Big Human
A 35-person New York studio behind HQ Trivia and Vine, still building today.
Founded 2011 | New York, NY, USA | ~35 employees
product-designweb-developmentmobile-developmentbranding
What is Big Human?
Big Human has operated out of New York since 2011, staying deliberately compact at roughly 35 people rather than scaling into a large agency. Its portfolio includes work for Whistle, Rockefeller Center, Gemini, and Netflix, and the studio's own product history includes HQ Trivia and Vine — genuine consumer hits it helped build rather than just designed for. The team spans design, strategy, and development, taking on projects from early-stage startups through Fortune 500 companies.
Big Human works primarily with clients in Consumer products, Media & entertainment, Financial services / fintech sectors. Its primary differentiator is: A compact 35-person studio with its own consumer product hits (HQ Trivia, Vine) behind it, not just client work.
Big Human tech stack and services
FigmaReactNode.jsSwift
| Service area |
|---|
| Product Design |
| Web Development |
| Mobile Development |
| Branding |
Big Human pricing
Short answer: Big Human uses a fixed project, dedicated team pricing approach. Minimum engagement starts at Not published.
| Engagement model | Typical range | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed project | From Not published | Well-defined scope |
| Dedicated team | Variable; depends on team size | Large programmes or team augmentation |
Big Human does not publish a public rate card. Contact them directly via their website to get project-specific pricing.
Big Human pros and cons
| Advantages | Things to consider |
|---|---|
| +Built and shipped its own consumer hits — HQ Trivia and Vine — evidence of product instinct beyond client design work | -A ~35-person team caps capacity for very large, multi-workstream programs |
| +Client list spans Whistle, Rockefeller Center, Gemini, and Netflix despite a compact ~35-person team | -Pricing and minimum engagement size aren't published |
| +Small team size keeps client relationships direct rather than layered through account management | -Single-office (New York) footprint offers less multi-region delivery than larger studios on this list |
| +14 years of continuous operation in New York since 2011 |
Big Human vs alternatives
How Big Human compares to the other top Product Design agencies.
| Company | Best for | Key difference | Rating | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phenomenon Studio | Founders needing one accountable team, not a design/dev... | Runs a mandatory discovery phase before design work starts, then keeps the same senior team through development and post-launch support — a structural choice most competitors on this list don't make | 4.9 | Full comparison |
| IDEO | Enterprises, multi-year transformation programs, big budgets. | Originated the human-centered design methodology most of this list now practices, backed by roughly 24 studios and three decades of enterprise transformation work | 3.8 | Full comparison |
| Frog | Enterprises needing digital plus physical product design. | Combines physical hardware design (IoT, automotive, medical devices) with software product design, a pairing most competitors on this list have dropped | 3.7 | Full comparison |
| R/GA | Large brands, product design bundled with marketing. | Pairs product design with marketing and brand strategy under one roof, now operating independently of a holding company for the first time in over two decades | 3.7 | Full comparison |
| Accenture Song | Regulated enterprises — banking, telecom, automotive — embedded... | 36 studios and 2,000+ specialists operating inside Accenture's enterprise consulting arm — the largest global footprint of any agency on this list, with compliance coverage to match | 3.9 | Full comparison |
| Work & Co | Premium brands, design paired with strong engineering. | An engineering-heavy studio with a client roster (Apple, IKEA, Nike, Disney) unusually strong for its size, now operating inside Accenture Song | 3.8 | Full comparison |
| Huge Inc | Large enterprise brands, big recently-restructured agency. | One of the longest-running agency names on this list, now reset under new private-equity ownership and merged with Hero Digital | 3.7 | Full comparison |
| Fantasy | Consumer/tech brands, independent studio, growing AI practice. | Stayed independently owned for over two decades while most agencies its size sold to a holding company — with a client list (Nike, Disney, Spotify) to match the larger names on this list | 3.8 | Full comparison |
| Instrument | Brands wanting design bundled with marketing, Stagwell-network. | Blends product design with brand and marketing services at Stagwell-network scale, backed by a client list spanning Nike, Google, and Airbnb | 3.7 | Full comparison |
