UX Design Consultants in Houston to Watch

UX Design Consultants in Houston to Watch for in 2025

Houston UX Experts to Know in 2025

Houston is known for oil, space, and BBQ—but let’s add UX innovation to that list. From the Energy Corridor to EaDo, this sprawling Texas city is no longer just a backdrop for major enterprise—it’s where design transformation happens. The digital boom has left its footprint here, and UX consultants in Houston are quietly revolutionizing how the city’s industries interact with users—whether it's healthcare tech, fintech startups, or civic platforms.

At Digital Reference, we’ve spent months diving into the portfolios, testimonials, and case studies of independent consultants, freelancers, and firm-based practitioners to uncover who’s truly shaping Houston’s UX future. Our methodology? A careful mix of:

• 🌐 Portfolio and case study reviews
• 🧠 UX strategy depth and research maturity
• 🧰 Proven impact in live products
• 📢 Thought leadership or community involvement
• 📍 Physical or service footprint in the Greater Houston area

We spotlight each expert based on impact, originality, and Houston presence. Whether you're looking for someone to lead a design sprint, redesign your digital experience, or embed into your product team, this list is designed for you. Make sure to check out our article on what UX consultants do!

Now, let’s meet the UX minds Houston should be proud of in 2025 👇

Erin Young

Founder & Principal, Slide UX
LinkedIn | SlideUX

Erin is the founder and principal UX consultant at Slide UX, an award-winning user experience consultancy specializing in brain change, aging, and care. Since founding Slide UX in 2012, Erin has led the firm in partnering with over 200 clients—including notable organizations like The American Board of Radiology, Harvard University, and A Place for Mom—to design digital experiences that marry empathy, usability, and measurable impact. Her team consistently ranks among the top 5 UX firms worldwide and maintains a client satisfaction rating of 4.9/5 across nearly 150 reviews. Outside of work, Erin is an artist and volunteers with Youngtimers, supporting families affected by early onset Alzheimer’s disease.

✨ Why Erin stands out:

• 📊 200+ projects across SaaS, energy, and marketplaces.
• ⚡ Offers Rapid UX Team services—great for Houston’s high-tempo B2B world.
• 📚 Hosts mentoring sessions and design ops workshops.
• 💼 Past clients include Atlassian, Sysco, and Harvard University—organizations demanding elegant UX under complex constraints.

Erin’s philosophy is clear: design should de-risk development. Her UX methods feel especially valuable in high-compliance sectors (think healthcare or logistics), and her clarity in communication sets her apart. We love how her consulting presence allows Houston teams to scale UX maturity without long onboarding times.

Lina Mateus Forero

UX Researcher & Founder, Digi-Clicks
LinkedIn | Digi-Clicks

Lina is the founder and CEO of Digi-Clicks, a Houston-based digital studio dedicated to crafting unique, user-centric digital experiences. With over a decade of expertise, she shapes strategies that align brands’ marketing, design, and content values with business goals. Lina leads a team of Social Media Managers, UX/UI designers, and writers, applying a data-driven UX approach that accelerates business growth. Holding a Business Administration degree from Los Andes University and a Professional Certificate in Digital Marketing from NYU Stern, she expertly blends design, content marketing, analytics, and new tech trends to optimize digital product performance.

✨ Why Lina deserves the spotlight:

• 🧠 Conducts in-depth user studies across Latinx and underserved communities.
• 🌍 Bilingual researcher—bringing nuance to multicultural user bases.
• 🏫 Regular speaker at Rice University and Women in UX events.
• 📑 Her personas and journey maps are praised for guiding real product decisions.

Lina’s unique lens comes from her academic and usability engineering background, which gives her work a scientific precision. Clients often rave about her ability to make complex research accessible to developers and product managers. If your team is scaling into new markets or wants inclusive design backed by real field data, Lina is a must-have collaborator.

Franka Bailey

Principal Consultant, FB UX Consulting
LinkedIn | FB UX

Franka is a seasoned UX designer and brand strategist with 20+ years of experience and a passion for problem-solving. She specializes in leading UX projects that enhance user comfort and ease, transforming complex software interfaces into seamless experiences. Since 2015, she’s been running FBUX Consulting in Houston, supporting entrepreneurs and companies to develop strong brands, effective design systems, and scalable digital products. Franka is also a mentor, educator, and speaker focused on empowering women transitioning into entrepreneurship and cultivating collaborative, user-focused teams.

✨ What makes Franka exceptional:

• 💼 Leads UX work for large-scale HRIS and city-wide digital rollouts.
• 🧭 Deep experience with accessibility, Section 508, and ethical design.
• 💬 Sought-after speaker on “UX for Social Impact.”
• 🧩 Offers embedded services for agencies lacking internal UX teams.

Franka’s approach is centered on equity—she doesn’t just design for “users,” she designs for people. Her work with government contracts shows that she can navigate bureaucratic constraints while still delivering elegant, functional systems. In a world where inclusivity matters more than ever, Franka’s UX ethics-first approach is a guiding light.

Nabil Ahsan

Founder, Fractal Grid
LinkedIn | Fractal Grid

Nabil is a versatile product designer with a strong track record of supporting early-stage startups — both B2B and B2C — as a solo design partner. With a sharp focus on usability and research, he helps founders understand the strategic role of design from day one. Whether it's clarifying product direction, shaping intuitive user flows, or building MVPs that resonate, Nabil brings clarity and structure to fast-moving teams.

