Not a fit if: you need the physical product designed, because its page covers software.
Design 1st
An Ottawa product design and engineering firm that says it has 35 people, 25+ years and 1,000+ products developed. It covers industrial design, mechanical and electronics engineering, embedded software and manufacturing transfer, and lists TritonWear (a connected swim tracker), Swabbot (a cleaning cobot) and SkyX (a drone recharging station). It has separate paths for startups without a development team. It publishes no price and shows 4.8 on Clutch, per its site.
Good fit if: you're a startup with a hardware concept and no engineering team.
Not a fit if: you only need a website or an app, because it's built around physical products.
Fuselab Creative
A UI/UX studio in McLean, Virginia. Its robotics page lists a robot fleet interface, digital twin design and simulation UI, and names Hyperfab (an AR interface and robotics dashboard for wall-panel fabrication), Robodog AGV (a warehouse automation dashboard) and Automatize (a fleet management platform). It publishes projects from $25,000 and says startups and enterprise teams hire it. Clutch shows 5.0 from 15 reviews, per its site.
Good fit if: operators watch robots or fleets on screens all day and you can start at $25,000.
Not a fit if: your budget is under $25,000, the lowest price it publishes.
Hexcode (us)
A 15-person studio in Indore, founded in 2020, with US overlap until 1pm PT. Our clients page names Ayla Networks, an enterprise IoT platform that turns everyday products into connected devices, where we've done product design in a partnership of over a year. It also names Rayhawk, which uses AI and computer vision for railcar loading, where we redesigned the website over a partnership of more than eight months. We design software and websites, not the devices. We don't publish a price and we have no Clutch reviews yet. See the Rayhawk case study
Good fit if: your device exists and you need the platform UI or the website designed in sprints.
Not a fit if: you need industrial design, electronics or firmware, because we don't do hardware.
Layer Design
A London design studio covering industrial design, branding, engineering, and digital and spatial design. Its listed projects include Viture One (Viture), HoloBike (SAGA), Stax (Ledger) and Balance and Emerge (Bang & Olufsen). It mentions a VR startup that raised $15M in seed funding, but names none of its funded ventures. It doesn't describe any project as IoT, publishes no price and we haven't checked its Clutch profile.
Good fit if: you want the look and form of a premium device from an industrial design studio.
Not a fit if: you need connected software or a dashboard, because its listed projects are products.
Stormotion
A mobile and web app design and development company that says it builds companion apps for smart devices and connected hardware. Its cases include a console app for the STEPR stair climbing machine, a payment terminal app for Milence EV charging stations, a marine battery app for Norsk Guardian and an e-scooter app for Egret. Its FAQ says it works best with funded teams that have a clear decision-maker. It states no office and no price, and we haven't checked its Clutch profile.
Good fit if: you're funded, the hardware is built and you need the app designed and developed.
Not a fit if: you're pre-funding, because its FAQ says it isn't a fit for very early solo projects.
Tandem Design
A product design firm in Santa Monica, founded in 2009 by a former Gateway lead designer, per its site. It lists electrical engineering, firmware, PCB layout, mechanical engineering and connected app UI/UX, and shows SOMABAR (a robotic bartender), AJNA (an AR lens) and Sensei. It says it handles crowdfunding and startup projects and has run eight Kickstarter campaigns. It publishes no price and we haven't checked its Clutch profile.
Good fit if: you're launching a new device and want engineering and the companion app from one firm.
Not a fit if: you want a published price or a Clutch rating before the first call.
Do you need the device designed, or the software around it?
Hire a studio that designs the device if the hardware isn't built yet, and one that designs software if the device already works.
| Your situation | Look for | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| The device isn't designed yet | Industrial design with electronics engineering | A software studio that treats the hardware as given |
| The device works, the app doesn't | Companion apps shipped for real devices | Apps designed only against mock data |
| Operators watch a dashboard all day | Dashboards tested with the people who use them | Designs reviewed only by founders |
| Selling to enterprise buyers | A site that explains integration and security | A homepage that only shows the device |
Six questions to ask before you sign
- Which connected products have you shipped, and can I see them live?
- Do you design the device, the software, or both?
- Will you test against the real device, or with mock data?
- Who does the work, and have they worked on hardware before?
- What do I own at the end, including source files and CAD?
- Can I speak to a hardware founder you've worked with?
Questions
How much does design cost for a hardware or IoT startup?
Only Fuselab Creative publishes a starting price, $25,000 for a project. Cieden shows a Clutch minimum of $10,000+. Design 1st, Layer Design, Stormotion, Tandem Design and we publish none.
Which studios design the physical device?
Design 1st, Layer Design and Tandem Design. Design 1st and Tandem Design also list electronics and firmware engineering. Cieden, Fuselab Creative, Stormotion and we design the software and websites around a device.
Do I need a studio that has worked on hardware?
It helps, because a device has constraints that a web app doesn't, such as pairing, firmware updates and screens of fixed size. All seven studios show hardware or connected-product work on their own sites. Ask for a live example.
Can one studio design the device and the app?
Tandem Design lists connected app UI/UX alongside its engineering, and Design 1st lists embedded software. Stormotion and Cieden do the app but not the hardware.
Do these studios work with early-stage startups?
Some say so. Design 1st has a path for startups without a development team, Tandem Design handles crowdfunding and startup projects and Fuselab Creative says startups hire it. Stormotion says it isn't a fit for very early solo projects.
Why isn't this list ranked?
Because we're on it. Ranking a list we compete in would tell you more about us than about the studios. So it's alphabetical, with the facts we could check.
Related
Spotted something wrong? Email shabbir@hexcode.design with a link and we'll fix it.
Does the app feel like the device it controls?
Thirty minutes, no deck. Show us the device and the app and we'll say what we'd fix first, even if the answer is one of the other six.
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