UX & UI design agency Cardiff
UX design that turns visitors into customers
Great UX design is the difference between a visitor who finds what they need and converts and one who leaves within seconds.
We design websites and digital experiences from the user’s perspective, mapping how people think, what they expect and what drives them to act. The result is a website that works as hard as it looks, across every device and every audience.
What we offer
UX strategy
User journey mapping + site architecture
Wireframing + prototyping
Mobile-first responsive design
Cross-device testing
User testing + accessibility auditing
UX integrated into every website
We structure your site’s content so it makes intuitive sense to your visitors, not just to you – before a single page is designed.
We then move into low and high-fidelity wireframes to test layouts, flows, and interactions early, reducing costly changes later in the process. From there, we develop detailed visual design grounded in your brand identity.
How we approach UX design
01 Understand
We start with your business goals, your users, and your existing website. We ask the questions many agencies often skip.
05 Build & refine
02 Map & structure
03 Wireframe
04 Design & test
Why work with us
UX strategy & discovery
Responsive & mobile-first design
Every interface is designed for mobile first, then scaled up. We test across all devices and browsers before launch.
UX testing & review
UX design for businesses that need results, not just recognition
We design digital experiences that are clear, intuitive, and help people quickly understand, trust and take action.
Our clients include property developers and estate agents, professional services firms, Welsh public sector organisations, healthcare providers and growing SMEs across Wales and the UK.
Based in Cardiff, we work with companies across Wales and the UK to design UX that improves clarity, engagement and performance.
Our clients’ frequently asked questions
What is UX design?
UX design (user experience design) is the process of designing websites, apps, and digital products so they are easy, intuitive, and satisfying to use. It covers everything from how a website is structured and how visitors navigate it, to where buttons are placed and how forms work. Good UX design reduces friction, guides users towards the actions you want them to take, and ultimately improves conversion, engagement, and satisfaction.
What is UI design?
UI design (user interface design) is how a website or digital product looks – the visual layer of colours, typography, layout, icons, buttons, and other interface elements that users interact with. While UX design determines the structure and flow, UI design determines the visual style and feel. The two disciplines work together: great UX without good UI looks functional but unappealing; great UI without good UX looks beautiful but frustrates users.
What is the difference between UX and UI design?
UX design focuses on how a product works and how users experience it, the logic, the flow, the journey. UI design focuses on how the product looks – the visuals, the branding, the aesthetic. Think of UX as the architecture of a building and UI as the interior design. Both matter, and both need to work together. At Martin Hopkins we approach UX and UI as a single, integrated discipline – not two separate handoffs.
What does a UX design agency do?
A UX design agency researches, plans, and designs digital experiences that are intuitive and effective for users. This typically includes user research, journey mapping, information architecture, wireframing, prototyping, UI design, user testing, and post-launch review. The goal is to make websites and digital products that are both easy to use and aligned with the business goals of the organisation that owns them.
Why does UX design matter for my website?
Poor UX is one of the most common and most costly causes of website underperformance. Visitors who can’t find what they need, or who find your site confusing to navigate, will leave – and they are unlikely to come back. A well-designed user experience reduces bounce rates, increases the time visitors spend on your site, improves conversion rates, and builds the kind of trust that turns visitors into customers.
What UX services do you offer?
We offer UX strategy and discovery, user journey mapping, information architecture, wireframing and prototyping, responsive and mobile-first UI design, accessibility auditing against WCAG standards, and post-launch UX review and testing. For most clients, UX and UI design are part of a broader website design and build project – though we also take on UX-only engagements for organisations redesigning existing websites.
How do you approach mobile UX design?
We design mobile-first, meaning we start with the smallest screen and work outward, rather than designing for desktop and then trying to adapt it down. This ensures that the most constrained, most common use case is solved first. We test across all major devices, screen sizes, and browsers before any website launches, with particular attention to navigation, touch targets, load speed, and content hierarchy on small screens.
Do you offer accessibility auditing?
Yes. We review websites against WCAG 2.1 accessibility standards and provide a clear report of issues and recommended fixes. For public sector organisations in Wales with legal obligations around digital accessibility, this is an important part of our service. Accessibility is also increasingly relevant for commercial websites, both for legal compliance and for the wider audience it allows you to reach.
Can you redesign just the UX of my existing website
Yes. A UX audit and redesign of an existing website is something we do regularly. This involves reviewing how your current site performs against UX best practices, identifying the key pain points, and redesigning the problem areas – without necessarily rebuilding the entire site from scratch. In many cases, targeted UX improvements deliver significant gains in conversion and engagement at a fraction of the cost of a full rebuild.
UX and UI:
the difference, and why both matter
UX design (user experience) is how your website works. How visitors navigate it, where they get stuck and what encourages them to take action. It’s the structure beneath the surface: journeys, hierarchy and flows that guide people from landing page to conversion.
UI design (user interface) is how your website looks. Typography, colour, layout and interactive elements that give your brand its digital personality.
The two are inseparable. A visually strong site with poor UX loses people. A well-structured site with weak UI loses credibility. We design both together from the start so they reinforce each other.
Designed for every screen,
built for every user
Mobile-first is a design discipline, not a trend. With most web traffic now coming from mobile devices, performance on smaller screens is critical.
We design responsive UX from the smallest screen up, testing across devices and browsers before launch.
Navigation, content hierarchy, CTAs, forms and load speed, are all considered and optimised for real-world use.
For public sector and accessibility-focused projects, we also design with WCAG 2.1 guidelines in mind to support usability across a wide range of needs.
Ready to improve your website experience?
If you’re looking to create a clearer, more effective digital experience, we’d love to talk about your project.
What we do:
UX strategy and discovery
User journey mapping
Information architecture
Wireframing and prototyping
Responsive and mobile-first design
UI design and visual systems
Accessibility auditing
UX testing and review
“Martin Hopkins were right on top of all aspects of the project and exceeded what we were looking for in terms of integration and visibility. The website experience they designed for us is exactly what our customers needed.”
Nicholas Broughton, Peter Broughton Cardiff
Got a project?
If you’re thinking about launching something new, evolving an existing brand, or need creative support – we’d love to hear from you.