Hire the top 3% of freelance UXĀ researchers

Toptal is a marketplace for clients to find top user experience researchers from around the world. Each Toptal freelance UX research consultant is thoroughly vetted and trusted by top companies for their most critical UX research designĀ projects.

No-Risk Trial, Pay Only If Satisfied.

Trusted by leading brands andĀ startups

Hire Freelance UX Researchers

Arthur Sam Badalian

User Research Designer,Ā Sketch,Ā Adobe Photoshop,Ā Adobe Creative Suite,Ā WordPress,Ā User Experience (UX),Ā User Interface (UI),Ā UX Research,Ā Web Design,Ā Web UX Design,Ā Web UX,Ā Personas,Ā UX Strategy,Ā 

United StatesToptal Member Since November 25, 2018

Arthur is an advertising strategist with a deep passion for design-led solutions. His masterā€™s in advertising coupled with UX/UI design allows him to intuitively blend user-centric design with proof-of-concept strategies to create immersive experiences. He excels in rapidly growing, innovative organizations and enjoys solving problems rooted in research and storytelling. His aim is to help people spend less time clicking and more time doing.

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Esperanza Garcia

User Research Designer,Ā Sketch 4,Ā Figma,Ā Interface Design,Ā Principle,Ā UX Flows,Ā Web UI,Ā Wireframing,Ā UX Design,Ā UI Design,Ā Responsive,Ā UX Research,Ā Axure RP Pro,Ā 

New ZealandToptal Member Since June 20, 2018

Esperanza is an experienced UX/UI designer who has worked on a variety of projects spanning web and mobile applications for different clients and industries, including real estate and health care. She enjoys working with organizations of all sizes, from startups to enterprises and everything in between.

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Lara Chikhani

User Research Designer,Ā UX Design,Ā Wireframing,Ā UX Research,Ā Adobe Experience Design (XD),Ā Personas,Ā Ideation Workshops,Ā Usability Testing,Ā User Personas,Ā Android,Ā WordPress,Ā UX,Ā UX Strategy,Ā 

LebanonToptal Member Since July 17, 2019

In addition to 12 years of experience in UX design, Lara is an independent consultant who works with startups, agencies, and established businessesā€”helping them build better customer-centric products. She also mentors and trains university students and professionals how to apply proper UX techniques to the products they are making.

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Katrina Talley

User Research Designer,Ā Information Architecture (IA),Ā UX Strategy,Ā Sketch,Ā Web Design,Ā Interactive Design,Ā UX Research,Ā 

United StatesToptal Member Since November 16, 2015

Katrina is an innovative user experience and interaction designer with more than a decade of experience in product design for the web, desktop, mobile, and embedded applications. She creatively translates complex problems into elegant, usable solutions that exceed expectations and across devices. She approaches product design with a broad experience, a big picture focus, and a passionate user advocacy.

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Jay Oldaker

User Research Designer,Ā Sketch,Ā Product Design,Ā Responsive UI,Ā User Interviews,Ā iOS,Ā UX Design,Ā SaaS,Ā Information Architecture (IA),Ā User Experience (UX),Ā Wireframing,Ā User Interface (UI),Ā Journey Mapping,Ā 

United StatesToptal Member Since September 2, 2016

Jay is a user experience and product design veteran. For the past 16 years, he's worked on web and mobile applications, spanning healthcare, social media, entertainment, and environmental tech for venture-backed startups and Fortune 500 companies. With an extensive background in agile UX and design thinking, Jay's work has been featured in books and publications across the web.

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Lander Muruaga

User Research Designer,Ā Sketch,Ā Photoshop CC,Ā Axure RP Pro,Ā iOS,Ā Android,Ā User Experience (UX),Ā Information Architecture (IA),Ā Wireframing,Ā Usability Testing,Ā UX Specifications,Ā UX Research,Ā UX Sketching,Ā 

SpainToptal Member Since July 14, 2019

Lander is a UX design expert with over 15 years of experience helping companies conceptualize, design, and launch easy-to-use products and services through research and strategy. He works worldwide with corporations, governments, and startups helping them grow their products and services.

