Our good work is in service of your good work.

We are a people-centered design agency that partners with social impact organizations to build meaningful services for humans.

Trimtab creates solutions that make change in the world by listening, learning, designing and delivering.

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Our approach

We work in collaborative partnerships to deliver more impactful outcomes.
lightbulb

Understand

  • Understand who your stakeholders are and what they want and need
  • Find out if there are other clients that can be served
  • Investigate if there are opportunities to deliver services differently
gears and lightbulb in a head

Plan

  • Generate ideas for new approaches
  • Build a strategy for more impactful solutions
  • Craft engaging visuals to effectiely communicate insights
design tools

Design & Implement

  • Create concepts and ideate, prototype, and test solutions
  • Service and experience design for programs and services
  • Digital design for websites
  • Build or refine brand & identity
  • Develop, deliver, and deploy

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Why Trimtab?

A trim tab is a small, moveable surface — a miniature rudder — on the edge of a larger rudder on a ship. A tiny amount of force to move the trim tab will move the larger rudder and turn the ship. Just like a trim tab on a ship, Trimtab uses our expertise to help make a big impact on your team's and organization's success.

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We believe in...

The Power of People

Everyone has knowledge. Everyone has a lever. We work in equal partnerships where everyone’s expertise is recognized and used to build solutions that work for all.

The Power of Technology

Technology is a tool, not a solution. We use it as an ally to address real human needs. Every service we shape is a mindful mix of analog and digital components.

The Power of Us

Collaboration is the key to creating new ideas and building better approaches. We combine our expertise at the intersection of humans and technology with your mission, vision, and passion to create positive, measurable impact together.

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Our clients

We’re proud to have partnered with these organizations.
Trimtab is a great partner. Their team was professional and easy to work with. We are so happy with our new website. It really represents who we are. We’re looking forward to working with them again!
– Liberation in a Generation Action
Trimtab designed a beautiful report for us, and we have had a great response from donors. I would strongly recommend Trimtab to folks looking for strong designers that care about their clients!
– Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
The Alice Paul Institute partnered with Trimtab to create an award winning traveling suffrage exhibit. Working cross country, our teams had an extraordinary collaboration. Trimtab was very skilled at incorporating our knowledge of the subject into dynamic concepts and was open to our feedback throughout the project. We are delighted with the results.
– Alice Paul Institute

About us

We are a purpose-driven group of experts that share a passion and sense of fulfillment in doing hands-on, meaningful work.
Abbey Ripstra

Abbey Ripstra

Abbey is a human centered design researcher, conducting global and local research informing design decisions and strategy for organizations like Cisco Systems, Salesforce and Wikimedia Foundation. Abbey studied design research and strategy at the Institute of Design, IIT in Chicago, Illinois.

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Cris Cristina

Cris Cristina

Cris is a user experience designer and researcher who has helped lead the launch of new products and services for dozens of organizations, including the City of Oakland, Google, Microsoft, Nokia and Virgin Galactic. Cris and his work have been featured in Fast Company, Ars Technica and Time magazine.

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Ruben Rohde

Ruben Rohde

Ruben is a seasoned designer, leading teams to create products and services for organizations like Webex, Acano and d.light. He enjoys sharing his expertise with new designers and mentoring startup founders. For fun, he is learning Japanese woodworking.

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Let's work together.

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