What Symplicit does

Symplicit is a Melbourne-headquartered human-centred design and innovation consultancy founded in 2003 by a psychologist and industrial designer. The firm delivers research, digital product design, and technology implementation services to Australian enterprise and government clients, with documented engagements across financial services (CommBank, NAB, ANZ, Australian Unity), government (NSW, ACT, SA, QLD Transport and Main Roads), transport and infrastructure (Sydney Metro, Virgin Australia), social impact (World Vision Australia, Desart), and consumer (MECCA, Quantium). It operates studios in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Adelaide with a cross-functional team of 40+ consultants, and is positioned within HCLTech (also referenced as part of the DWS Group), giving it access to global engineering and AI delivery capacity beyond its Australian footprint.

The company organises its work around three core service lines: Research, Digital & Product Strategy (qualitative and quantitative research, experience mapping, evidence-based product backlogs, value proposition design); Digital Product Design (user testing, information architecture, UX/UI design, accessibility, design systems); and Technology, Software & Digital Implementation (web, native, and cross-platform development, product management, change management). It also offers PRODEV, a proprietary product maturity assessment launched in 2025 that measures Product Clarity and Operational Competency across four levels. Engagement is delivered through three commercial models, output-based fixed scope, team-in-a-box autonomous deployments, and hybrid team models with multi-year contract cadences, all priced via bespoke enterprise proposals rather than published rate cards.

Revenue is generated entirely through professional services fees, with the firm reporting 3,500+ engagements and 384,000+ consulting days over the past decade. Notable quantified outcomes include a 50% increase in monthly active users and AUD 1.5 million annual call centre savings from the CommBank broker portal redesign, a 70% reduction in legal costs for Lawlux users, and a 30% improvement in product understanding for the World Vision child sponsorship platform. Symplicit's go-to-market is senior-led enterprise field sales with no self-serve or product channel, supported by content marketing (blog, AI CX white paper, case studies) and Good Design Awards recognition in 2023 and 2024.

Name

Symplicit

Legal name

Symplicit

Website

https://symplicit.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Symplicit is a Melbourne-based human-centred design consultancy, founded in 2003 and operating as a subsidiary of HCLTech, delivering research, digital product design, and technology implementation services to enterprise and government clients across Australia via studios in four cities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Melbourne

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Professional Consulting Services: Fee-for-service consulting engagements for research, digital product design, and technology implementation. Engagement models include output-based fixed scope and cost, team-in-a-box specialist deployments, and hybrid team models.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Symplicit is a human-centred design and innovation consultancy that delivers research, digital product strategy, digital product design, and technology implementation services to enterprise and government clients in Australia. Engagements are delivered through senior-led fixed-scope projects, embedded cross-functional teams, or hybrid team models, anchored in design thinking and behavioural science. The firm also offers PRODEV, a proprietary product maturity assessment that benchmarks organisations across Product Clarity and Operational Competency dimensions.

Product overview

Symplicit is a multi-award winning Australian research and digital product design consultancy founded in 2003, operating as part of the DWS Group (a subsidiary of HCLTech). The company offers three integrated core service lines: Research, Digital & Product Strategy; Digital Product Design; and Technology, Software & Digital Implementation. These services are delivered through flexible engagement models (output-based fixed scope, team-in-a-box specialist deployment, or hybrid team arrangements) to help organisations solve complex problems using human-centred design thinking. The firm also offers PRODEV, a proprietary product maturity assessment tool that evaluates organisational product development capabilities. Founded in 2003, Symplicit has delivered over 3,500 engagements with a team of 40+ cross-functional consultants.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Research, Digital, & Product Strategy Strategic consulting services for enterprise and government clients encompassing qualitative and quantitative research, data and analytics, process and experience mapping, requirement gathering, change management, evidence-based product backlogs, digital roadmaps, value proposition design, and continuous discovery practices.
• Digital Product Design End-to-end design services for enterprise and government clients including moderated and unmoderated user testing, product benchmarking, information architecture, UX design, accessibility compliance, UI design, UX writing, interaction design, agile UX, design sprints, and brand and visual design.
• Technology, Software, & Digital Implementation Technology delivery services for enterprise and government clients covering product management, web development, front-end and back-end development, native iOS/Android and cross-platform application development, organisational change management, and managed services.
• PRODEV Product Maturity Assessment A proprietary product maturity assessment designed by Symplicit that provides organisations with a holistic evaluation of their product development maturity across two dimensions: Product Clarity (PCx) and Operational Competency (OCx), benchmarked across four maturity levels (Explorers, Visionaries, Scalers, Leaders).

