What ETU does

ETU (上海艺土界面设计有限公司, branded as ETU 体验咨询) is a privately held, Shanghai-headquartered UX consulting firm founded in 2004 that delivers data-driven experience design, digital transformation, and member growth strategy services to large and mid-large Chinese enterprises. Its core service portfolio is organized into four pillars — Digital Experience Insights & Planning, Digital Product Experience Design, Membership Operations Growth Planning, and Experience Data Application & Management — and is underpinned by four proprietary methodologies: the E.E.A.S.Y. Experience Administration System, the Rising UI/UX Design System, the Membership Loyalty Experience (MLE) framework, and a five-phase Digital Transformation Solution. ETU has accumulated 1,000+ projects and 160+ enterprise clients across financial services, logistics, automotive, retail, consumer electronics, insurance, and cultural tourism, with marquee engagements including China Merchants Bank (since 2014), OPPO, Deppon Express, Guangfa Credit Card, COSCO Shipping, Midea Group, and Tencent Games.

The company operates from five offices — Shanghai (HQ), Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Milan — and monetizes through project-based professional service engagements with enterprise clients, supplemented by training services via the ETU Experience Academy and thought leadership publishing through its content platform. Go-to-market is consultative and sales-led, driven by referrals, industry conference presence (IXDC, UXPA), and content marketing rather than self-serve product distribution; revenue is non-public and the firm has not raised external funding. Ownership is concentrated among founding partners Lin Qin (林钦) and Lin Hancheng (林汉城), with a partner-led operating model including Chief Design Officer Nick Liu (刘醒骅), Consulting Director Li Xiangyu (李享育), and regional general managers covering East China and South China.

The business model is fundamentally a knowledge-intensive professional services practice: differentiation rests on codified, brandable methodologies, multi-industry experience depth, and long-tenure enterprise relationships rather than software product economics. All offerings are delivered as consulting and design services rather than as licensable software, with the partial exception of the Rising Design System as an enterprise design platform deployed inside client organizations.

Name

ETU

Legal name

上海艺土界面设计有限公司

Website

https://etucn.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ETU is a Shanghai-headquartered UX consulting firm, founded in 2004, that delivers data-driven experience design, digital transformation, and member growth strategy services to 160+ large and mid-large Chinese enterprises across financial services, logistics, automotive, retail, and consumer electronics, using four proprietary methodologies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

UX Consulting & Experience Design

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Marketing Consulting Services (541613), Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services (5416)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Advertising Agencies (7311), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Customer Experience (CX) & Digital Experience (BPAHAEAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Enterprise Architecture & IT Operating Model (BPAHAEAB), Digital Creative & Experience Design Agencies (Web/App/UX) (MPAAAAAD)

Keywords

• UX consulting services
• Digital transformation consulting
• Customer experience management
• Experience design services
• Membership system design

Headquarters

HQ city

Changning

HQ country

China

HQ region

Asia

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. UX Consulting & Experience Design Services: ETU provides bespoke UX consulting, experience design, digital transformation, member growth system design, and experience management services to enterprise clients. Revenue is generated through project-based professional service engagements, typically long-term consulting contracts with major corporations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

ETU is a B2B data-driven UX consulting firm that delivers end-to-end enterprise experience design and digital transformation services. Its core services span digital experience insights and planning, digital product experience design (APPs, mini-programs, websites, HMI systems), membership operations growth planning, and experience data application and management. These services are underpinned by four proprietary methodologies — E.E.A.S.Y. Experience Administration System, Rising UI/UX Design System, Membership Loyalty Experience (MLE) framework, and a five-phase Digital Transformation methodology — sold as project-based consulting engagements to large enterprise clients.

Product overview

ETU is a data-driven UX consulting company offering a comprehensive suite of professional services. The core portfolio includes four integrated service pillars: Digital Experience Insights & Planning, Digital Product Experience Design, Membership Operations Growth Planning, and Experience Data Application & Management. These are underpinned by four proprietary methodologies and tools: the Rising UI/UX Design System (an intelligent enterprise design system with 500+ design components), the Digital Transformation Solution (a five-phase scenario-driven methodology), the Membership Loyalty Experience (MLE) framework (covering currency, rights, growth, and task systems), and the E.E.A.S.Y. Experience Administration System (a structured four-step experience management framework). The company also operates the ETU Experience Academy for professional training, and publishes sector-specific research reports. All offerings are professional consulting and design services delivered through client engagements rather than software-as-a-product.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• E.E.A.S.Y. ETU Experience Administration System - an innovative experience management methodology for complex product systems
• Rising Design System
• MLE
• ETU 体验学院

