Fresh Tilled Soil

What Fresh Tilled Soil does

Fresh Tilled Soil is a Boston-based digital product UX/UI design agency, operating since 2006 as a subsidiary of ADK Group. The firm provides professional services spanning design and UX strategy, design sprint facilitation, user experience design, user interface design, and product strategy, with a stated methodology built around a five-phase Design Sprint framework (Understand, Diverge, Converge, Prototype, Test). Client engagements typically follow a project-based model covering research, strategy, prototyping, design systems, and user testing, supported by conventional design tooling including InVision for prototyping and Sketch/Craft for design production. The firm also runs the AUX apprenticeship program, which trains early-career professionals in UX, UI, front-end development, or strategy.

The company's go-to-market is sales-led and direct, relying on website inquiries, referrals, industry recognition (Clutch rankings and Clutch 1000 inclusion), and content marketing through a company blog, Medium publication, and Product Hero podcast. Its customer base spans enterprise and mid-market clients across healthcare technology (eClinical Solutions), financial services and wealth management (Blueleaf Wealth), consumer/sports brands (Titleist), and marketing technology (OfferLogic). Fresh Tilled Soil's revenue model is professional services billable on a quote-based, project-by-project basis, with no public pricing or disclosed revenue figures. Thought leadership is reinforced by the published book 'Product Leadership' and the 'Design Sprint' guidebook co-authored by CEO Richard Banfield.

Commercially, the firm competes as a boutique in a fragmented UX/UI services market, differentiated primarily by its 17+ year operating history, structured design sprint methodology, apprenticeship-driven talent pipeline, and ADK Group parent affiliation. The business is regional (North America, USA-focused) with 11-50 employees and no disclosed external funding, M&A, or expansion into adjacent software product lines.

Name

Fresh Tilled Soil

Legal name

Fresh Tilled Soil

Website

https://freshtilledsoil.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Fresh Tilled Soil is a Boston-based digital product UX/UI design agency and ADK Group subsidiary providing design strategy, design sprint facilitation, prototyping, and product strategy services to enterprise and mid-market clients across healthcare, financial services, and consumer verticals since 2006.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Watertown

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Professional Services - UX/UI Design Consulting: Project-based consulting engagements providing UX/UI design, design strategy, design sprint facilitation, and product strategy services to enterprise and mid-market clients. Engagements include research, strategy, prototyping, design systems, and user testing deliverables.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Fresh Tilled Soil is a Boston-based digital product UX/UI design agency providing research, strategy, prototyping, and design systems services to enterprise and mid-market clients. Core engagements cover Design & UX Strategy (end-to-end website and digital product design), Design Sprint Facilitation (a five-phase framework for rapid problem validation), User Experience Design, User Interface Design, and Product Strategy including roadmapping and prioritization.

Product overview

Fresh Tilled Soil is a Boston-based digital product UX/UI design agency (an ADK Company) providing research, strategy, prototyping, and design systems services since 2006. Their service portfolio includes Design & UX Strategy (full end-to-end digital product design), Design Sprint Facilitation (a five-phase problem-solving framework), User Experience Design (encompassing rapid prototyping, information architecture, user testing, and team augmentation), User Interface Design (visual design and responsive design), Product Strategy (including roadmapping and prioritization), and the AUX apprenticeship training program for emerging UX professionals. The offerings are professional services rather than a unified software product platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• AUX (Apprenticeship in User Experience): AUX is Fresh Tilled Soil's apprenticeship program that trains early-career web professionals to become user experience experts, specializing in UI design, front-end development, or strategy.

Quantifiable outcome

• One rough calculation estimated the prototype could save one hour per day per user for eClinical Solutions data management specialists
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• ADK GroupcoreOthersFresh Tilled Soil is an ADK Company. ADK Group is the parent organization. The AUX apprenticeship program is affiliated with the broader ADK ecosystem.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• IDEO: Globally recognized design consultancy offering design strategy, UX research, and digital product design. Directly comparable in service mix (research, strategy, prototyping, design systems) and target buyer (enterprise and mid-market seeking product innovation).
• Designit: Global design and innovation consultancy offering UX/UI, design strategy, and product design for enterprise clients. Comparable in cross-vertical enterprise design work and integrated strategy-to-execution approach.
• Work & Co: Digital product agency focused on UX/UI design, prototyping, and product strategy for enterprise and consumer brands. Highly comparable in delivering research-driven, prototype-led product work and serving similar verticals.
• Huge: Digital experience agency delivering UX/UI design, product strategy, and digital transformation for large enterprise brands. Comparable in customer profile (Titleist-tier enterprise) and integrated strategy-to-design delivery model.
• frog (formerly Frog Design): Global design and innovation firm providing UX/UI, product strategy, and design sprint-style engagements for enterprise clients. Closely mirrors Fresh Tilled Soil's end-to-end digital product design and strategy offering.
• Smart Design: Product design and innovation consultancy delivering UX research, industrial design, and digital product design. Comparable in cross-disciplinary product design and enterprise engagement model.
• Cooper (Cooper Professional Education): UX design consultancy and education company offering interaction design, product strategy, and UX training. Comparable in the design strategy and UX methodology focus that Fresh Tilled Soil also emphasizes.
• Nielsen Norman Group: UX research and consulting firm providing user research, design audits, and UX training. Comparable in research-driven, thought-leadership-led positioning, though NN/g is more research- and training-focused.
• Ustwo: Digital design and product studio known for UX/UI design, design sprints, and product strategy across enterprise and consumer. Comparable in methodology (sprint-based) and studio-style operating model.

Broad incumbents

• BCG Digital Ventures: Corporate innovation and venture arm of BCG building digital products with embedded design, product, and engineering teams. Comparable in delivering sprint-based product validation and UX/UI at scale, but as part of a much larger strategy and consulting portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/freshtilledsoil
• Facebookfacebook.com/freshtilledsoil
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/fresh-tilled-soil

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 Fresh Tilled Soil