UX Design Consultants in Chicago to Watch for in 2025
Chicago UX Experts to Know in 2025
Chicago is no stranger to design greatness. As a city rooted in innovation, architecture, and visual storytelling, it makes sense that it would be a thriving hub for digital experience, too. UX design consultants in Chicago play a unique role in shaping the way we interact with products, services, and systems — not only locally, but on a national scale. From the polished headquarters of Fortune 500 companies downtown to scrappy SaaS startups out in the suburbs, this city is brimming with digital projects that depend on strategic, user-first design.
At Digital Reference, we’re obsessed with making sure the right people get the recognition they deserve. Our curated lists aren't just a roundup — they're built on deep research, personal interviews, and thoughtful evaluation of portfolios, impact, and presence. For this feature, we focused on UX professionals working in or around the Chicagoland area who are actively consulting either independently or as part of a team.
We looked at:
- Client impact and case study clarity
- Unique methodologies and design philosophies
- Presence in the UX community
- Thought leadership, public speaking, and open-source contributions
- Portfolio sophistication and UX storytelling
Our goal? To surface not only top-tier UX talent but personality-rich, human-centered leaders who are genuinely shaping how businesses approach digital experience.
Let’s meet some of the UX minds helping shape the Chicago digital scene in 2025:
Mark Baldino
Mark Baldino is the co-founder of Fuzzy Math, a UX design consultancy with a 16+ year legacy and a client list that includes some of the world’s largest and most complex organizations. Mark specializes in revitalizing enterprise and B2B software UX by applying two decades of experience in human-centered design.
Why Mark makes this list:
- 🔹 Focused on B2B product leaders: Mark helps companies modernize their legacy software and business applications, enhancing usability and ROI.
- 🔹 Enterprise-level experience: Over the past 20 years, he’s worked closely with CPOs, IT leads, and product managers to align product ecosystems with modern standards.
- 🔹 Design-driven growth strategy: His UX leadership has helped improve customer engagement, loyalty, and long-term profitability.
- 🔹 Voice in the community: Mark hosts a podcast on UX leadership and is actively pursuing 365 meaningful conversations around product and design strategy this year.
Mark’s passion for transforming complex systems through thoughtful, scalable UX makes him a go-to for enterprise teams looking to unlock the full potential of their digital products.
Kristi Pagoulatos
Kristi Pagoulatos is the founder and senior creative director of OPA Design Studio, a branding and UX practice built on 14+ years of high-level, multi-disciplinary design experience. Her work bridges art direction, UX, research, and digital product strategy for some of the world’s most recognizable brands.
Why Kristi is one to watch:
- 🔹 Creative direction meets UX: Kristi leads with a strong visual design sensibility and a deep strategic backbone. Her projects span everything from mobile UI to brand systems.
- 🔹 Human journey-first philosophy: She designs with empathy and precision, always aligning product and brand with how people actually move through experiences.
- 🔹 Mentor at heart: Kristi thrives on building collaborative, cross-generational teams where younger creatives are encouraged to grow and lead.
- 🔹 Big-brand background, boutique attention: Her portfolio includes major names like KitchenAid, Burger King, FedEx, Biogen, and United Airlines, as well as design partnerships with agencies like FCB Global, Ogilvy & Mather, and Critical Mass.
OPA is a strategic yet heart-forward studio, and Kristi’s creative leadership is what makes it sing. She’s a rare hybrid: an artist, a UX thinker, a brand builder, and above all, a champion for teams and users alike.
Taylor Regan
Founder of Duro Design, Taylor Regan leads a product design studio that redefines what modern consulting looks like. At Duro, strategy meets execution in a seamless blend of user research, product thinking, and UX excellence.
What sets Taylor and Duro apart:
- 🔹 Premium, no-fluff delivery: Duro is a premium services and solutions studio, and Taylor ensures every engagement is scoped for maximum strategic value — with no "B team" in sight.
- 🔹 Multi-disciplinary mastery: Taylor leads a team of top-tier professionals that span consulting, research, strategy, and accessibility.
- 🔹 Product-centric UX approach: Taylor doesn’t just deliver wireframes — he dives into product-market fit, business logic, and go-to-market strategy.
- 🔹 Efficiency and elegance: Taylor's ability to navigate from business analysis to interaction design means fast, clear wins for startups and enterprise teams alike.