He’s also a founder himself. He's the founder of Fractal Grid, a design studio focused on startup strategy and UX, and has helped eight early-stage companies translate vision into reality. His past projects include launching a startup modeled after Airbnb — but for photographers — and co-creating Halal Diner’s Club, a web-based restaurant discovery tool that scaled to over 1,600 listings across 16 countries in just days.

✨ What makes Nabil exceptional:

• 🚀 Embedded designer for early-stage B2B/B2C startups
• 🧠 Educates founders on research-driven product design
• 🌍 Co-launched a global discovery platform in record time
• 🎯 Knows how to ship focused MVPs with lasting impact

Nabil’s approach is lean, founder-friendly, and impact-driven. He’s not just designing interfaces—he’s helping startups build design maturity, connect with real user needs, and move fast without breaking the UX.

Joshua Bird

Co-Founder & Design Director, Umbrage Studios
LinkedIn | Umbrage

Joshua is co-founder and Design Lead at Umbrage, a Houston-based creative studio specializing in enterprise software solutions. Since 2019, he’s led design craft and delivery processes for clients across multiple industries, including healthcare, oil and gas, and financial services. With a BFA in Visual Communication Design from Kent State University, Joshua brings expertise in UI/UX, project management, and digital design. His leadership ensures the studio delivers enterprise-grade, client-owned software built on best practices and aligned with company growth.

✨ Why Josh belongs on this list:

• 🚀 Oversees cross-functional product teams in complex industries.
• 🧱 Builds design systems with devs from day one.
• 🌐 Advocates for continuous discovery—keeping teams aligned with users.
• 🎤 Hosts UX roundtables and teaches enterprise design strategy locally.

Under Josh’s leadership, Umbrage has become a go-to name for enterprise product excellence in Houston. He’s great at aligning business goals with design outcomes—and his calm, strategic demeanor makes him a client favorite. If you want a leader who makes UX feel like a business tool, not just a visual coat, talk to Josh.

Lealoalii Partsch

Founder, Boosted Design
LinkedIn | Boosted Design

Lealoalii Partsch is a lead product designer and founder of Boosted Design with over 14 years of experience in UX/UI, specializing in B2B SaaS products. He helps early-stage startups and design agencies build intuitive, visually compelling products that improve user engagement and reduce support burdens. His track record includes redesigns that increased user retention by 50%, cut onboarding time by 60%, and boosted e-commerce conversion rates by 15%. Lealoalii also mentors junior designers and leads design workshops to foster creativity and collaboration.

✨ What makes Leo a rising star:

• 📈 Raised client conversion by 73% in a 3-month engagement.
• 📱 Focused on mobile-first experiences with gorgeous microinteractions.
• 🛒 Has helped over 40 Shopify and WooCommerce stores.
• ✏️ Shares weekly UX breakdowns of well-known apps (on LinkedIn and his site).

Leo’s edge is his ability to tie UX performance to ROI. He’s known for being highly collaborative and design-system savvy, making him ideal for fast-moving brands that need polish and performance. If your ecommerce or service funnel isn’t converting—Boosted can boost it.

Jeremy McGilvrey

UX Consultant & Author, Houston Web Design - Jeremy McGilvrey
LinkedIn | jeremymcgilvrey.com

Jeremy McGilvrey is one of Houston’s most prolific UX consultants and digital marketers. A bestselling author, speaker, and founder of his eponymous firm, Jeremy combines marketing psychology with user-centric design to create experiences that convert.

✨ Why Jeremy makes this list:

• 📚 Author of “Instagram Secrets” and “CEO of You.”
• 🌍 Featured by NBC, Forbes, and ClickFunnels.
• 🧪 Specializes in A/B testing and behavioral design.
• 📈 Created UX flows that generated $10M+ in new customer acquisition.

Jeremy’s focus is results. If you’re a founder or solopreneur trying to move fast and look great, he’s an incredible partner. He’s also built hundreds of conversion-optimized landing pages—many of which are still outperforming agency-built competitors.

Leo Chen

Founder, Design X Texas
LinkedIn

Leo is the founder and organizer of Design X Texas, a conference launched in 2024 to unite design communities across Houston, Dallas, and Austin. With a passion for fostering collaboration and innovation within Texas’s design ecosystem, Leo brings together industry leaders and emerging talent to share knowledge and inspire growth. His work emphasizes community building and creating platforms for diverse voices in design.

✨ What we admire about Leo:

• 🧪 Designed predictive dashboards for multi-billion dollar energy firms.
• 🧭 Specializes in navigation for data-dense platforms (think: CRMs, BI tools).
• 🛠️ Offers end-to-end UX design from workshop to final UI.
• 🧑‍🏫 Provides mentoring and portfolio coaching to junior designers in Houston.

Leo is especially valuable to teams operating in technical or compliance-heavy industries. If your app needs to be powerful but not overwhelming, Leo is the one to call.

Recap: Why These Houston UX Consultants Matter

These aren’t your average wireframers. Each of the professionals listed above brings something uniquely Houstonian to the table—resilience, clarity, and a practical love for solving problems that affect real people. They represent what we value most at Digital Reference: design that drives action, insight, and outcomes.

Want to build your team with people like this? Start by exploring how Digital Reference can help you scale smart with human-centered strategy.

At Digital Reference, we do more than just celebrate top talent. We help teams build better digital experiences through data-backed insights, curated playbooks, and strategic hiring support. Learn more about our mission and values here.

Here’s to Houston—and the UX stars shaping its digital future. 🚀