User research software isn’t what it used to be. The days of insights being locked away in specialist UX research teams are fading fast, replaced by a world where product managers, designers, and even marketers are running their own usability testing, prototype validation, and user interviews. The best UX research platforms powering this shift have evolved from complex enterprise software into tools that genuinely enable teams to test with users, analyze results, and share insights faster.

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This isn’t just about better software, it’s about a fundamental transformation in how organizations make decisions. Let’s explore the top user research tools in 2025, what makes each one worth considering, and how they’re changing the research landscape.

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1. Optimal: Best End-to-End UX Research Platform

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Optimal has carved out a unique position in the UX research landscape: it’s powerful enough for enterprise teams at Netflix, HSBC, Lego, and Toyota, yet intuitive enough that anyone, product managers, designers, even marketers, can confidently run usability studies. That balance between depth and accessibility is hard to achieve, and it’s where Optimal shines.

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Unlike fragmented tool stacks, Optimal is a complete User Insights Platform that supports the full research workflow. It covers everything from study design and participant recruitment to usability testing, prototype validation, AI-assisted interviews, and a research repository. You don’t need multiple logins or wonder where your data lives, it’s all in one place.

Two recent features push the platform even further:

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• Live Site Testing: Run usability studies on your actual live product, capturing real user behavior in production environments.
  
  
• Interviews: AI-assisted analysis dramatically cuts down time-to-insight from moderated sessions, without losing the nuance that makes qualitative research valuable.

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One of Optimal’s biggest advantages is its pricing model. There are no per-seat fees, no participant caps, and no limits on the number of users. Pricing is usage-based, so anyone on your team can run a study without needing a separate license or blowing your budget. It’s a model built to support research at scale, not gate it behind permissioning.

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Reviews on G2 reflect this balance between power and ease. Users consistently highlight Optimal’s intuitive interface, responsive customer support, and fast turnaround from study to insight. Many reviewers also call out its AI-powered features, which help teams synthesize findings and communicate insights more effectively. These reviews reinforce Optimal’s position as an all-in-one platform that supports research from everyday usability checks to strategic deep dives.

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The bottom line? Optimal isn’t just a suite of user research tools. It’s a system that enables anyone in your organization to participate in user-centered decision-making, while giving researchers the advanced features they need to go deeper.

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2. UserTesting: Remote Usability Testing

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UserTesting built its reputation on one thing: remote usability testing with real-time video feedback. Watch people interact with your product, hear them think aloud, see where they get confused. It's immediate and visceral in a way that heat maps and analytics can't match.

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The platform excels at both moderated and unmoderated usability testing, with strong user panel access that enables quick turnaround. Large teams particularly appreciate how fast they can gather sentiment data across UX research studies, marketing campaigns, and product launches. If you need authentic user reactions captured on video, UserTesting delivers consistently.

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That said, reviews on G2 and Capterra note that while video feedback is excellent, teams often need to supplement UserTesting with additional tools for deeper analysis and insight management. The platform's strength is capturing reactions, though some users mention the analysis capabilities and data export features could be more robust for teams running comprehensive research programs.

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A significant consideration: UserTesting operates on a high-cost model with per-user annual fees plus additional session-based charges. This pricing structure can create unpredictable costs that escalate as your research volume grows, teams often report budget surprises when conducting longer studies or more frequent research. For organizations scaling their research practice, transparent and predictable pricing becomes increasingly important.

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3. Maze: Rapid Prototype Testing

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Maze understands that speed matters. Design teams working in agile environments don't have weeks to wait for findings, they need answers now. The platform leans into this reality with rapid prototype testing and continuous discovery research, making it particularly appealing to individual designers and small product teams.

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Its Figma integration is convenient for quick prototype tests. However, the platform's focus on speed involves trade-offs in flexibility as users note rigid question structures and limited test customization options compared to more comprehensive platforms. For straightforward usability tests, this works fine. For complex research requiring custom flows or advanced interactions, the constraints become more apparent.