Duro isn’t your typical agency, and Taylor isn’t your typical consultant. He brings clarity, rigor, and polish to every project.
Christine Walsh
Christine Walsh is the founder of Christine Ashley Designs, a UX/UI and digital design studio with a powerful focus on e-commerce. Known as a "digital & UX unicorn," Christine brings 8 years of experience crafting stunning, high-converting user experiences that put people first.
Why Christine makes the list:
- 🔹 E-commerce expertise: Christine specializes in UX for online retail, helping brands optimize websites, landing pages, and digital campaigns across channels like email and Amazon.
- 🔹 Human-first, data-backed: She combines Baymard-certified UX rigor with a heartfelt mission to make shopping experiences more personal, memorable, and effective.
- 🔹 Results-driven and trusted: Recent highlights include leading the redesign of the Toys”R”Us Shopify website, reimagining the wine-buying journey for Vin Chicago, and branding Laura Geller’s 2024 holiday campaign.
- 🔹 Highly praised by clients: With glowing reviews like the one from Mark Perini at ICEE Social, Christine’s collaborative and intuitive design style is consistently described as both visually stunning and strategic.
Christine’s digital work is more than skin deep—it’s conversion-oriented, emotional, and thoughtfully human. She’s a must-watch for any consumer brand ready to make their UX a true competitive edge.
Guy Haines
Guy Haines is the founder and principal at Haines Creative, where his obsession with process, detail, and meaningful design has shaped a decades-long career in UX and digital strategy. With over 4,000 websites built and experience managing multi-disciplinary teams and multi-million dollar budgets, Guy is the secret weapon behind many successful digital transformations.
What makes Guy a standout consultant:
- 🔹 Built for efficiency: Guy believes in the power of process. His methodical, time-tested approach to design and development consistently saves clients time, money, and stress.
- 🔹 Holistic UX offering: From user experience and website design to SEO, custom WordPress development, PPC, and analytics — Guy offers end-to-end support for digital growth.
- 🔹 Team builder and strategist: He has led teams ranging from 3 to 15 people, fostering cross-functional collaboration while driving creative and strategic alignment.
- 🔹 Human-first mindset: Guy sees UX as a way to do meaningful work for small to mid-sized businesses, delivering not just beautiful designs, but smart ones.
With a knack for listening, collaborating, and launching work that delivers results, Guy is one of Chicago’s most reliable UX consultants — especially for businesses that want to move with purpose.
Stacy Bruce
Stacy Bruce, principal at Lowercase Inc., is a strategic UX leader with a brain for data and a heart for human insight. From financial analysis to behavioral science, Stacy’s career has been driven by curiosity, rigor, and a passion for better decision-making.
Why Stacy deserves a spotlight:
- 🔹 From “thin” to “thick” data: Stacy's work challenges companies to go beyond the surface metrics and dig into deep, people-centered insights that explain the why behind behaviors.
- 🔹 Creative leadership with business acumen: With an MBA from the University of Chicago and roots in consulting and data strategy, she bridges logic and emotion like few can.
- 🔹 Empathy through research: Stacy incorporates ethnographic research and thick data to shape emotionally intelligent and strategically sound design decisions.
- 🔹 Lowercase's mission: As co-founder of Lowercase, she helps organizations make bold, informed leaps by blending rigorous strategy with creative insight.
If you're looking to connect strategy with design through the lens of real human understanding, Stacy Bruce and the Lowercase team are a must-watch.
Chicago's UX Consultants Are Shaping Digital Experience Everywhere
From downtown firms to solo operators in nearby neighborhoods, Chicago’s UX consultants are building the future of interaction design. Each professional on this list brings a distinct lens to problem-solving, whether it’s strategy-forward, brand-rich, deeply technical, or innovation-led. Together, they reflect a city-wide dedication to quality, ethics, and user-centeredness.
If you're a founder, PM, or digital leader in the Chicago area, this list is more than inspiration — it's a resource. These consultants represent the best of what UX can be when talent meets empathy meets business sense.
At Digital Reference, we exist to help digital professionals make smarter decisions, connect with the right talent, and grow their design impact. You can learn more about us here.
Need help finding the right UX consultant for your team? We’re always happy to chat.
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