Design Exchange
Design Exchange is a Singapore-based human-centred design consultancy founded in 2000, serving enterprise clients from startups to multinationals with industrial design, digital interaction, experience design, and innovation workshop services across healthcare, retail, aviation, and technology.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2000
- HeadquartersSingapore, Singapore
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Design Exchange does
Design Exchange is a Singapore-based human-centred design consultancy founded in 2000 by Timothy Hoo and Song Kee Hong. The studio operates with 1-10 employees and delivers professional design services to enterprise clients ranging from startups to multinational corporations across healthcare, medical devices, consumer electronics, retail, aviation, robotics, and technology. The firm's core service portfolio spans four disciplines: industrial design (product design, concept exploration, component configuration, and colour/material/finish studies); digital interaction design (UX framework development, workflow audit, user research, GUI design); innovation workshops (design thinking, future thinking, creative ideation); and experience design (service design, retail space design, ethnography). The methodology is research-driven and grounded in human-centred design, with proprietary frameworks refined over two decades of multinational client engagements.
Notable technical execution includes the GUI for Changi Airport T4's immigration auto gate (face recognition and boarding pass scanning, achieving 97%+ successful clearance without intervention), the HP Deskjet 9600 industrial design (iF Design Award), the Sennheiser MX-W1 earphone system (Red Dot Award), the Pictobot autonomous painting robot (Red Dot 2020), the Endofotonics Spectral G9000 cancer diagnostic system (Red Dot Best of Best 2020), and the SG Medical Imaging DBIS thermal breast cancer scanner (Red Dot Best of Best and Luminary Award 2020). The firm has accumulated over 20 international design awards including Red Dot, iF, and Japan's G-Mark.
The business model is project-based professional services delivered through direct enterprise engagement. General design services are quote-based; educational offerings are packaged as customizable workshops (8-20 hours) sold through the DesignSingapore Council Learning by Design programme partnership, with selected school projects eligible for up to $30,000 sponsorship in 2025. Operating geographies include Singapore (primary), with workshop delivery extended into Malaysia and China. The firm is privately held by its two founders with no external institutional investment, no disclosed revenue, and no funding history.
Design Exchange firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Design Exchange
- Legal name
- Design Exchange
- Website
- https://designexchange.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2000
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Design Exchange is a Singapore-based human-centred design consultancy founded in 2000, serving enterprise clients from startups to multinationals with industrial design, digital interaction, experience design, and innovation workshop services across healthcare, retail, aviation, and technology.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Design Exchange industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Industrial Design Consultancy
- NAICS
- Industrial Design Services (541420), Interior Design Services (54141)
- SIC
- Services-Engineering Services (8711)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Industrial/Product & Furniture Design (BPAHAKAM)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Exhibition, Retail & Experiential Design (BPAHAKAL), Interior Design Services (BPAHAKAB), UI/UX Engineering & Front-End Modernization (BPAEAFAH)
Keywords
Where Design Exchange is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Singapore
- HQ country
- Singapore
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices1 record
Markets served
Design Exchange business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Design Consulting Services: Professional design consulting services including industrial design, UX/UI design, experience design, and service design delivered on a project basis to enterprise clients ranging from startups to multinational corporations.
- Design Thinking Workshops: Innovation and design thinking workshop engagements offered in customizable packages (8-20 hours) for organizations seeking to apply design methodologies to business challenges. Packages include Design Thinking Onboarding, Professional Development For Educators, Design Thinking With Problem Statement, and Co-creation For School Improvement.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Design Thinking Onboarding - 8 hours |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Professional Development For Educators - 8 hours |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Design Thinking With Problem Statement - 15 hours |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Co-creation For School Improvement - 20 hours |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels3 records
Design Exchange product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Design Exchange is a Singapore-based cross-disciplinary design consultancy delivering human-centred industrial design, digital interaction (UI/UX) design, experience design, and innovation/design thinking workshop services. The firm partners with organisations from startups to multinationals to translate functional prototypes into marketable products, design intuitive user interfaces for mission-critical systems, and enable customer experience transformation across retail and healthcare sectors.
Product overview
Design Exchange is a Singapore-based design consultancy offering a comprehensive portfolio of human-centered design services spanning industrial design, digital interaction design (UI/UX), innovation workshops, and experience design. Their service offerings include Industrial Design Services (product design, concept exploration, component configuration, CMF study), Digital Interaction Design Services (workflow audit, UX framework, user research, GUI design), Innovation Workshop Services (design thinking, future thinking, creative ideation), and Experience Design Services (service design, retail space design, workflow configuration, ethnography). Their design work has resulted in multiple award-winning products for clients including the Spectral G9000 Cancer Diagnostic System, Pictobot Autonomous Painting Robot, Sennheiser MX-W1, and the SG Medical Imaging DBIS Thermal Breast Cancer Scanner. They also deliver educational workshops through the DesignSingapore Council's Learning by Design programme.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Industrial Design Services Research-driven industrial design service including product design, concept exploration, component configuration study, and colour/material/finish (CMF) study for organisations seeking differentiated products with improved user experience.
