The Gradient
Qatar Airways and Philips, served by a team that caps itself at 50 people.
Founded 2016 | Lviv, Ukraine | 11–50 employees
product-designai-developmentux-research
What is The Gradient?
The Gradient doesn't publish a confirmed founding year, though its 55 Clutch reviews imply several years of delivery history; 2016 is used here as an estimate consistent with that track record. Based in Lviv, Ukraine, the company keeps itself intentionally small — 11–50 people — a self-imposed cap it frames as necessary to keep senior attention on every engagement instead of scaling into account-management layers. Client names include Qatar Airways, Philips, Daimler AG, and Dubai Financial Market, an unusually strong list for a company operating at this size, built around an explicitly AI-native design practice.
The Gradient works primarily with clients in Financial services / fintech, Healthcare, E-commerce / retail sectors. Its primary differentiator is: A deliberately small, AI-native company with a notable client list (Qatar Airways, Philips, Daimler AG) unusual for its self-limited scale.
The Gradient tech stack and services
FigmaAdobe Creative SuiteDesign systems/Storybook
| Service area |
|---|
| Product Design |
| AI Development |
| UX Research |
The Gradient pricing
Short answer: The Gradient uses a fixed project, retainer pricing approach. Minimum engagement starts at Not published.
| Engagement model | Typical range | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed project | From Not published | Well-defined scope |
| Retainer | Monthly rate; not public | Ongoing AI engineering |
The Gradient does not publish a public rate card. Contact them directly via their website to get project-specific pricing.
The Gradient pros and cons
| Advantages | Things to consider |
|---|---|
| +Notable client list (Qatar Airways, Philips, Daimler AG, Dubai Financial Market) is strong for a deliberately small company | -Founding year is not confirmed in available sources beyond an implied multi-year track record |
| +AI-native positioning is a genuine differentiator versus generalist product design shops | -Deliberately small team (11–50) by design limits capacity for very large or multi-workstream programs |
| +Deliberately limits its client roster, which the company frames as preserving senior attention per project | -Minimum engagement is not published, requiring a direct conversation for budget planning |
| +55 Clutch reviews imply a substantial track record despite the unconfirmed founding year |
The Gradient vs alternatives
How The Gradient compares to the other top Product Design companies.
| Company | Best for | Key difference | Rating | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phenomenon Studio | Companies wanting independently verified design credentials. | Third-party-verified credentials (Compliancy Group-monitored HIPAA compliance, NN/g UX certification, 5.0 Clutch rating) rather than self-reported claims, behind 120+ shipped products | 4.7 | Full comparison |
| IDEO | Enterprises funding multi-year design transformation. | The firm most credited with mainstreaming the term 'human-centered design,' still running roughly two dozen studios worldwide three decades later | 3.8 | Full comparison |
| Frog | Enterprises needing digital plus physical/hardware design. | Still designs physical hardware (IoT, automotive, medical devices) alongside software, inside Capgemini Invent's enterprise consulting scale | 3.6 | Full comparison |
| R/GA | Large brands wanting design bundled with brand strategy. | Fuses product design with marketing and brand strategy for large platforms, now independently owned for the first time in over two decades | 3.6 | Full comparison |
| Accenture Song | Regulated enterprises, design within tech transformation. | 36 studios and 2,000+ specialists operating inside Accenture — the largest global footprint and compliance coverage in this pool | 3.8 | Full comparison |
| Work & Co | Premium brands, design paired with front-end engineering. | A client roster (Apple, IKEA, Nike, Disney) out of proportion with its ~425-person headcount, delivered through an engineering-heavy design-and-build model | 3.7 | Full comparison |
| Huge Inc | Large enterprise brands, big-agency scale mid-transition. | One of the oldest agency names in this pool, freshly rebuilt through a 2024 AEA Investors acquisition and Hero Digital merger | 3.5 | Full comparison |
| AKQA | Fortune 500 enterprises, design within a global agency... | A 6,000-person, 50-country agency network with more than half the Fortune 500's top 20 as clients, now part of WPP's AKQA Group | 3.6 | Full comparison |
| Method | Enterprises wanting design-thinking backed by GlobalLogic scale. | A quarter-century of design-thinking work for Google, Comcast, Samsung, and the BBC, now backed by GlobalLogic's engineering scale | 3.7 | Full comparison |
| MetaLab | Funded SaaS/fintech companies, full-stack design partner. | A Slack/Uber/Coinbase/Midjourney-caliber portfolio built by a 160-person studio, delivered full-stack from research through design systems | 4.0 | Full comparison |
| AND Digital | Large UK enterprises, design plus team capability-building. | Pairs product delivery for named enterprise clients (British Airways, Condé Nast) with capability-building for the client's own teams, at 1,000+ person UK scale | 3.6 | Full comparison |