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User feedback suggests Maze excels at directional insights and quick design validation. However, researchers looking for deep qualitative analysis or longitudinal studies may find the platform limited. As one G2 reviewer noted, "perfect for quick design validation, less so for strategic research." The reporting tends toward surface-level metrics rather than the layered, strategic insights enterprise teams often need for major product decisions.

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For teams scaling their research practice, some considerations emerge. Lower-tier plans limit the number of studies you can run per month, and full access to card sorting, tree testing, and advanced prototype testing requires higher-tier plans. For teams running continuous research or multiple studies weekly, these study caps and feature gates can become restrictive. Users also report prototype stability issues, particularly on mobile devices and with complex design systems, which can disrupt testing sessions. Originally built for individual designers, Maze works well for smaller teams but may lack the enterprise features, security protocols, and dedicated support that large organizations require for comprehensive research programs.

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4. Dovetail: Research Centralization Hub

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Dovetail has positioned itself as the research repository and analysis platform that helps teams make sense of their growing body of insights. Rather than conducting tests directly, Dovetail shines as a centralization hub where research from various sources can be tagged, analyzed, and shared across the organization. Its collaboration features ensure that insights don't get buried in individual files but become organizational knowledge.

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Many teams use Dovetail alongside testing platforms like Optimal, creating a powerful combination where studies are conducted in dedicated research tools and then synthesized in Dovetail's collaborative environment. For organizations struggling with insight fragmentation or research accessibility, Dovetail offers a compelling solution to ensure research actually influences decisions.

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6. Lookback: Moderated User Interviews

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Lookback specializes in moderated user interviews and remote testing, offering a clean, focused interface that stays out of the way of genuine human conversation. The platform is designed specifically for qualitative UX work, where the goal is deep understanding rather than statistical significance. Its streamlined approach to session recording and collaboration makes it easy for teams to conduct and share interview findings.

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For researchers who prioritize depth over breadth and want a tool that facilitates genuine conversation without overwhelming complexity, Lookback delivers a refined experience. It's particularly popular among UX researchers who spend significant time in one-on-one sessions and value tools that respect the craft of qualitative inquiry.

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7. Lyssna: Quick and lite design feedback

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Lyssna (formerly UsabilityHub) positions itself as a straightforward, budget-friendly option for teams needing quick feedback on designs. The platform emphasizes simplicity and fast turnaround, making it accessible for smaller teams or those just starting their research practice.

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The interface is deliberately simple, which reduces the learning curve for new users. For basic preference tests, first-click tests, and simple prototype validation, Lyssna's streamlined approach gets you answers quickly without overwhelming complexity.

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However, this simplicity involves significant trade-offs. The platform operates primarily as a self-service testing tool rather than a comprehensive research platform. Teams report that Lyssna lacks AI-powered analysis, you're working with raw data and manual interpretation rather than automated insight generation. The participant panel is notably smaller (around 530,000 participants) with limited geographic reach compared to enterprise platforms, and users mention quality control issues where participants don't consistently match requested criteria.

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For organizations scaling beyond basic validation, the limitations become more apparent. There's no managed recruitment service for complex targeting needs, no enterprise security certifications, and limited support infrastructure. The reporting stays at a basic metrics level without the layered analysis or strategic insights that inform major product decisions. Lyssna works well for simple, low-stakes testing on limited budgets, but teams with strategic research needs, global requirements, or quality-critical studies typically require more robust capabilities.

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Emerging Trends in User Research for 2025

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The UX and user research industry is shifting in important ways:

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Live environment usability testing is growing. Insights from real users on live sites are proving more reliable than artificial prototype studies. Optimal is leading this shift with dedicated Live Site Testing capabilities that capture authentic behavior where it matters most.

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AI-powered research tools are finally delivering on their promise, speeding up analysis while preserving depth. The best implementations, like Optimal's Interviews, handle time-consuming synthesis without losing the nuanced context that makes qualitative research valuable.

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Research democratization means UX research is no longer locked in specialist teams. Product managers, designers, and marketers are now empowered to run studies. This doesn't replace research expertise; it amplifies it by letting specialists focus on complex strategic questions while teams self-serve for straightforward validation.

