blink

We Believe Evidence Is Stronger Than Opinions

INNOVATIONS

OF THE WORLD

Blink is a user experience (UX) research, strategy, and design firm that works with great companies to create digital products, brands, and experiences.

With studios in Austin, Boston, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle, Blink brings two decades of experience using our evidence-driven design process to projects for amazing clients.

*Blink designers prepare materials for a concept-card session on the mezzanine of the San Diego studio. Concept cards are one way we generate a number of possible solutions to explore and test.*

We’ve been thinking about user experience for a long time and have a deep understanding of human behavior. Blink was founded in 2000 by Karen Clark Cole and Kelly Franznick, who are still involved in the company’s day-to-day operations. Karen is our CEO, and Kelly is our Chief Innovation Officer. Some of our earliest employees are still here, too. John Dirks (Chief Research Officer), Geoff Harrison (Chief Design Officer), and Heidi Adkisson (Principal Designer) were all part of Blink’s early success. Over the last two decades, we have partnered with countless industry-leading companies to solve some of the world’s toughest problems with “evidence-driven design.”

Evidence-driven design is what makes Blink different from other design firms. We believe evidence is stronger than opinions. Research helps us understand our clients’ users and evaluate solutions to determine which is best.

*Guests at a community event in our San Diego studio explore Blink’s vast portfolio, which includes work for Nike, Apple, Oculus, and HBO.*

Our 150-person team includes user experience research experts with diverse backgrounds in fields such as anthropology, cognitive science, and forestry. Our studios boast state-of-the-art user research labs and observation rooms. Blink researchers are well-versed in methodologies and best practices to uncover user needs, motivations, and context of use. Our research team also devises new methods for testing emerging technologies, such as voice-user interface (voice UI), the “internet of things” (IoT), and augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR).

Our commitment to research bolsters our design practice. The Blink design team includes interaction designers, visual designers, and motion designers. We employ any combination of these disciplines depending on the problem at hand to create experiences that reflect the brand behind them — and we are able to validate that alignment with research. We believe the experience is the brand.

*A Blink consultant parses data from a user research session. The data will be organized, analyzed, and presented as insights and recommendations.*

This state-of-the-art user research lab offers a comfortable environment for researchers and research participants. Multiple cameras capture important data, and we stream the feeds securely to our on-site observation rooms or to clients worldwide.

We work closely with our clients in a collaborative and transparent process that helps our client teams become stronger. We believe great process inspires and aligns. A collaborative, user-centered design process breaks down silos and aligns organizations. Innovative companies hire Blink to pursue new market opportunities, disrupt old industries, and solve the world’s most challenging problems. Together, we make big bets with confidence that stems from our unique process.

Blink’s combination of brand expression and user insights results in the inspired solutions we have provided to world-class clients such as Microsoft, Amazon, NASA, Kaiser Permanente, and ServiceNow for two decades.