Dovetailed

What Dovetailed does

Dovetailed is a Cambridge, UK-based UX design studio and innovation lab founded in 2011 by Dr. Vaiva Kalnikaitė. The firm operates with a small (1-10 person) multidisciplinary team drawn from Apple, Sony, and academic research backgrounds, and serves enterprise clients across software, hardware, utilities, academia, and neurotechnology. Named engagements include multi-year work with AVEVA (industrial software), Amazon, Microsoft, Beko, Anglian Water, Cambridge Cognition, and Secondmind, covering both digital and physical product experiences.

The studio's core offering is human-centered UX research, design, and evaluation delivered as project-based consulting, increasingly with a specialization in user experience for AI-driven products through its "Eye to AI" service and the Trajectories sentiment-analysis methodology. Alongside client work, Dovetailed runs an internal innovation lab that has produced patented consumer-facing IP including the nūfood 3D food printer, the TimeRipple time-perception app, and the Clean Tap / Kiwi-Covid-Ring inventions. The Business Chatter program, launched in 2020, functions as a community-led marketing and lead-generation channel targeting startups alongside enterprise sales.

Dovetailed is privately held, bootstrapped, and has not disclosed any external funding rounds. Its go-to-market combines direct enterprise sales (anchored by long engagements such as the AVEVA global UX practice) with the Business Chatter community channel and selective US-market reach via a Seattle-based team member. Revenue model is services-led, with IP licensing or productization of lab inventions as a secondary, less-mature revenue line.

Name

Dovetailed

Legal name

Dovetailed

Website

https://dovetailed.co

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Dovetailed is a Cambridge, UK-based UX design studio and innovation lab founded in 2011 that delivers human-centered research, design, and AI-UX evaluation services to enterprise clients including Microsoft, Amazon, and AVEVA, and holds patents on consumer inventions such as the nūfood 3D food printer.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

UX Design Services

NAICS

Graphic Design Services (54143), Industrial Design Services (54142), Computer Systems Design Services (541512)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Creative & Experience Design Agencies (Web/App/UX) (MPAAAAAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Enterprise Application UX, Portals & Low-Code Extensions (BPAEAGAM), Customer Experience (CX) & Digital Experience (BPAHAEAC)

Keywords

• UX design services
• User experience research
• Behavioural science design
• UI design studio
• UX research consultancy

Headquarters

HQ city

Cambridge

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. UX Design and Research Professional Services: Project-based client engagements involving UX research, UX design, UI design, user journey development, prototyping, and consultancy services for enterprise and institutional clients across digital and physical product domains.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Dovetailed is a UX design studio and innovation lab that provides professional UX research, UX design, UI design, and idea generation services to enterprise and institutional clients across digital and physical product domains. The studio has invented and patented proprietary products including the nüfood 3D Food Printer, the TimeRipple focus app, and the Clean Tap behaviour change kit, combining behavioural science and human-computer interaction research with design practice.

Product overview

Dovetailed is a UX design studio offering a portfolio of professional services organized around four core capabilities: UX Research, UX Design, UI Design, and Idea Generation Workshops. In addition to their service offerings, Dovetailed has developed their own proprietary product line, most notably the nūfood 3D Food Printer (world's first liquid-based 3D food printer) and its companion mobile app. The company also offers specialized AI-related services through their 'Eye to AI' offering and AI UX research practice. Dovetailed works across diverse sectors including healthcare, finance, technology, energy, and consumer products, delivering client-specific solutions such as cognitive testing portals, risk analysis platforms, accounting software redesigns, and connected kitchen concepts. They also created standalone products including the Clean Tap behaviour change kit and the TimeRipple focus improvement app.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• nūfood: World's first liquid-based 3D food printer invented by Dovetailed, creating personalized edible sweet and savoury flavour bursts in various shapes, flavours and colours on-demand.