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Inclusive, global recruitment is now non-negotiable. Platforms that support accessibility testing and global participant diversity are gaining serious traction. Understanding users across geographies, abilities, and contexts has moved from nice-to-have to essential for building products that truly serve everyone.

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How to Choose the Right Platform for Your Team

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Forget feature checklists. Instead, ask:

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Do you need qualitative vs. quantitative UX research? Some platforms excel at one, while others like Optimal provide robust capabilities for both within a single workflow.

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Will non-researchers be running studies (making ease of use critical)? If this is your goal, prioritize intuitive interfaces that don't require extensive training.

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Do you need global user panels, compliance features, or AI-powered analysis? Consider whether your industry requires specific certifications or if AI-assisted synthesis would meaningfully accelerate your workflow.

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How important is integration with Figma, Slack, Jira, or Notion? The best platform fits naturally into your existing stack, reducing friction and increasing adoption across teams.

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Most importantly, the best platform is the one your team will actually use. Trial multiple options, involve stakeholders from different disciplines, and evaluate not just features but how well each tool fits your team's natural workflow.

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The Bottom Line: Powering Better Decisions Through Research

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Each of these platforms brings strengths. But Optimal stands out for a rare combination: end-to-end research capabilities, AI-powered insights, and usability testing at scale in an all-in-one interface designed for all teams, not just specialists.

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With the additions of Live Site Testing capturing authentic user behavior in production environments and Interviews delivering rapid qualitative synthesis, Optimal helps teams make faster, better product decisions. The platform removes the friction that typically prevents research from influencing decisions, whether you're running quick usability tests or comprehensive mixed-methods studies.

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The right UX research platform doesn't just collect data. It ensures user insights shape every product decision your team makes, building experiences that genuinely serve the people using them. That's the transformation happening at the moment; Research is becoming central to how we build, not an afterthought.

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At Optimal Workshop, we've always prided ourselves on being pioneers in the field of UX research tools. Since our inception, we've been the go-to platform for UX researchers and designers looking to conduct card sorting, tree testing, and other critical user research activities. Our tools have helped shape the digital experiences of some of the world's leading companies.

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The digital landscape is ever-changing, and with it, the needs of the professionals who create and optimize digital experiences. As we've grown and evolved alongside the industry, we've recognized the need to expand our reach and refine our value proposition to better serve not just UX researchers, but all professionals involved in delivering exceptional digital experiences.

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That's why we're excited to announce a significant brand refresh and value pivot for Optimal Workshop. This evolution isn't just about a new coat of paint – it's a fundamental shift in how we position ourselves and the value we provide to our users and the broader digital experience community.

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Why fix it if it ain’t broke? 💔🔨

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Expanding Our User Base

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While we've built a strong reputation among UX researchers, we've recognized that there's a broader audience of professionals who benefit from our tools and expertise. Product managers, marketers, customer experience specialists, and others involved in shaping digital experiences often lack access to professional-grade user research tools or the knowledge to effectively implement them.

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Our brand refresh aims to make Optimal Workshop more accessible and relevant to this wider circle of professionals, without losing the deep respect we've earned from UX experts.

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Adapting to market changes

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The UX research landscape has evolved significantly since we first entered the market. With the proliferation of prototyping tools and the increasing speed of digital product development, there's been a shift away from extensive upfront research. However, we firmly believe that incorporating the voice of the customer throughout the development process is more critical than ever.

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Our pivot allows us to emphasize the importance of integrating user research and insights at various stages of the digital experience lifecycle, not just during initial design phases.

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Leveraging our expertise

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As pioneers in the field, we have accumulated a wealth of knowledge about best practices in UX research and digital experience optimization. Our brand refresh positions us not just as a tool provider, but as a trusted partner and thought leader in the industry. We're doubling down on our commitment to sharing knowledge, standardizing best practices, and elevating the work of exceptional practitioners in the field.

