SeaLab

What SeaLab does

SeaLab is a privately held UX design consulting firm headquartered in Austin, Texas, founded in 2014 by CEO Heather White and operating as SeaLab, LLC. The firm partners with SaaS teams, enterprise organizations, and startups on user experience design, design systems, user research, prototyping, and product strategy, offering both fixed-scope engagements (e.g., Single Flow Rescue, Investor-Ready UX, Scalable Design System) and ongoing monthly partnerships (Ongoing UX Partner, Embedded UX Team). Notable clients include iOffice/Eptura, Kasasa, Vizion.ai/Panzura, FOMO.ai, Goods Inc., TopDecked, TreeHouse, and a large global eLearning platform, with named outcomes such as a 66% barrier reduction in room reservation flow, a 50%+ reduction in user task time, and an $8,500 average salary uplift among eLearning learners.

The firm operates a sales-led, content-driven go-to-market: a free 60-minute working session functions as the primary qualification mechanism, while a steady cadence of blog content, downloadable resources, and a free FigJam-based C.L.E.A.R. workshop template generate inbound demand. Revenue is generated through professional services on a quote-based, engagement-tiered model with no publicly disclosed pricing, no external funding rounds, and no parent company; the firm is founder-owned with a 1–10 person headcount. Differentiation rests on senior-only delivery, a deep-diagnostic methodology, a codified AI-UX specialty (C.L.E.A.R. framework and an internal AI Bootcamp), and a published portfolio of award-recognized work including a Zeroheight Best Governance nomination for an Eptura design system supporting 16.3M+ users.

SeaLab has no software product, API, SDK, or platform offering; its product surface is human-delivered design services and proprietary methodologies. Technology dependencies are standard creative tooling (Figma, FigJam) plus AI-augmented workflows using PromptLayer, Langfuse, and Promptfoo for prompt engineering, research synthesis, and content scaffolding on client AI engagements.

Name

SeaLab

Legal name

SeaLab, LLC

Website

https://sealab.design

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

SeaLab is an Austin-based UX design consulting firm offering senior UX, design system, and AI-UX expertise to SaaS teams, enterprise organizations, and startups through fixed-scope projects and ongoing partnerships under founder-CEO Heather White.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Austin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. UX Design Consulting Services: Professional services revenue through UX design consulting engagements. They offer flexible engagement options: one-time projects (Single Flow Rescue, Investor-Ready UX), ongoing support retainers (Ongoing UX Partner), and long-term partnerships (Embedded UX Team, Scalable Design System). Engagement durations range from a few weeks to 6-12 months.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

SeaLab is a UX design consulting firm that partners with SaaS teams, enterprise organizations, and startups to deliver UX audits, design system creation, prototyping, user research, product strategy, and marketing/branding services. Their engagements are structured as either fixed-scope projects (Single Flow Rescue, Investor-Ready UX, Scalable Design System) or ongoing monthly partnerships (Ongoing UX Partner, Embedded UX Team), with a proprietary C.L.E.A.R. framework for AI UX design.

