What Unplugged Amsterdam does

Unplugged Amsterdam is a privately held, boutique service design and behavioral research consultancy founded in 2016 and headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The firm combines behavioral science with design thinking methodology — applying the double-diamond approach (Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype/Test) through tools such as customer and employee journey mapping, service blueprints, stakeholder and context mapping, and a proprietary Interview Canvas — to help enterprise clients design human-centered services, organizations, and brands. Its core offerings are organized around five service lines: Service Design, Behavioural Research, Exploration & Ideation, Resourcing (team augmentation), and Design Thinking workshops.

The company serves enterprise clients across diverse industries including transportation (OVpay), aviation (Schiphol), telecommunications (VodafoneZiggo), insurance (Nationale Nederlanden, Ohra, Centraal Beheer, Zilverenkruis), banking (ABN Amro), fashion and retail (PVH/Tommy Hilfiger/Calvin Klein), automotive leasing (Carnext/LeasePlan), energy (Essent), lighting (Ledvance), chemicals and manufacturing (Covestro), education (Haags Montessori Lyceum, Stichting Zaam), and health and nutrition (Amrita Nutrition). Documented outcomes include reduction of a PGB application process from 35 days to 8 days, replacement of 10 paper forms with a single digital form, an NPS score of 8.9 for Zilverenkruis, and adoption of the GROW performance management system by 50%+ of VodafoneZiggo's 4,000+ employees within one quarter of launch.

Unplugged operates a sales-led, professional services go-to-market model with custom project-based pricing negotiated through direct consultation; the firm is a member of the MakerStreet Amsterdam agency collective and maintains co-delivery partnerships with Makerlab and Elevator. The team of approximately 16 specialists includes a Managing Partner (Sanna Visser), Strategic Leads (Julia Derksen, Thijs van Campen), service designers, behavioral designers, UX and behavioral researchers, and an Operations Manager. The firm is founder-owned, with no disclosed external investment, and is currently hiring a Service Designer, indicating modest capacity expansion.

Name

Unplugged Amsterdam

Legal name

UNPLUGGED

Website

https://unplugged.amsterdam

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Unplugged Amsterdam is a boutique service design and behavioral research consultancy in Amsterdam that combines behavioral science with design thinking to help enterprise clients across industries such as telecom, aviation, insurance, banking, and retail design human-centered services and experiences.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Design Consulting Services

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (54)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Culture, Engagement & Employee Experience (EX) Consulting (BPAHAGAI)

Keywords

• Service design consulting
• Behavioral research services
• Design thinking facilitation
• Customer journey mapping
• Employee experience design

Headquarters

HQ city

Amsterdam

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Professional Services - Service Design Consulting: Bespoke consultancy engagements providing service design, behavioral research, and innovation services to enterprise clients. Projects involve co-creation with client teams, research, prototyping, and implementation support. Revenue generated through project fees based on scope, duration, and team composition.
2. Resourcing / Team Augmentation: Providing skilled design and research professionals to supplement client teams for specific projects or periods.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Unplugged Amsterdam is a service design and behavioral research consultancy that helps enterprises innovate their services, organizations, and brands by combining design thinking with behavioral science. They deliver bespoke consulting engagements including service design, behavioral research (interviews, observations, experiments), exploration and ideation, and resourcing/team augmentation for client organizations across mobility, finance, insurance, retail, healthcare, energy, and education sectors.