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Meeting evolving business needs through effective UX

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The UX industry is evolving rapidly, with increasing investment and a diverse range of roles getting involved. From junior designers leveraging AI to seasoned researchers with deep expertise, the landscape is rich with talent and tools. However, the true value lies in how effectively these resources translate into business outcomes.

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Optimal Workshop recognizes that exceptional digital experiences are no longer just nice-to-have – they're critical for engagement, conversion, and overall business success. Our tools bridge the gap between UX insights and tangible ROI by:

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• Democratizing research: Enabling teams across experience levels to gather valuable user data quickly and efficiently.
• Accelerating decision-making: Providing fast, actionable insights that reduce design iterations and time-to-market.
• Enhancing team effectiveness: Facilitating collaboration and knowledge sharing between junior and senior team members.
• Driving business value: Directly linking UX improvements to key performance indicators and bottom-line results.

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In a landscape where basic UX practices are becoming table stakes, Optimal Workshop empowers organizations to go beyond the basics. We help teams leverage the full spectrum of UX expertise – from AI-assisted analysis to seasoned human insight – to create digital experiences that truly set businesses apart and deliver measurable returns on UX investment.

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What's changing at Optimal Workshop 🐛🦋

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1. Best-in-class research & insights platform

While our core tools remain a critical part of our offering, we're broadening our focus to position Optimal Workshop as a best-in-class research & insights platform for digital experience professionals. This means developing new tools, workflows, and integrations that cater to a wider range of use cases and user types.

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2. Accessibility without compromise

We're committed to making our professional-grade tools more accessible to a broader audience without sacrificing the depth and rigor that our expert users expect. This means developing new onboarding experiences, creating more intuitive interfaces, and providing educational resources to help users at all levels get the most out of our platform.

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3. Championing best practices

As part of our evolution, we're placing a greater emphasis on identifying, sharing, and standardizing best practices in digital experience research and optimization. Through case studies, partnerships with industry leaders, and our own thought leadership content, we aim to elevate the entire field of digital experience design.

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4. Fostering a community of excellence

We're doubling down on our commitment to building and nurturing a community of digital experience professionals. This includes expanding our educational offerings, hosting more events and webinars, and creating opportunities for our users to connect and learn from each other. 

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5. Emphasizing outcomes and ROI

We're aligning our messaging and product development with the real-world impact our users are seeking. That’s why the new names for our tools emphasize what each tool helps you achieve, rather than the technical methodology behind it. This outcome-focused approach helps users quickly identify which tool is right for their specific needs.

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How our evolution benefits you 🚀

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For our long-time users, rest assured that the tools and features you know and love aren't going anywhere, but their names are changing to plain English terms to be more approachable for professionals who may not have a background in UX research. In fact, our UXR platform is only going to get better as we invest in improvements and new capabilities. You'll also benefit from an expanded community of practitioners and a wealth of new resources to help you continue to grow and excel in your field.

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For professionals who may be new to Optimal Workshop or to formalized user research in general, our refresh means it's easier than ever to get started with professional-grade tools and methodologies. We're here to support you at every step, from your first card sort to building a comprehensive, data-driven approach to optimizing digital experiences.

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Join us in shaping tomorrow's digital experiences 🌟

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This brand refresh and value pivot mark an exciting new chapter for Optimal Workshop. We're committed to continuing our tradition of excellence while expanding our reach and impact in the world of digital experiences.

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As we move forward, we'll be rolling out new features, resources, and initiatives that align with our refreshed brand and value proposition. We're excited to partner with our users – both new and long-standing – to push the boundaries of what's possible in creating truly exceptional digital experiences.

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Thank you for being part of the Optimal Workshop community. Whether you're a UX research veteran or just starting your journey in optimizing digital experiences, we're here to support you with the best tools, knowledge, and community in the industry. Together, we can shape the future of digital experiences and make the online world more intuitive, efficient, and enjoyable for everyone.

