Time for a redesign? Use our checklist to assess your software's design needs—quick fixes or a full overhaul. ✉️

About P&P

Enhancing people’s lives at work, through user experience design excellence

What we do

Driving UX standards for enterprise software around the world

We help clients create complex software with amazing UX and help product teams level-up their UX approach through training and products.

The team

Seasoned enterprise pros who are great to hang out with

We focus our hiring efforts to hone in on people who’ve got incredible design skills, love complexity AND are lovely humans to work with.

Think Nascar pit crew, plus Carebears with some nerd factor thrown in.

Our Mission

The impact of great design: our why

The world of enterprise software is rife with UX which creates frustration, wastes effort, leads to errors and saps the cognitive energy of it’s users. Oddly, in enterprise software we have the most high stakes actions being executed, these actions have real consequences. On one extreme, a confusing interface can skew financial markets, cause misdiagnosis’, or create slowed decision-making on very urgent matters. For lower-stakes contexts, confusing interfaces can slow production, cause lower morale or simply waste the potential of precious specialists - which isn’t something to be taken lightly.

When better usability is introduced, we eliminate the first significant barrier, ushering in less frustration and wasted time. Once we layer on more design sophistication, we introduce the possibility of enhancing performance and enjoyment at work. Then finally, when we apply the lens of innovation we can expand our understanding of what’s possible, both for the human using the software and the technology itself.

So yeah, we take our work pretty seriously, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make a few bad jokes in the process. ;)

Let's talk

Our approach

How do we make design magic?

Every crew has their own way to leverage the design process, this is where we direct our efforts.

Tell us about your project

Evidence

De-risk these big expensive projects is what it’s all about - we need data, not just gut feel

Balance

Recognize the need to balance ideal state and the pragmatic realities of making software

Vision

Get things done in the short term and design for a future state the team can get excited about!

Get our whitepaper

Is your software demo turning heads, or causing headaches?

Applying the right design principles to your demo can create excitement and engage your audiences more effectively. We put together this whitepaper to help you inject some UX love into your product—we cover common mistakes, what a makes a demo successful, and more!

Check it out

Scenarios

This masterclass will help if any of these sound familiar:

Dev gotchas

Either the dev crew or the data crew is telling you things aren’t possible

The team isn't getting it

You’ve got a perpetual mediocre table experience and your team doesn’t totally get it

Don’t know where to focus

Use cases and diversity of circumstances are leaving you a bit stumped for what’s next

Limited resources

Prioritization needs are there, but it’s not clear how to prioritize

“P&P has a deep understanding of data and user empathy in complex experiences. They can walk the fine line between innovation and familiarity that is rare in the industry. Plus, they are equally comfortable diving deep into the weeds and zooming way out in a way that is essential for building high quality software.”
Chris Parmer, VP of Product at Plot.ly
“Their ability to quickly get up to speed, understand things so clearly from a user perspective and rapidly iterate ideas makes for a collaborative environment that always results in a better product than we originally anticipated. ”
alex leduc
Alex Leduc, CEO of Perch
"Their deep knowledge of user experience design and best practices was evident in every stage of the project, they had a clear design rationale and their attention to detail ensured that every aspect of the UI was carefully considered and refined."
lee noble
Lee Noble, CEO of Goodpaw
"The learning program gave our team a shared vocabulary and framework from which to approach our designs. For some in the team who came to design from other disciplines, this helped build a foundation in design fundamentals as well as diving into more advanced complicated design patterns."
julie b
Julie Baher, Vice President of Design & UX at Myriad Genetics
"Collaborating with Pencil & Paper was instrumental as we shifted our product culture towards greater user-centricity. Their expertise in B2B software kickstarted this journey for us, and we can visibly see how their guidance shaped our current UX practices."
Nakisa product team, (Nakisa HR Suite)
"P&P’s expertise in building complex data products and integrating AI functionality was a game-changer for our UX. Their attention to detail and ability to clearly explain design principles was instrumental to our product development, and we would recommend them without hesitation."
Devin Pickering, VP of Product, Orennia
“The professional approach to engaging with the team is among the best I've seen. They communicated in a timely manner, were consistently upbeat and optimistic, and produced outstanding designs.”
Andy Leikucs, Head of Development at IQVIA
"I recommend them highly to any fintech or startup looking for user focused design and would use their services again without hesitation."
dan b
Daniel Barton, Co-founder, COO of Billi Labs

Our Values

What we think is important

As a culture, we embody what we value and act that out in our day-to-day lives. These are our priorities.

Blue circuit illustration

Ingenuity

Using constraints to derive great innovation and solutions.

tech

Quality

Robust design work that’s thoroughly considered.

galaxy

Joyful Curiosity

Venturing forward into the unknown with tenacity and optimism.

The future is bright

What does the future hold?

We’re on a growth trajectory at P&P, setting up everything about what we’ve honed to deliver more great UX projects and workflow enhancements to teams.

As AI explodes, so do the possibilities for what we can achieve in enterprise software. Past constraints around intelligence and efficiency are starting to melt away. This leaves us a lot of room to innovate and lead the way forward in AI UX.

“P&P has a deep understanding of data and user empathy in complex experiences. They can walk the fine line between innovation and familiarity that is rare in the industry. Plus, they are equally comfortable diving deep into the weeds and zooming way out in a way that is essential for building high quality software.”
Chris Parmer, VP of Product at Plot.ly
alex leduc
“Their ability to quickly get up to speed, understand things so clearly from a user perspective and rapidly iterate ideas makes for a collaborative environment that always results in a better product than we originally anticipated. ”
Alex Leduc, CEO of Perch
lee noble
"Their deep knowledge of user experience design and best practices was evident in every stage of the project, they had a clear design rationale and their attention to detail ensured that every aspect of the UI was carefully considered and refined."
Lee Noble, CEO of Goodpaw
julie b
"The learning program gave our team a shared vocabulary and framework from which to approach our designs. For some in the team who came to design from other disciplines, this helped build a foundation in design fundamentals as well as diving into more advanced complicated design patterns."
Julie Baher, Vice President of Design & UX at Myriad Genetics
pot
"Collaborating with Pencil & Paper was instrumental as we shifted our product culture towards greater user-centricity. Their expertise in B2B software kickstarted this journey for us, and we can visibly see how their guidance shaped our current UX practices."
Nakisa product team, (Nakisa HR Suite)
pot
P&P’s expertise in building complex data products and integrating AI functionality was a game-changer for our UX. Their attention to detail and ability to clearly explain design principles was instrumental to our product development, and we would recommend them without hesitation
Devin Pickering, VP of Product, Orennia
pot
“The professional approach to engaging with the team is among the best I've seen. They communicated in a timely manner, were consistently upbeat and optimistic, and produced outstanding designs.”
Andy Leikucs, Head of Development at IQVIA
dan b
"I recommend them highly to any fintech or startup looking for user focused design and would use their services again without hesitation."
Daniel Barton, Co-founder, COO of Billi Labs
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