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James Tucker

User Research Designer,Ā Sketch,Ā Personas,Ā Adobe Illustrator,Ā UX,Ā Adobe Photoshop,Ā Prototyping,Ā UX Flows,Ā UX Research,Ā Wireframing,Ā UX Design,Ā UI Design,Ā Web App UX,Ā 

United StatesToptal Member Since May 30, 2018

James is an idea machine and master problem-solver when it comes to user interfaces. He is passionate about making users love the product because of the user's naturally intuitive adoption of the UI. James fuses cognitive science techniques with clever interaction design to create products people love.

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Zeltonique Damon

User Research Designer,Ā Adobe Experience Design (XD),Ā Sketch,Ā Adobe CC,Ā UX Research,Ā UX Prototyping,Ā User Journey Maps,Ā Low-fidelity Prototypes,Ā Sitemaps,Ā Wireframing,Ā Digital Product Design,Ā Website Redesign,Ā User Interface (UI),Ā 

South AfricaToptal Member Since March 19, 2017

Zeltonique's primary goal as a product designer is to help create awareness for inclusive design within the industry. She believes that innovative design starts and ends with understanding the users' feelings, thoughts, and challenges. With five years of experience as a design consultant, she brings deep expertise and a wide range of UX and UI design skills. Zeltonique approaches every challenge with enthusiasm.

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Mini Kim

User Research Designer,Ā Sketch,Ā OmniGraffle,Ā UX Sketching,Ā UX Strategy,Ā Usability Testing,Ā Web Usability,Ā User Interviews,Ā UX Research,Ā User Journey Maps,Ā User Flows,Ā Personas,Ā Sitemaps,Ā 

United StatesToptal Member Since July 19, 2018

Mini has worked with a diverse array of clients for over a decade in New York City. She enjoys learning about different industries and their unique challenges having worked with healthcare, finance, and technology companies amongst others. Mini believes strongly that UX is about collaboration between the business, users, and technology. In every project, she uses various UX methods and deliverables to get the best results.

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Marco Righetto

User Research Designer,Ā UX Research,Ā Product Design,Ā UI Design,Ā Information Architecture (IA),Ā UX Strategy,Ā iOS App Design,Ā 

SpainToptal Member Since December 28, 2018

Marco creates positive changes via human-centered innovation. A well-rounded designer, he's honed his skills at international consultancies (Fjord and IDEO), a boutique digital product agency (Hanzo), a data-driven startup (SumAll), and his own social good project, Streetlives. He specializes in designing products and service that drive organizational, business, and societal impact. His work has been recognized by IxDA, EYA, and Adobe.

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Trustpilot
Toptal in the press

... allows corporations to quickly assemble teams that have the right skills for specific projects.

Despite accelerating demand for coders, Toptal prides itself on almost Ivy League-level vetting.

Our clients
Building a cross-platform app to be used worldwide
Thierry Jakicevic
Building a cross-platform app to be used worldwide
Testimonials

Michael is an incredible designer, and has been a great fit for our project. He just gets it in a way that canā€™t be taught. My goal was to pay Toptal to find me a high quality designer for my project, and that is exactly what happened. It was easy. Being able to see the portfolio work on Toptalā€™s platform is what gave me the infomation I needed to choose Michael. I have nothing but good things to say about Toptal and am looking forward to using Toptal for other projects in the future.

Edward Daniel, Co-Founder

improvemygun.com

I've worked very closely with Martina for over a year and have to say she is one of the best people I have ever worked with. Instead of simply following instructions blindly, she thinks through the task at hand, becoming a thought partner to help with whatever the project may be. Besides being super talented at design, she possesses specific qualities that make her exceptional to work with given the fast paced nature of being a startup. I would definitely recommend her to anyone looking for a talented, professional designer who doesn't need much direction to hit the ground running.

Sahil Khanna, Sr. Manager, Marketing

LeanTaaS, Inc.

Darko did a great job figuring out the user architecture for our concept, which led him to produce terrific wireframes. His knowledge of usability and design was a perfect match for the outside voice we needed to help jumpstart our project. We would certainly recommend him and work with him again in the future.

Rich Danker, Founder

Prose Market

Carlos has the unique talent of blending both quantitative and qualitative research to keenly identify UX challenges and opportunities. He thinks methodically, emphatically, and holistically to produce data-driven strategies and well-executed designs. Over the past 8 years of working with fully or partially distributed teams, Carlos manages working remotely far better than anyone I've encountered because of his strong communication and presentation skills. He is the first on my list the next time I need a UX designer.