| Deeplocal | Brands needing working hardware prototypes, not just software. | A Carnegie Mellon-spinoff studio that engineers and builds working hardware prototypes in-house, not just software mockups | 3.9 | Full comparison |
| Fireart Studio | Startups/mid-market, design plus full software development. | 700+ delivered projects for 200+ clients, backed by Clutch's independently verified 'Leading UX Design Team' recognition | 4.3 | Full comparison |
| Qubstudio | Fintech, logistics, healthcare — MVP to enterprise redesign. | Currently Clutch's #1-ranked UX/UI company worldwide for 2026, with Red Dot Design Award recognition layered on top | 4.5 | Full comparison |
| Excited | SaaS/fintech teams, Clutch-ranked specialist, accessible rates. | A sustained Top 5 global UX company ranking on Clutch, with about 70% of reviews specifically citing quality and creativity | 4.5 | Full comparison |
| Gapsy Studio | Fintech, SaaS, healthcare — perfect-rated boutique. | A perfect 5.0/5.0 Clutch rating across 52 reviews, backed by 13+ international awards, from a company that doesn't publish its own headcount | 4.4 | Full comparison |
| Goji Labs | Startups and nonprofits, strategy-led design, accessible pricing. | A 2025 Inc. 5000 honoree that explicitly serves nonprofits and individual entrepreneurs, not only funded startups | 3.8 | Full comparison |
| Eleken | SaaS teams wanting a subscription embedded designer. | A SaaS-only subscription embedded-designer model (~$6,599/month) with a 4.9 Clutch rating across 200+ projects | 4.0 | Full comparison |
| UXDA | Banks and fintech, exclusively financial-services UX. | The only company in this pool exclusively focused on financial services UX, with 150+ banking and fintech platforms shaped across 39 countries | 4.2 | Full comparison |
| Onething Design | Companies needing BFSI, healthcare, automotive design under one... | Covers five distinct industries — BFSI, consumer, enterprise, healthcare, automotive — from one team with both US and India delivery presence | 3.7 | Full comparison |
| UX studio | Complex B2B SaaS teams, research-first before UI. | A research-first methodology comparable in rigor to Phenomenon Studio's own discovery-first approach, applied specifically to complex B2B SaaS products | 4.1 | Full comparison |
| Halo Lab | E-commerce and web-app teams, #1-ranked Dribbble team. | Currently the #1-ranked Dribbble Team globally, backed by 70+ design awards and a 4.9 Clutch rating | 4.3 | Full comparison |
| ANML | B2B, healthcare, AI startups wanting a small senior... | One of the smallest teams in this pool, offering the highest senior-to-client ratio for B2B, healthcare, and AI work | 3.7 | Full comparison |
| Momentum Design Lab | Clients wanting a long-tenured Silicon Valley studio. | Nearly a quarter-century of continuous operation, one of the oldest companies in this pool by founding date | 3.8 | Full comparison |
| Spaceberry Studio | Budget-conscious SaaS/AI/mobile teams, low-commitment subscription. | One of the most accessible entry points in this pool via a subscription model rather than a large upfront fixed-price contract | 3.6 | Full comparison |
| Orbix Studio | Seed-to-Series-B startups wanting a young, founder-close team. | The newest company in this pool, built specifically around the seed-to-Series-B funded startup stage | 3.5 | Full comparison |
The Gradient FAQ
What is The Gradient?
Qatar Airways and Philips, served by a team that caps itself at 50 people.
How much does The Gradient charge?
The Gradient uses fixed project, retainer pricing. Minimum engagement starts at Not published. A discovery call is required to get project-specific quotes.
What tech stack does The Gradient use?
The Gradient works with Figma, Adobe Creative Suite, Design systems/Storybook. Primary industries served include Financial services / fintech, Healthcare, E-commerce / retail.
Is The Gradient right for enterprise?
Fintech, healthcare, retail — AI-native, limited roster. 11–50 team size. Key consideration: Founding year is not confirmed in available sources beyond an implied multi-year track record.
What are the best The Gradient alternatives?
The best alternatives to The Gradient depend on your use case. Top options are:
- Phenomenon Studio: third-party-verified credentials (compliancy group-monitored hipaa compliance, nn/g ux certification, 5.0 clutch rating) rather than self-reported claims, behind 120+ shipped products
- IDEO: the firm most credited with mainstreaming the term 'human-centered design,' still running roughly two dozen studios worldwide three decades later
- Frog: still designs physical hardware (iot, automotive, medical devices) alongside software, inside capgemini invent's enterprise consulting scale
Compare The Gradient with other Product Design companies
The Gradient vs Phenomenon Studio The Gradient vs IDEO The Gradient vs Frog The Gradient vs R/GA The Gradient vs Accenture Song The Gradient vs Work & Co The Gradient vs Huge Inc The Gradient vs AKQA The Gradient vs Method The Gradient vs MetaLab The Gradient vs AND Digital The Gradient vs Deeplocal The Gradient vs Fireart Studio The Gradient vs Qubstudio The Gradient vs Excited The Gradient vs Gapsy Studio The Gradient vs Goji Labs The Gradient vs Eleken The Gradient vs UXDA The Gradient vs Onething Design The Gradient vs UX studio The Gradient vs Halo Lab The Gradient vs ANML The Gradient vs Momentum Design Lab The Gradient vs Spaceberry Studio The Gradient vs Orbix Studio
Verify all details directly with The Gradient before making a decision.