Dedicated Product Designers Without the Heavy Agency Structure
Work & Co Alternative
Looking for a Work & Co alternative that gives you hands-on design talent without the layers of PMs and delivery staff? Parallel gives you senior designers who plug directly into your stack, work beside your engineers, and help you ship faster. No overhead. No filtered communication. No inflated team size.
Why Product Teams Choose Parallel as Their Work & Co Alternative
Work & Co is known for running large, structured teams and polished delivery frameworks. That works for big brand projects. But most SaaS and product teams need something leaner and closer to the code.
Parallel gives you a direct line to experienced product designers who work in your environment and move at your pace.
Designers who work hands-on, not through layers of producers
Teams sized for real product needs, not agency staffing models
Daily contact with the people doing the work
Clear monthly pricing without overhead from PMs or delivery managers
Lean Product Teams vs. Large Agency Pods
Work & Co’s model often includes producers, strategists, QA staff, and multiple layers of review. That structure adds process. Parallel keeps the focus on the designers and engineers actually building the product.
Built for building, not bureaucracy
Your designers collaborate directly with your product and engineering team. No translation chain. No waiting for approvals to move a screen forward.
Practical experience with software
Our designers have shipped SaaS tools, mobile apps, B2B platforms, and internal systems. They understand edge cases, data flow, and how real users behave.
Faster loops, fewer meetings
Since there’s no PM barrier, feedback moves straight from your team to the designers. Work gets done faster and with fewer misfires.
How Parallel Teams Support Modern Product Development
Parallel gives you a lean, senior team built for continuous delivery. Each team includes product designers, UX specialists, and design engineers with real experience shipping software.
Your team reviews current screens, pain points, support logs, and analytics. Within days, you get clear direction on what to fix and where to improve.
Design happens in your Figma file, tied to your tickets, and synced with your standups. Your designers test flows, prototype interactions, and refine based on feedback from your team.
Design engineers help translate designs into real components in React, Vue, or your preferred stack. They work with your engineering team to land a clean, consistent UI that matches the design.
Made for Teams Who Ship Every Week
Product teams need momentum. They work with shifting priorities and real user feedback. Parallel is structured to match that pattern.
We work in two-week sprints, follow your roadmap, and push decisions based on real user behavior.
We maintain and evolve systems in Figma and Storybook. That keeps features consistent and helps ship future updates faster.
We run usability checks, review friction points, and bring clear feedback into the design process. The focus stays on clarity and function.
Parallel designers know responsive states, constraints, and the reality of shipping software. That means fewer redesigns and fewer engineering delays.
Straightforward
Engagement
Without Agency
Overhead
Work & Co often rolls in project managers, QA staff, producers, and presentation decks. Parallel keeps things simple.
Your team works only on your product. No juggling clients. No partial availability.
Start with a focused team and expand only when you need to. No complex contract changes.
You pay for the designers doing the work. No fees for PM layers or internal reviews.
We track success through shipped updates, user impact, and improvements in usability.
“Parallel's design sprints allowed us to involve and engage all stakeholders in the project - even those with no product or design background, which was a big plus for us”
“Parallel made it a point to understand the product and the impact they have or should have. They worked patiently with our in-house teams of Product, Design and Engineering, without the slightest hint of friction.”
“Parallel was excellent in helping us bring our vision to life. The quick iterations done in parallel with user testing let us try a lot of things in order to get to our beta. We're so grateful for their team.”
“Finding designers who have the talent and drive to match a founder’s vision is rare, consider this a PSA! If you’re building B2B SaaS, you want them on your shortlist.”
FAQs