Products and services

• UX Research

Quantifiable outcome

• 92% of Clean Tap participants said they will clean their tap more regularly; 100% said the Clean Tap pack changed their tap cleaning habits
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Microsoft Research Lab CambridgecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDovetailed partnered with Microsoft Research Lab Cambridge to adapt and tailor their existing SharePoint platform into a central online space for world-leading researchers, improving internal communication and efficiency across the Cambridge site. Dovetailed conducted user research, designed user journeys, and delivered a new SharePoint site tailored to the research community.
• AmazoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDovetailed partnered with Amazon's Cambridge team to create 'Emotional Garnish' at the Trajectories event in March 2019 — a personalised cocktail experience using AI to analyse guests' tweets and 3D print flavour-tuned garnishes. The event was a huge success leading to planning of a future event.
• SecondmindcoreTechnology or IntegrationSecondmind, developer of the world's first principled AI platform for generalised decision-making, engaged Dovetailed for comprehensive user research on how humans might interact with AI-based systems. Dovetailed conducted interviews with 15 participants across five strategically important industries, developed personas and visionary user journeys, and shaped Secondmind's vision for AI user-experience design.
• Cambridge CognitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDovetailed redesigned Cambridge Cognition's cognitive testing portal to improve retention and completion rates for their globally-used cognitive test suite. The work included heuristic evaluation, observational research, co-creation sessions, iterative prototyping, and usability testing. Following positive results, Cambridge Cognition rolled out Dovetailed's designs as part of an updated product offering.
• Cambridge University Centre for Risk StudiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDovetailed created a Risk Analysis Portal for Cambridge University Centre for Risk Studies — an independent launchpad for their new service targeting risk assessors and risk managers in large corporations. Dovetailed delivered iterative design sprints, user personas and journeys, wireframes, and high-fidelity final designs now live and engaging prospective clients.
• AVEVAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDovetailed led new idea generation, user research, and UX design for AVEVA's Everything3D™ (E3D) flagship product and peripheral products over a five-year engagement. Dovetailed established UX practice and principles across all AVEVA branches globally, implemented UX strategy, conducted global user research studies, designed cutting-edge interactions and UI in an agile environment, and helped AVEVA recruit and manage internal UX resource. Key innovations include the PowerWheel™.
• BekocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDovetailed partnered with Beko to facilitate ideation and develop a connected kitchen prototype, including a smart fridge concept. The engagement involved consumer and technology trends analysis, ideation workshops, in-situ user research with eight families, prototyping, and UI development. The smart fridge prototype was demonstrated at IFA 2017 and put forwards for future product design by Beko.
• Anglian WatercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDovetailed partnered with Anglian Water to develop the Clean Tap behaviour change programme applying nudge theory to improve water quality at consumers' taps. Dovetailed designed a bespoke tap-cleaning kit with engaging visual materials. Results: 92% of participants said they will clean their tap more regularly; 100% said it changed their cleaning habits. Anglian Water is scaling up the programme for wider implementation.
• Green Energy Options (GEO)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDovetailed partnered with Green Energy Options to create a vision for how consumers will interact with energy in the future (solar panels, batteries, electric vehicles). Work included trend analysis, unmet needs identification, wireframing, and an interactive app prototype showcased at European Utility Week 2017.
• FactmataminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDovetailed optimised the structure and design of Factmata's public opinion analysis tool that helps identify trusted, unbiased news sources by analysing factuality and bias. Dovetailed divided the user base into personas, created specialised UIs for each persona group, and delivered a scalable design system.
• Microsoft (Build 2016)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerDovetailed's AVEVA UX work was demonstrated at Microsoft Build 2016, providing high-visibility exposure for Dovetailed's capabilities in complex domain UX design.
• Break CharityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDovetailed worked with Turtle Dove on wellbeing package design in collaboration with Break Charity, helping unify the design of resources sent to young women during the first COVID-19 lockdown.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Ustwo: Boutique digital product studio combining UX research, design, and software engineering for enterprise clients. Comparable in size, methodology, and project-based professional services model to Dovetailed.
• Huge: Global experience agency offering UX research, design, and product strategy across digital and physical domains. Comparable in offering breadth and enterprise client focus, though at significantly larger scale than Dovetailed.
• Work & Co: Digital product studio delivering design, engineering, and strategy for enterprise clients. Similar in being a tightly-knit product/design team doing bespoke work for high-profile brands, comparable to Dovetailed's Microsoft/Amazon-tier client roster.
• IDEO: Pioneering global design and innovation consultancy combining behavioural research, human-centred design, and prototyping. Directly comparable to Dovetailed in methodology (research-led design) and customer base (large enterprises), though at far greater scale.
• Frog Design (Capgemini Engineering): Global design and innovation firm specialising in product, brand, and experience design for major enterprises. Closely comparable to Dovetailed's UX research/design offering, particularly for complex industrial and technology clients like AVEVA.
• Method (GlobalLogic): Design and technology consultancy focused on experience-led digital product design. Closely comparable to Dovetailed in combining UX research, design, and engineering for enterprise clients.

Broad incumbents

• Fjord (Accenture): Large-scale design and innovation consultancy within Accenture Interactive. Overlaps with Dovetailed on UX design, research, and service design for enterprise and technology clients, but operates at vastly greater scale and as part of a broader portfolio.
• McKinsey Design (McKinsey & Company): Design capability within McKinsey offering human-centred design at enterprise scale. Overlaps with Dovetailed on complex-domain UX and innovation projects for large corporates, but with vastly broader consulting resources.

Emerging players

• RabbleLabs: Boutique UX research and design studio focused on AI, behavioural science, and complex product UX. Closely comparable to Dovetailed's evidence-based design methodology and emerging AI UX practice.
• Blue Yonder Innovation: Innovation and UX consultancy working with enterprise clients on behavioural-science-led product and experience design. Comparable to Dovetailed's behavioural science approach and boutique engagement model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Dovetailed_UX
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/dovetailed
• Instagraminstagram.com/dovetailed_ux

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 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 Dovetailed