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Onwards and upwards,

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Alex Burke, CEO Optimal Workshop

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I started at Optimal Workshop as CEO over a decade ago and in that time I have seen this company grow from humble beginnings in Wellington, into a globally recognized leader in the UX tools industry, with hundreds of thousands of users from some of the world’s most recognized brands. I am proud to have built an organization that is primed for the future. One that values its people, cares for its product, and loves its customers. 

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It’s been an incredible journey, but with growth comes change, and so, after 14 years, I’ve decided it’s time for me to step down. This has been an incredibly hard decision because I am still (and always will be) very excited about the future for Optimal Workshop. The momentum, creativity, and innovation that is flowing within the team assure me that the best is absolutely yet to come. Nonetheless, I feel that my part is now played and I’ve got another baby on the way. I’m very much looking forward to spending more time with family and friends while I take a break.

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I’d like to sincerely thank everyone who has been a part of this incredible journey, whether by advising, supplying, introducing, challenging, listening to or working, thinking and dreaming with me in my time here. Together, we've seen a tiny company flourish into a vibrant, resilient, and thriving organization on a shared mission to reinvent information architecture and help our customers create better experiences for everyone.

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Moving forward, we’re incredibly lucky that our original founder, Sam Ng has recently rejoined our board and it feels like we’ve come full circle and are ready for a new chapter with fresh leadership who are ready and empowered to focus on innovation and long-term growth. To that end, I am also thrilled to announce that Meiken Bassant now joins me as co-CEO for the next few weeks, and will step into an Acting CEO role once I leave. Her dedication, clarity, and ability to lead make her the perfect choice for this transition. I’ve never had more confidence in Optimal Workshop’s leadership, in all our people, and in our product, than I do today.

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I'll be at Optimal Workshop for a little while longer and welcome any conversations or thoughts you may wish to share with me, before and after that time of course.

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Thank you again to everyone who reads this, you’ve helped me more than you know and I appreciate it.

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With endless gratitude, 

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Andrew Mayfield 

Optimal Workshop, a leading provider of User Research and Information Architecture tools, is pleased to announce the appointment of Anne Ting to its board of directors. Ting, who is currently the Chief Design Officer at Totango, brings a wealth of expertise in design and user experience to the Optimal Workshop team.

“We’re so excited to have Anne join our board,” said Andrew Mayfield, CEO of Optimal Workshop. “We are confident that she will make a significant contribution to the company's future success and that her unique perspective will be instrumental in shaping the company's culture and values.”

Ting has over 20 years of experience in marketing, operations and design. At Totango, she is responsible for leading go-to-market, research, and user experience across web, product, and the entire customer journey. Prior to joining Totango, Ting held senior roles at several technology companies, including Unity and Wishlife, where she was responsible for operations, growth and customer success. 

"I am thrilled to join the board of directors for Optimal Workshop. The company is dedicated to empowering designers and researchers around the world to create better digital experiences, and I look forward to contributing my expertise to help drive their mission forward," said Anne Ting, Chief Design Officer at Totango.

About Optimal Workshop

Optimal Workshop is a user research platform that gathers fast, actionable insights necessary for understanding user needs and making informed decisions. Our superior analysis tools, testing methods and participant recruitment options increase efficiency and empower teams to deliver customer focused solutions. Our products have created value for a diverse range of roles including UX designers and researchers, content strategists, information architects, and more. Learn more about how we can help you create better user experiences today!

There are over 5000 certified B Corporations around the world, including new recruit, New Zealand based SaaS company, Optimal Workshop.  The ‘B’ in B Corp actually stands for ‘beneficial’, to reflect the founding vision behind the movement: ‘make business a force for good’.   B Corp seeks to help companies balance purpose and profit, while also serving stakeholders by building a global community of like-minded organizations. We asked Andrew Mayfield, CEO and Julie Reddish, Head of People and Culture at Optimal Workshop about becoming a B Corp, the journey so far and why it’s so important.

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Why did Optimal decide to become a B Corp?

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Andrew: I’ve been interested in aligning our reporting with our purpose and values for years, so becoming a B Corp felt like a huge and natural step in this direction. Our ethos of placing people at the heart of decisions extends to the way we treat our own people, not just our customers.  So I saw B Corp as a way of enshrining this thinking into the company and making sure these aspects were considered in future decision making.  