Michelle Krogmeier, Project Manager

Union Station

Rafael is an amazing designer. His aesthetic sense is spot on, and he seems to be able to anticipate our needs before we even know what they are. He's taken the time to understand both our company and our clientele, and his solutions are consistently in-line with our values, interests, and our customers' needs. He delivers on time (if not earlier), works quickly, is well organized, and very effective. He's a pleasure to work with, and we're very happy to have found him through Toptal.

Ethan Brooks, CTO

Langlotz Patent & Trademark Works, Inc.

Toptal gave us access to the best designers out there. Theyā€™re not easy to find. Those designers integrated very quickly with our existing teams. They very quickly understood our business case and the value of our solution. Toptal really allowed us to focus on building the best possible product and save a lot of time on the typical administrative pains that goes with it -- specifically, finding the best talent. Toptal designers were very responsive, always online -- and that made life very easy for us. We have ambitious goals on how to grow the application and already Toptal has been a key contributor to that success.

Thierry Jakircevic, General Manager, Digital Solutions, Bridgestone Head Office, Tokyo

Bridgestone Corporation

We had an amazing experience working with our Toptal designer. In only two weeks, we accomplished what would've taken most companies 3 months to complete. We also enjoyed working with the Toptal team to make sure we were paired up with the right designer that would fit both our company culture and working style.

Ted Blosser, Head of Sales and Customer Success

WorkRamp

Dean blew us away. He ranks right up there as one of the top five designers of the hundreds I have worked with in the past. He listened, was totally professional, and came up with a 3D rotating cube design completely on his own. We didn't even ask for it, and yet it has become the centerpiece of our app and how users engage with it right off the bat. What he produced inspired all of us at Votify, and put us on track for launch and investor funding.

Michael Lawrence, Founder & CEO

Votify LLC

How to Hire UX Researchers throughĀ Toptal

1

Talk to One of Our Industry Experts

A Toptal director of design will work with you to understand your goals, technical needs, and teamĀ dynamics.
2

Work With Hand-Selected Talent

Within days, we'll introduce you to the right UX researcher for your project. Average time to match is under 24Ā hours.
3

The Right Fit, Guaranteed

Work with your new UX researcher for a trial period (pay only if satisfied), ensuring they're the right fit before starting theĀ engagement.

FAQs

  • How are Toptal UX researchers different?

    At Toptal, we thoroughly screen our UX researchers to ensure we only match you with talent of the highest caliber. Of the more than 200,000 people who apply to join the Toptal network each year, fewer than 3% make the cut. You'll work with design experts (never generalized recruiters or HR reps) to understand your goals, technical needs, and team dynamics. The end result: expert vetted talent from our network, custom matched to fit your business needs. Start now.

  • Can I hire UX researchers in less than 48 hours through Toptal?

    Depending on availability and how fast you can progress, you could start working with a UX researcher within 48 hours of signing up. Start now.

  • What is the no-risk trial period for Toptal UX researchers?

    We make sure that each engagement between you and your UX researcher begins with a trial period of up to two weeks. This means that you have time to confirm the engagement will be successful. If you're completely satisfied with the results, we'll bill you for the time and continue the engagement for as long as you'd like. If you're not completely satisfied, you won't be billed. From there, we can either part ways, or we can provide you with another expert who may be a better fit and with whom we will begin a second, no-risk trial. Start now.

Tap Into World-Class Talent

  • Trusted Experts Only

    All of our talent are seasoned experts who ramp up quickly, readily contribute as core team members, and work with you to minimize onboarding time.

  • The Right Fit

    We have a knack for matching you with the right fit. Start working with your new hire on a no-risk trial period, paying only if satisfied.

  • Scale as Needed

    Hire in under 2 weeks and scale your team up or down as needed, no strings attached.

  • Seamless Hiring

    We handle all aspects of billing, payments, and NDAā€™s. Let us take care of the overhead while you focus on building great products.

  • Flexible Engagements

    Choose the engagement type that suits your needs ā€” hourly, part-time, or full-time ā€” with the ability to change anytime.

  • Expert Talent Matching

    Focus on your project and enjoy support from your dedicated account executive and expert talent matcher.

Featured Toptal UX Research Publications

Top UX Researchers are in HighĀ Demand.

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