Product overview

Unplugged Amsterdam is a service design and behavioral research consultancy that operates as a single unified service offering rather than a software platform. Their core services include Service Design, Behavioural Research, Exploration & Ideation, Resourcing, and Design Thinking workshops. They work with clients across various industries (mobility, finance, healthcare, retail, education) applying human-centered design principles. The company also offers downloadable tools and resources such as the Interview Canvas and Design Thinking Handbook for Physical Spaces. All services are delivered through human expertise and consultancy engagements rather than software products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Service Design Human-centered service design consulting that reverses the roles between services and people, making services human, fun, and easy for customers and employees through design tools and techniques such as customer journeys, service blueprints, and stakeholder mapping. Targeted at enterprise clients seeking to redesign customer or employee experiences.
• Behavioural Research Research into both conscious and unconscious behavior of individuals or groups, conducted through interviews, observations, experiments, and participations to understand how people experience services. Targeted at enterprise clients seeking deeper customer or employee insight.
• Exploration & Ideation Innovation funnel services that explore target groups, themes, and markets to design future propositions through exploratory research and co-creation with clients. Targeted at enterprise clients seeking to fill their innovation pipeline with human-centered propositions.
• Resourcing Strategic external expertise integrated into client teams to provide fresh perspectives, accelerate projects, and unravel complex situations (team augmentation). Targeted at enterprise clients needing additional senior design or research capacity.
• Design Thinking Iterative approach to creative and innovative problem-solving centered on end-user and customer experiences, following the principles of empathize, define, ideate, and prototype & testing. Targeted at enterprise clients seeking structured human-centered problem solving.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reduced PGB application process from 35 days to 8 days
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers16 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• MakerlabcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration partner for multiple projects including Centraal Beheer, Schiphol, OVpay, and Nationale Nederlanden. Makerlab works alongside Unplugged in joint innovation teams and project delivery.
• ElevatorminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration partner for the Nationale Nederlanden project 'Carefree Elderly'. Worked alongside Unplugged and Makerlab on this innovation initiative.
• MakerStreetcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMakerStreet is an Amsterdam collective of the best agencies. Unplugged is part of this network and bundles forces with other agencies when projects require multiple types of expertise. Represents a broader ecosystem of specialized agencies.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• IDEO: IDEO is the global pioneer of human-centered design thinking and a broad incumbent in the same category. While much larger and operating across product, brand, and organizational design worldwide, it competes with Unplugged for enterprise service-design mandates and is the canonical reference for the methodology Unplugged applies.
• Designworks (BMW Group): Designworks is the design consultancy subsidiary of BMW Group, offering strategy, service design, and innovation services to external clients. As a broad incumbent with deep automotive and mobility expertise, it overlaps with Unplugged on mobility (Schiphol, OVpay-style) and enterprise CX work.
• Frog Design (frog, part of Capgemini Invent): Frog is a global design and innovation consultancy now operating as part of Capgemini Invent. It serves enterprise clients across industries with service design, product design, and digital transformation, directly competing with Unplugged in CX/EX transformation engagements at larger ACVs.

Direct peers

• Method: Method is a global design and innovation consultancy focused on experience design, brand, and digital products. It competes with Unplugged in enterprise service-design programs, especially for financial services and tech clients, though it operates at a larger scale and primarily in North America and Europe.
• Kontrapunkt: Kontrapunkt is a Nordic/Danish-based design and brand consultancy with offices in Copenhagen. While stronger in brand and visual design, it competes for enterprise CX/design budgets in Northern Europe and serves a similar mix of corporate and public-sector clients.
• Informaat: Informaat is a Dutch UX and service-design consultancy with deep enterprise experience across banking, insurance, healthcare, and government. It is one of the closest direct Dutch peers to Unplugged, competing for the same Dutch CX/EX transformation mandates and overlapping in methodology and target clients.
• Livework: Livework is a European service-design consultancy founded with origins in the UK/Netherlands that pioneered the service-design discipline. It is the closest direct competitor to Unplugged, offering service design, business design, and customer journey work to enterprise clients across financial services, public sector, and healthcare — the same verticals Unplugged serves.
• Nielsen Norman Group: NN/g is a leading UX research and training consultancy offering user research, usability, and experience design services. It overlaps with Unplugged's behavioral research and UX practice and is a frequent competitor for enterprise research-led design mandates.
• ReD Associates: ReD Associates is a strategy consultancy combining social science and behavioral research with business strategy. Its emphasis on understanding unconscious behavior and contextual research closely mirrors Unplugged's behavioral-science-led approach, and it serves similar enterprise clients in financial services, healthcare, and consumer industries.
• Lippincott: Lippincott is a brand strategy and design consultancy combining business strategy with design thinking. It serves similar enterprise clients (financial services, retail, technology) on customer experience, brand, and innovation programs, competing for the same strategic-design RFPs Unplugged targets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

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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 Unplugged Amsterdam