Quantifiable outcome

• 50% increase in monthly active users and 90% user satisfaction rating for CommBank broker portal redesign
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers17 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• HCLTechflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerSymplicit is part of HCLTech, a global technology company providing world-class solutions in digital, engineering, cloud, and artificial intelligence. HCLTech is trusted globally by clients like Google, Microsoft, and Adobe. The relationship provides Symplicit with access to global technology capabilities and cross-functional teams including HCLTech and CommBank for collaborative agile delivery.
• DWS GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSymplicit is part of the DWS Group. DWS implements and manages critical IT infrastructure and services for top companies and government agencies in the region. Symplicit's privacy policy notes references to DWS Group as the parent entity.
• CommBankflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerCross-functional agile teams formed between Symplicit, HCLTech, and CommBank for the broker portal redesign. The 18-month delivery phase involved collaborative design and development with CommBank's digital product team.
• BMC ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSymplicit was engaged by the BMC Consortium as the Customer Centric Design (CCD) expert for the Sydney Metro Western Sydney Airport Line station design project.
• Mott MacDonaldcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSymplicit partnered with international global engineering, management and development consultancy Mott MacDonald to investigate Mobility as a Service (MaaS) usage and expectations for Queensland Transport and Main Roads. Mott MacDonald conducted quantitative research at scale based on personas developed by Symplicit.
• QuantiumcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerSymplicit was selected in a competitive process to lead the product design stream for Quantium's Q-Checkout product rebuild. Symplicit expanded Quantium's Design System with patterns applicable across other Quantium products.
• LawluxcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSymplicit partnered with Lawlux from 2019 through 2024 to develop a world-first AI LLM for legal services for Australian SMEs. Partnership spanned four phases: value proposition design, prototyping and user-testing, process improvement, and product design. Includes co-branding with IBM WatsonX.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Thoughtworks: Global technology consultancy that integrates strategy, design and software engineering for enterprise and government clients — directly comparable to Symplicit's research, digital product design and technology implementation services across financial services and public sector.
• Portable: Australian-headquartered design and technology consultancy offering strategy, research, digital product design and engineering to enterprise and government clients — the closest direct local peer to Symplicit in scale, geography and service mix.
• Meld Studios: Sydney-based experience design and research consultancy focused on human-centred design for Australian enterprises, financial services and government — overlapping directly with Symplicit on service lines and customer base.
• Bendelta: Australian digital design and innovation consultancy with deep financial-services and government credentials, delivering service design, digital product design and transformation programmes — directly comparable in scale and vertical mix to Symplicit.

Broad incumbents

• Deloitte Digital (Australia): Big-Four digital design and transformation practice serving the same Australian enterprise and government clients (including major banks and federal/state agencies) with overlapping service lines in customer experience, digital product design and platform implementation.
• Accenture Song (formerly Accenture Interactive): Global experience design and digital transformation arm of Accenture competing for the same enterprise CX, digital product and platform mandates at large Australian banks, insurers and government departments that Symplicit serves.
• Fjord (Accenture): Design and innovation arm of Accenture specialised in service design and customer experience, directly overlapping with Symplicit's research, strategy and digital product design offerings at the same tier of enterprise and financial services clients.
• IDEO: Global design and innovation consultancy credited with founding much of the design thinking methodology Symplicit employs — competing for the same human-centred design, research and innovation mandates with global enterprise and government clients.
• Capgemini Invent: Global digital innovation and transformation consultancy within Capgemini, competing for Australian bank and government digital, customer experience and innovation programmes that overlap with Symplicit's core service lines.
• EY-EX (Ernst & Young Experience): Big-Four customer experience and digital transformation practice covering service design, research and digital product builds — pitching into the same Australian enterprise, financial services and public-sector accounts as Symplicit.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/symplicit
• Facebookfacebook.com/Symplicit
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/symplicit

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

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 Symplicit