- Digital Interaction Design Services UI/UX design service covering workflow audit, UX framework development, user research and testing, and graphic user interface design to streamline and simplify user interaction, reducing learning effort and transaction time for mission-critical systems.
- Innovation Workshop Services
Quantifiable outcome
- GUI achieved 97%+ successful passenger clearance without intervention at Changi Airport T4
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Design Exchange
Customer profileNamed customers9 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Design Exchange technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability1 record
Feature5 records
Design Exchange partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- DesignSingapore Council - Learning by Design InitiativecoreDesign Exchange is a programme partner with the Learning by Design initiative by the DesignSingapore Council since its pilot phase in 2021. The initiative connects educators, parents, and industry partners to support young people for the future through design-centered programs. Selected school projects can receive up to $30,000 sponsorship from DesignSingapore for implementation in 2025.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Design Exchange competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Pentagram: Independent design consultancy delivering branding, digital, and product design across multiple disciplines. Comparable to Design Exchange in being founder-/partner-led and multi-disciplinary, though more skewed to brand and graphic design.
- Method (Design): Global experience design and innovation firm combining brand, digital, and product design. Comparable to Design Exchange in delivering end-to-end human-centred design across retail, healthcare, and digital experience.
- Whipsaw: Industrial design and UX consultancy recognised for award-winning consumer electronics and medical device design, including multiple Red Dot and iF awards. Directly comparable to Design Exchange on capability, client calibre, and award-driven positioning.
- PDMA (Product Development & Management Association services consultancies) - e.g. New Deal Design: Boutique-to-mid-sized design studio providing industrial design, UX/UI, and design strategy services to enterprise clients across consumer electronics, healthcare, and connected devices. A near-direct peer in scale and service mix to Design Exchange.
Broad incumbents
- IDEO: Global design and innovation consultancy offering human-centred design, product design, and UX services to multinational clients. Highly comparable to Design Exchange in methodology and client profile, though operating at significantly larger scale and with broader geographic reach.
- Frog Design: International design and innovation firm specialising in industrial design, digital experiences, and brand experiences for Fortune 500 clients. Overlaps directly with Design Exchange's industrial design, UX/UI, and experience design offerings.
- Continuum (now part of Accenture Song): Design and innovation consultancy delivering strategy, product design, and experience design for global enterprises. Closely comparable to Design Exchange in offering a cross-disciplinary human-centred design practice targeting large multinational clients.
Regional players
- Helmsmen Group: Singapore-headquartered experience design, branding, and digital consultancy serving regional enterprises. Closely comparable to Design Exchange's experience design and service design offerings within the same APAC geography.
- Singapore-based design consultancies - e.g. Stuck Design: Singapore-based design studio offering industrial design and product development services. Competes with Design Exchange in the same Singapore market and similar APAC enterprise segments, with comparable size and award pedigree.
Others
- Star (a Publicis company): Global experience design network that blends marketing, brand, and digital experience design at scale. Adjacent to Design Exchange's experience design work for retail and healthcare, but operates from a network model rather than a boutique studio.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat2 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Design Exchange compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance3 records
Design Exchange financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Design Exchange leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Design Exchange funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Design Exchange M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Design Exchange
What does Design Exchange do?
Design Exchange is a Singapore-based cross-disciplinary design consultancy delivering human-centred industrial design, digital interaction (UI/UX) design, experience design, and innovation/design thinking workshop services. The firm partners with organisations from startups to multinationals to translate functional prototypes into marketable products, design intuitive user interfaces for mission-critical systems, and enable customer experience transformation across retail and healthcare sectors.
Is Design Exchange a public or private company?
Design Exchange is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Design Exchange founded?
Design Exchange was founded in 2000. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Design Exchange based?
Design Exchange is headquartered in Singapore, Singapore, in the Asia region.
How does Design Exchange make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Design Consulting Services are the primary driver. The others are design Thinking Workshops.
Who are Design Exchange's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Pentagram, Method (Design), Whipsaw and PDMA (Product Development & Management Association services consultancies) - e.g. New Deal Design. Broad incumbents are IDEO, Frog Design and Continuum (now part of Accenture Song). Regional players are Helmsmen Group and Singapore-based design consultancies - e.g. Stuck Design. Star (a Publicis company) is listed as an others.
Does Design Exchange have an API?
No public API is recorded for Design Exchange.
What industry is Design Exchange in?
Design Exchange's product category is Industrial Design Consultancy. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAHAKAM, Industrial/Product & Furniture Design, with a secondary code of BPAHAKAL, Exhibition, Retail & Experiential Design. Its NAICS code is 541420 and its SIC code is 8711.