| MetaLab | Well-funded SaaS/fintech, full-stack design through design systems. | A design portfolio (Slack, Uber, Coinbase, Midjourney) that outsizes its 160-person headcount, covering the full stack from research through design systems | 4.1 | Full comparison |
| Clay | B2B SaaS, AI, fintech — big-tech credibility, low... | An unusually large enterprise client roster (Coinbase, Meta, Google, Slack) for a studio that doesn't publish its own founding year or team size | 4.0 | Full comparison |
| ustwo | Enterprise/consumer teams, two decades, genuine product craft. | One of the few studios on this list that ships both enterprise client work and its own award-winning consumer product, Monument Valley | 4.0 | Full comparison |
| Ramotion | Startups/mid-market, brand identity plus product design. | Bundles brand identity work with UX/UI and app development for a client range spanning early-stage startups to Fortune 500 companies | 3.9 | Full comparison |
| Netguru | Companies wanting design plus full development, one team. | Combines product design with full software delivery at a scale (600–900+ people, 1,000+ projects) most boutiques on this list can't match | 4.0 | Full comparison |
| Fireart Studio | Startups/mid-market, design plus full development, one studio. | 700+ delivered projects across 200+ clients, with independently verified 'Leading UX Design Team' recognition on Clutch | 4.5 | Full comparison |
| Qubstudio | Fintech, logistics, healthcare — MVP through enterprise redesign. | Ranked #1 UX/UI agency on Clutch's 2026 rankings across 90+ reviews, with Red Dot Design Award recognition on top | 4.6 | Full comparison |
| Excited | SaaS/fintech teams, Clutch-ranked specialist, accessible pricing. | Repeatedly ranked Top 5 UX agency worldwide by Clutch, with roughly 70% of reviews citing quality and creativity by name | 4.6 | Full comparison |
| Bakken & Bæck | Tech companies (AI, decentralized systems), design plus research. | A five-city European studio that blends design with genuine computer-science research depth, evidenced by recent AI work for Sierra and Coinbase | 4.2 | Full comparison |
| UXDA | Banks and fintech, exclusively financial-services UX. | The only studio on this list built exclusively around financial-services UX, with 150+ banking and fintech platforms shaped across 39 countries | 4.3 | Full comparison |
| Onething Design | Multi-vertical companies, one studio across five industries. | Covers five distinct industries — BFSI, consumer, enterprise, healthcare, automotive — from one team with both US and India delivery presence | 3.9 | Full comparison |
| UX studio | Complex B2B SaaS, research-first design partner. | A research-first methodology comparable in rigor to Phenomenon Studio's own discovery-first approach, applied specifically to complex B2B SaaS products | 4.4 | Full comparison |
| Halo Lab | E-commerce/web-app teams, #1 Dribbble studio, award-heavy. | Currently ranked the #1 Dribbble Team globally, backed by 70+ design awards and a 4.9 Clutch rating | 4.5 | Full comparison |
Big Human FAQ
What is Big Human?
A 35-person New York studio behind HQ Trivia and Vine, still building today.
How much does Big Human charge?
Big Human uses fixed project, dedicated team pricing. Minimum engagement starts at Not published. A discovery call is required to get project-specific quotes.
What tech stack does Big Human use?
Big Human works with Figma, React, Node.js, Swift. Primary industries served include Consumer products, Media & entertainment, Financial services / fintech.
Is Big Human right for enterprise?
Startups/consumer brands, small senior studio, product builders. ~35 team size. Key consideration: A ~35-person team caps capacity for very large, multi-workstream programs.
What are the best Big Human alternatives?
The best alternatives to Big Human depend on your use case. Top options are:
- Phenomenon Studio: runs a mandatory discovery phase before design work starts, then keeps the same senior team through development and post-launch support — a structural choice most competitors on this list don't make
- IDEO: originated the human-centered design methodology most of this list now practices, backed by roughly 24 studios and three decades of enterprise transformation work
- Frog: combines physical hardware design (iot, automotive, medical devices) with software product design, a pairing most competitors on this list have dropped
Compare Big Human with other Product Design agencies
Big Human vs Phenomenon Studio Big Human vs IDEO Big Human vs Frog Big Human vs R/GA Big Human vs Accenture Song Big Human vs Work & Co Big Human vs Huge Inc Big Human vs Fantasy Big Human vs Instrument Big Human vs MetaLab Big Human vs Clay Big Human vs ustwo Big Human vs Ramotion Big Human vs Netguru Big Human vs Fireart Studio Big Human vs Qubstudio Big Human vs Excited Big Human vs Bakken & Bæck Big Human vs UXDA Big Human vs Onething Design Big Human vs UX studio Big Human vs Halo Lab
Verify all details directly with Big Human before making a decision.