Product overview

SeaLab is a UX design consulting firm offering a portfolio of service engagements rather than a unified software product. Their core offerings include: fixed-scope services (Single Flow Rescue for one broken flow, Investor-Ready UX for fundraise prep, Scalable Design System for multi-brand theming) and ongoing partnerships (Ongoing UX Partner for monthly sprints through backlog, Embedded UX Team for direct team integration). Supporting these are specialized service lines: Product Strategy, User Research & Testing, UI/UX Design & Prototyping, Design Systems & Guidelines, Marketing & Branding, and Ongoing Support & Iteration. SeaLab also offers proprietary frameworks including the C.L.E.A.R. AI UX Framework (a free FigJam workshop template) and Product Ops Audit methodology. Case studies span fintech (Kasasa), e-learning platforms, enterprise SaaS (iOffice/Eptura, Vizion.ai), AI-native products (FOMO.ai, Goods Inc), and mobile apps (TopDecked, TreeHouse).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Single Flow Rescue A fixed-scope UX design engagement targeting one specific broken user flow that is costing sign-ups, activations, or completions. SeaLab identifies the exact drop-off point and delivers a focused fix for SaaS and enterprise product teams.
• Investor-Ready UX A fixed-scope UX service that transforms a rough product build into something that earns trust on first impression for investors, customers, and the public ahead of fundraises or launches, primarily serving startups and founders.
• Ongoing UX Partner An ongoing monthly UX design engagement where SeaLab works through a client's highest-impact UX issues one area at a time, including a dedicated senior UX designer and monthly design sprints aimed at reducing the product backlog.
• Embedded UX Team An ongoing monthly UX engagement of 6+ months where SeaLab integrates directly with a client's product and engineering team as a senior UX partner, with full participation in planning, standups, design reviews, and end-to-end design execution from discovery through handoff.
• Scalable Design System A 3–6 month fixed-scope engagement building a design system that works across multiple brands, themes, or modes, including full token architecture, component library in Figma, multi-brand or light/dark theming, accessibility compliance, and dev-ready handoff for enterprise clients.
• Product Strategy Strategic product development services including product strategy development, UX and user experience strategy, marketing and branding strategy, and product-to-market strategy for SaaS and enterprise clients.
• User Research & Testing Evidence-led research services including moderated and unmoderated usability studies, rapid prototype and benchmark testing, remote participant recruiting, analytics dashboards, and research repository setup.
• UI/UX Design & Prototyping User-centered UI/UX design services including wireframing, high-fidelity designs, validating design concepts with prototypes, and user testing for SaaS, mobile, and enterprise product teams.
• Design Systems & Guidelines Design system creation and management services including system audits and roadmaps, token architecture, component design and engineering, governance and contribution models, versioning and maintenance, and rollout training.
• Marketing & Branding Brand identity and marketing services including brand audits and positioning, logo and identity systems, campaign creative and copywriting, digital marketing strategy, content and social storytelling, and performance tracking.
• Ongoing Support & Iteration Continuous design support and iteration services to keep products evolving with user needs, offered through flexible retainer models that adapt to changing priorities and budget cycles.
• C.L.E.A.R. Framework for AI UX A proprietary methodology and free FigJam workshop template for evaluating AI product behavior, trust, and usability, organized around five principles: Control, Learnability, Explainability, Accountability, and Responsiveness. Used by SeaLab in client AI UX engagements and offered publicly as a free workshop resource.
• Product Ops Audit A structured, evidence-backed UX evaluation service built on Nielsen's 10 usability heuristics and WCAG 2.2 accessibility standards, providing heuristic assessment, user flow analysis, quantitative data review, accessibility evaluation, and severity-rated issue logs with prioritized fix recommendations.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reduced room reservation from 6 steps to 2 taps (66% barrier reduction)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Concrete UXcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with Concrete UX to audit each product in Eptura's ecosystem. Their high-level usability evaluation informed the next iteration of Evo design system and recommended deeper heuristic review for task-level issues.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• IDEO: A globally recognized design consultancy with UX, design strategy, and product design services across enterprise and consumer. Comparable offering at much larger scale and broader scope; competes for the same enterprise UX budgets SeaLab targets.
• Frog (frog design): A global design and innovation consultancy (part of Capgemini Invent) offering UX design, design systems, and product strategy. Overlaps with SeaLab's service lines but at significantly larger enterprise scale and broader portfolio.
• Method (Globant): A digital experience agency offering UX design, product strategy, and engineering — now part of Globant. Comparable enterprise UX services; much larger scale and broader geographic footprint than SeaLab.

Direct peers

• Punchcut: A UX design and product strategy studio focused on connected products, mobile, and SaaS. Similar boutique size and comparable service portfolio (UX research, design systems, product design) to SeaLab.
• Nielsen Norman Group: A UX research and consulting firm offering UX audits, usability research, and training — methods SeaLab uses as the backbone of its own Product Ops Audit. Comparable in the audit/research/heuristic-evaluation slice of the market.
• Ustwo: A global digital product studio offering UX design, product strategy, and design system services across enterprise and startup clients. Comparable engagement model (fixed-scope, embedded, ongoing) and similar SaaS/enterprise target market as SeaLab.
• Ramotion: A design and development agency focused on UX/UI design, branding, and product design for SaaS and technology clients. Directly comparable to SeaLab in scope (UX, branding, design systems) and customer base (startups and enterprise tech).
• Work & Co: A digital product agency specializing in UX design, design systems, and product strategy for enterprise and consumer brands. Highly comparable to SeaLab's service portfolio (UX, design systems, embedded teams) and enterprise-grade client base, though Work & Co operates at significantly larger scale.
• Eleken: A SaaS-focused UX/UI design agency offering fixed-scope and ongoing engagements for SaaS and startup clients. Comparable in SaaS-specialist positioning and engagement-based pricing model to SeaLab.

Others

• Figma (Community / FigJam templates): Not a direct competitor, but Figma's Community platform hosts free resources like SeaLab's C.L.E.A.R. FigJam template — making it an enabling distribution channel for SeaLab's thought leadership and a potential partnership surface.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/SeaLabLife
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sealab-llc
• Instagraminstagram.com/sealablife
• Xx.com/sealablife

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SeaLab