Question 1

What kinds of organizations and industries does Ideate work with?

Accepted Answer

We work with organizations at very different stages and scales, from startups building their first product to banks, large enterprises, governments and international development organizations tackling complex systems. Our strongest experience is in fintech and banking, financial inclusion, healthcare, public services, startups and emerging AI products. Across these sectors, we tend to be most useful when the problem involves complex user needs, multiple stakeholders, or services where trust, accessibility and adoption really matter. Our clients and partners have included organizations such as IDEO, the Gates Foundation, Unilever and leading banks, public institutions and consulting firms across the GCC, South Asia and beyond.

Question 2

How does Ideate approach research, strategy and design projects?

Accepted Answer

We don’t apply the same fixed process to every project. We start by understanding the problem, the people affected by it, the wider business or organizational context, and what is already known. Depending on the challenge, that can involve user and market research, stakeholder interviews, data and landscape analysis, workshops and field research. We then turn that evidence into a clear direction, design and prototype possible solutions, test them with users and stakeholders, and iterate. Research isn’t a separate step that ends before design begins. It informs decisions throughout the project. We also work closely with client teams through workshops, reviews and co-design so that the solution reflects both user needs and the realities of implementing it.

Question 3

How does Ideate use AI in research and design, and how do you protect client data?

Accepted Answer

We use AI where it can make our teams faster, help us work through larger volumes of information, or make prototypes more realistic, but never as a substitute for judgment or decision-making. Today, that includes transcription, translation, parts of research synthesis and sorting, finding sources for desk research, analysing datasets, and building interactive prototypes using tools such as Cursor and Claude Code. AI can help organise evidence or surface possible patterns, but turning that evidence into insights remains the responsibility of our researchers. We review the underlying evidence behind any AI-assisted interpretation before it informs a recommendation or design decision. We do not upload personally identifiable participant data to public LLM tools. Research material is anonymised or pseudonymised before it is used in those workflows, and identifying details are kept separately in our internal records where needed. Our approach also follows each client’s security and confidentiality requirements. Research participants provide consent for how their information is used, and protecting their identity and confidentiality remains part of our research practice.

Question 4

Do you handle product development as well as design?

Accepted Answer

Our core strength is research, strategy and design rather than operating as a full-scale software development house. But we increasingly take products further into implementation. That can include high-fidelity interactive prototypes, production-ready design systems, websites built in platforms such as Framer and Webflow, and selected custom front-end development. This allows us to test experiences more realistically and, in some cases, take the interface we design directly into production. For products requiring larger engineering teams or complex back-end systems, we can work closely with your existing internal or external development team. We also work with specialist technology partners such as Glowfish Labs, whose teams have built startups as well as large-scale enterprise and government technology platforms. This means the transition from design to development can stay collaborative rather than becoming a hard handoff.

Question 5

Do you design Arabic and bilingual English–Arabic products, including RTL interfaces?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Designing for right-to-left languages has been part of our work since Ideate began in 2017, initially through Urdu products and services and increasingly through Arabic work across the GCC. RTL design involves much more than flipping an interface. We consider navigation and layout behaviour, typography, mixed Arabic and English content, icons and directional elements, numbers and data, and how bilingual experiences move between languages. For multilingual products, we aim to design both languages as first-class experiences rather than treating the RTL version as a translated adaptation of an English product.

Question 6

Can you work alongside our in-house team or other agencies?

Accepted Answer

Yes. In fact, collaborative delivery is how a large part of our work happens. Most commonly, Ideate works as an external research and design team while collaborating closely with people inside the client organization. On other projects, individual designers or researchers embed within a client or wider delivery team. For larger and more multidisciplinary programs, we also work in partnerships and consortiums with strategy firms, technology teams, research organizations and other specialist agencies. That allows each partner to bring the skills and resources the project actually needs. Whichever model we use, we try to work as an extension of the client team rather than creating another layer for them to manage. That means regular stakeholder engagement, shared working sessions, co-design and close collaboration throughout the project.

Question 7

How much does it cost to work with Ideate?

Accepted Answer

Our smallest focused engagements can start at around $5,000, while a typical Ideate project is more often in the $12,000–$25,000 range. Larger, more complex engagements may be in the $60,000-$80,000 range. The final cost depends on the size and seniority of the team, the length of the engagement, research requirements, number of markets or user groups involved, and the complexity of what we are designing. A focused UX audit, research study or design engagement will naturally sit at a different level from multi-market research or a complex digital product platform. We work across different commercial models, including fixed-scope projects, longer-term engagements and embedded team support. We also show indicative budget ranges on selected project pages so prospective clients can get a realistic sense of scale before contacting us. If you already have a defined budget, we can usually help determine what meaningful scope is possible within it.

Question 8

How long does a typical Ideate project take?

Accepted Answer

Our projects can range from focused engagements of around two weeks to multi-month research, design and transformation programs. A short engagement might focus on a UX audit, rapid research, validation or a specific design challenge. Larger research studies and product or service design projects typically run for several weeks or months, particularly when they involve multiple user groups, markets, stakeholder teams or rounds of testing. We don’t believe every client needs to begin with a large engagement. When appropriate, we can start with a focused piece of work to answer the most important questions first, then expand the scope once there is stronger evidence about what comes next.

FAQs

FAQs