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Sounds as if being a B Corp was already in line with your thinking.  What’s it mean in terms of action?  

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Julie: One of the things we’ve always cared about is ‘how do we show our real commitment to people, to the environment, to sustainability, to doing ethical good work?’ Finding out B Corp existed as this global initiative, this reputable, recognized way of measuring yourself against other companies was compelling.  It was a way for us to metrify or codify ‘the optimal way’ of doing things in a way that does good as a company and does good in the world.  

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Andrew: Practically it means writing up more policies to ensure the things we do for the good of our people and the planet, which we consider normal are actually written down and therefore, in effect, protected. Our Code of Ethics and Business Conduct, Whistleblower policy, Breast feeding and support policy and Environmental sustainability policy are some that spring to mind.

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Tell me about the actual journey to becoming a B Corp - what’s it been like?

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Julie: Oh my gosh - it’s been a big project.  Little did we know how much work it would take to get accredited!  It requires six different categories of certification which have, like 50 or 60 questions or areas you can gain points in and you need a minimum of 80 points to get certification.  A lot of the questions weren’t really applicable to us so we really had to look closely and think, ‘what is there already that we do inside Optimal that actually equates to saying yes to that question?’ We had an awful lot of thinking to do about which questions to put our time and our money into.  

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Andrew:  There were a lot of things we did that weren’t fully documented, that was the hard part. We didn’t have to change much of our actual behavior to be honest.  We have been for years looking at a people-centered approach - our three values are Approachable, Bold and Curious. We had to write things down, make sure they were where people could find them.  There wasn’t a lot we had to change to get our entrance score as such. If we want to continually improve each year then we will need to make continual changes for sure, like anyone trying to self improve.

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Julie:  We thought we were quite close, then there was this massive surge of interest and eight months to even see a consultant, then another six months before the verification process even started.  

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That’s when the rubber really hit the road.  We were working away on different bits of the B Corp certification like there’s one for having an office set up for breastfeeding.  Do you have a lockable door? Do you have a place that is private? Does everyone know? Is it communicated? Do you have a policy on breastfeeding? You had to look at each of those things and make sure that you could back it up with evidence.  And that might be worth 0.2 points.  

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Sounds like a detailed and rigorous journey - but also quite meaningful and actionable?

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Julie: We already had thoughts on what we could do to make our organization great like sourcing local produce and local suppliers but the process of becoming a B Corp really flushed it out for us.  Some of the suggestions and categories were things we were already looking at within the bigger picture of being a good employer and being a good contributor to our communities. Going through the assessment helped us identify a whole other layer of things that we could and should be doing.

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Beyond measuring female representation, what else could we be doing for diversity?  What about our indigenous representation? What could we be doing for people with disabilities?  It got us into deeper thinking about what diversity actually means. It’s pretty amazing.

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What does being a B Corp mean for your employees?

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Julie:  As an employer it’s reaffirming a commitment to treating people well and human-centered work practices.  So the real nuts and bolts come down to individuals thinking how might I get involved with this:  If I see something I don’t feel is right I call it out.  I can also advocate for what is right.

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Andrew:  More and more I think people are interested in working for companies that care for more than simply enriching their shareholders, that care about taking care of their team and of their environment and of their impact more broadly, of the change they seek to make on society, knowledge-sharing and all this sort of thing.  People are more aware of considering this on choice of where to work, where to stay and just generally where to spend their time.  We all have scarce time these days and strong choices to make and it does play into where people choose to work.

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Does this extend to customers?  What impact, if any, does being a B Corp mean for them?

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Andrew:  B Corp certainly takes into consideration who you choose to use as suppliers so it becomes a bit recursive in that way. If our customers value the fact we’re a B Corp then they need to be thinking about choosing suppliers who are also B Corps - so it would gradually happen over time I’d imagine. 

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Julie: It’s about thoughtful practices.  Not just following trends. It’s about what works, not what’s popular. 