Products and services

• Rising UI/UX Design System (日升 UI/UX 设计系统) An intelligent, data-driven UI/UX design system offering a comprehensive component library, scenario-based design patterns, real-time data dashboards, and expert training for enterprise design teams. Used by large enterprises to standardize design across digital product portfolios.
• Digital Transformation Solution (企业数字化转型解决方案) A scenario-driven digital transformation methodology delivered as a consulting engagement. Covers five phases from situation assessment through continuous improvement, using business application scenarios as the core transformation driver. Sold to enterprises seeking structured transformation roadmaps.
• Membership Loyalty Experience (MLE) — Membership Growth System (会员成长体系) A data-driven membership system design framework combining three research mechanisms (user mental model, behavioral, lifestyle), three driving forces (price, achievement, emotion), and four systematic strategies (currency system, rights system, growth system, task system). Addresses consumer insensitivity and drives member retention.
• E.E.A.S.Y. Experience Administration System (体验管理体系) An innovative experience management framework for enterprises with complex product ecosystems. Uses dual-index 'Experience Perception Data' and 'Experience Status Data' systems plus an Experience Competency Model across four phases: Experience Diagnosis, Experience Monitoring, Process Mechanism, and Methodology Empowerment.
• Digital Experience Insights & Planning (数字体验洞察与规划) Customer experience research and planning services including user journey and persona research, product scenario studies, digital scenario diagnosis, and digital ecosystem planning to guide enterprise digital strategy.
• Digital Product Experience Design (数字产品体验设计) End-to-end digital product design covering APP, mini-program, and website redesign, B2B middle-office systems, intelligent device experience design, and brand experience design. Focus on usability, simplified operations, and user delight.
• Membership Operations Growth Planning (会员运营增长规划)

Quantifiable outcome

• 广发信用卡 '小发羊' game reached 14万 users within one month of launch
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers16 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• 4HAUS (战略合作伙伴)minorOthers4HAUS is described as a strategic partner of ETU, described as a digital marketing services company skilled at combining experience design, front-end technology, and user growth strategy. The partnership represents ETU's ecosystem of design and marketing capabilities.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• IDEO: Global pioneer of human-centered design consulting. IDEO is a broad incumbent operating across consumer, healthcare, and enterprise experience design — directly comparable to ETU's CX consulting and design system work, but at far greater scale and with global delivery capability.
• Frog (Capgemini Invent): Global design and innovation consultancy, now part of Capgemini Invent. Comparable to ETU in CX strategy and product design services, but with global delivery footprint and deeper enterprise integration through Capgemini — a direct competitor for multinational clients in China.
• Fjord (Accenture Song): Design and innovation arm of Accenture Song. Directly comparable to ETU in service design, digital product experience, and CX transformation, but with Accenture's massive delivery scale and ability to bundle implementation with strategy — competing for the same enterprise transformation budgets.
• McKinsey Digital (QuantumBlack): McKinsey's digital transformation practice. Competes with ETU on enterprise digital strategy, customer experience transformation, and member loyalty programs at the largest Chinese banks and corporates, with deeper C-suite relationships and global benchmarks.

Emerging players

• Tezign (特赞): Chinese design technology platform offering creative asset management and enterprise design tooling. Closest Chinese peer to ETU in targeting enterprise design and content operations, but with a more productized/SaaS-oriented model rather than pure consulting.

Direct peers

• EICO Design: Chinese digital product design and UX consultancy. Direct peer to ETU in mobile and enterprise UX design, serving similar financial, automotive, and consumer tech clients in China with comparable scale and methodology-driven approach.
• Livework: European service design consultancy with deep CX methodology heritage. Comparable to ETU in design system thinking, service design, and member/customer journey work, with a more international footprint and European client base.
• Huge (formerly Huge Inc.): Global digital experience agency. Comparable to ETU in digital product design, member experience platforms, and CX strategy for large enterprises (financial services, retail, automotive), operating as a similar mid-size specialist competitor.
• Method (GlobalLogic): Global experience-driven transformation consultancy, now part of GlobalLogic. Direct peer to ETU in enterprise CX design, member systems, and digital product experience, with overlapping client profiles in financial services and retail.

Regional players

• Ark Design (方舟设计): Chinese design and innovation consultancy focused on industrial design and digital experience. Direct peer to ETU in the Chinese enterprise design consulting market, with comparable boutique scale and cross-industry client base, particularly in consumer and manufacturing.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/ETUDesign2004
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/etu

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 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 ETU