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What’s it feel like to be part of this global community called B Corp?

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Julie:  I think it's a really cool company to be in.  To share our thinking, to share policies and resources with somebody who’s traveled that road before us, with its dragons and potholes, to actually follow in someone’s footsteps, but also make it our own ‘Optimal’ way.  

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Andrew: Being part of a community of B Corps supporting each other with new ways to manage these obligations we choose to put on ourselves to be better corporate citizens as such is valuable.  While there’s no desire to make it hard, sometimes it is hard to make sure you’re doing the right thing.  It requires extra research and extra conscientiousness when making decisions so sharing ideas and experiences.  Feeling like you’re not the only one who’s been there can help.

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Becoming a B Corp is quite an achievement however the work doesn’t stop there does it?

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Andrew: My understanding is the requirements get harder and that’s a good thing.  We can all get better.  The biggest areas for us to improve are things like sharing information in decision-making, we’re already pretty transparent but haven’t formalized that so there are things we can do there.  

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The next checkpoint is in three years and we’re expected to improve plus the requirements get more onerous - so we’d better improve!

From left: Andrew Mayfield(CEO), Ben O'Grady(CFO), Seth Strumph(CTO), Meiken Bassant(COO)

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FEB 8TH, 2022,  WELLINGTON NZ:  Optimal Workshop, a world leader in information architecture (IA) and digital user experience software, today announced a NZ$10 million investment by New Zealand private equity firm, Pioneer Capital.

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It’s the first investment for Optimal Workshop, a New Zealand company with a deep-rooted history of challenging the status quo within the global user research industry.  It pioneered some of the most widely used tools used in the growing field of information architecture (IA), including its card sorting and tree testing tools, used in over a hundred countries by some of the world’s best known brands including Uber, IBM and General Electric.

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“We are obsessed with providing better digital experiences for all,'' says Optimal Workshop CEO, Andrew Mayfield.  “In a world of complexity, we’re helping remove complications, needless confusion, and frustration through a quality product the world actually needs.  This investment is a really important step in our journey to democratise information architecture and go faster and further.”

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To date, Optimal Workshop has successfully grown organically over the past 14 years, while maintaining profitability.  

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In addition to its investment, Pioneer Capital has acquired a majority shareholding from Optimal Workshop’s founding shareholders, including a presence on the board. 

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Shayne Shepherd, Investment Director at Pioneer Capital, says the investment will support Optimal Workshop’s goal of improving the digital world around us, so more people have better experiences online.

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“So much of the internet today has Optimal Workshop’s fingerprints on it, and demand in the user experience world is more pressing than it’s ever been. This investment gives Optimal Workshop additional resources to build and innovate, while still delivering exceptional services every day for its customers,” said Shepherd. “We are very excited to have the opportunity to partner with Andrew and the team for this next phase of growth.”

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To support its product development and international growth aspirations, Optimal Workshop is looking to increase staff numbers by 50% in 2022.

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‘For me, it’s always been about creating a work environment we all want to be in, ' says Mayfield. Where curiosity is celebrated, boldness and accountability encouraged and things like office dogs, obsessive recycling, and spontaneous lunch trains are just part of who we are. I’m thankful to the smart, savvy team at Optimal Workshop for helping me build a company worth believing in and can’t wait to see how far we can go, now we have Pioneer Capital on board.”

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Kirsty Traill, who has been appointed Optimal Workshop chairperson, has wide-ranging leadership experience in some of the world’s top technology brands, and works with a number of Venture Capital and Private Equity firms advising their portfolio companies, as well as holding several Board positions.

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“I am delighted to be joining the Board of Optimal Workshop as Chair, and have been impressed by Optimal Workshop’s great growth trajectory, strong leadership team, and exceptional customer focus.  With this investment from Pioneer Capital, I truly believe Optimal Workshop is poised to really transform the way the world navigates online, and am honoured to be a part of the journey’s next phase,” said Traill.

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Find out more about the story behind Optimal Workshop's investment in our blog