Why hire a digital product agency?

A digital product agency isn’t just a software development company. A digital product agency guides your product from conception to completion, strategizing, iterating, designing, validating and testing throughout the engagement.

These strategic groups help organizations become technology companies. They provide innovative and experienced product teams to bring digital products to life. In this way, a product agency provides a much more holistic service to the client, which is one of the top benefits of hiring one.


Reasons you may hire a digital product agency:

  • Build web and mobile apps that drive new lines of revenue
  • Create solutions to increase efficiencies
  • Iterate on existing products so that they meet results
  • Align groups on a common vision
  • Arm companies to scale faster than their competitors

What does a digital product agency do?

A digital product agency solves core business challenges for companies at important points of growth utilizing technology. Issues like siloed data, fragmented processes, lackluster UX, and limited IT resources often prevent teams from delivering great customer or employee experiences. Which holds growing businesses back from seizing important growth opportunities.

By aligning your people, processes, and technology together, a digital product agency delivers scalable, tailored solutions that drive growth. With expertise in crafting innovative systems, they help businesses seize opportunities, differentiate in the market, and prepare for a sustainable, successful future.

In our lived experience, the best way to solve these challenges is by employing small, cross-disciplined teams of people who have been there before: strategists, designers, developers, product mangers, test engineers, UX writers, and more. They think and work like a tech company, embedded in your company:

  • Understand the problem: We dive deep into your business to uncover pain points, align with your goals, and define the right challenges to solve.
  • Design the solution: Our expert teams craft user-focused designs, seamless workflows, and intuitive interfaces that simplify complexity and deliver results.
  • Build for impact: Whether it’s custom software or a tailored mix of off-the-shelf tools, we create scalable solutions that empower your team and customers with tools you already have or new ones to be created. 
  • Sustain growth: Beyond launch, we provide agile coaching, product maintenance, and continuous support to ensure your solutions evolve with your business.

Digital product agencies are focused on a very specific result. Different from your full-service marketing vendor or IT department. They launch innovative solutions that drive growth for your business.

What value does a digital product agency provide my company?

A digital product agency provides immense value by solving critical business challenges and enabling growth at pivotal moments. By working with a digital product agency, business are no longer constrained by their internal capabilities.

At Crema, we solve business problems through thoughtful design, proven technology, and business strategy. We partner with growing organizations to uncover opportunities, tackle challenges, and create digital solutions that drive measurable impact. The solutions we create can achieve a variety of goals:


  • Streamlining operations: They address inefficiencies caused by siloed data and fragmented processes, empowering teams with tools to work more effectively.
  • Leveling up customer / employee experiences: They design and implement solutions that improve usability and deliver consistent, impactful digital interactions.
  • Unlocking growth opportunities: They help businesses capture opportunities not yet considered. Made possible by aligning people, processes, and technology.
  • Future-proofing businesses: They equip organizations with the tools needed to differentiate themselves and stay competitive. If done right, the systems designed will evolve with the business.

Why hire a digital product agency vs. my own product team?

Compared to the average internal team, agency teams are optimized for speed, focus, and innovative projects or initiatives. There are also clear processes built in that guide diverse teams ensuring your product is built with several perspectives in mind.

Plus, an agency team lacks the internal biases that might prevent your product from reaching its full potential. Since these teams have worked on countless different projects, they’ve had time to solidify and refine their processes for optimal efficiency. With an agency, you’ll also reduce time spent recruiting and retaining and won’t be bound by geographic location.

If you're an enterprise, working with a digital product agency gives you the startup energy needed to complete projects quickly and think outside the box. Because agencies are agile and small (with much less red tape), they can help you build a product that would normally take years to build in just months.

While a digital product agency is often the most expensive option upfront, it typically delivers the best outcomes, fastest timelines, and the least management burden. That's what makes it a smart investment for businesses looking to maximize impact (and yes, ROI).

Why hire a digital product agency vs. a dev shop?

Something that makes a digital product agency different from a typical custom software development shop is that they offer services that go beyond design and engineering. The key difference between a digital product agency and a dev shop lies in the clarity of the solution and who owns responsibility for success:

  • Dev Shop: Ideal when the solution is already defined. If you have a clear set of requirements or a detailed roadmap, they can efficiently execute on your vision. However, the success or failure of the product ultimately rests on you, the product owner! Dev shops take no responsibility for whether the product achieves its intended goals or delivers business value—they simply build what you tell them to.
  • Digital Product Agency: The right choice when the solution isn’t yet clear or requires exploration. They help you look at all possibilities, conduct due diligence, and test ideas to give you confidence in the best solution. They take responsibility for solving core business challenges, aligning people, processes, and technology, and ensuring the product delivers strategic impact and measurable success.

If your project requires discovery, validation, and a partner invested in the success of your product, go with the latter. A digital product agency provides the accountability needed to deliver meaningful results.

What makes Crema different?

Over the many years (founded in 2009) we've fine-tuned our approach to build products faster and smarter, tackling even the most complex challenges with confidence. Here are the characteristics of our boutique agency that keep clients coming back. We know because it's what they've told us:

  • Speed:  We're totally optimized for speed and focus. Because we operate with agility and minimal red tape, we consistently deliver high-quality outcomes in a fraction of the time it might take an internal team.
  • Award-winning design expertise: Our roots in design and UX excellence set us apart, delivering intuitive, user-focused digital experiences. Proudly, we have the accolades to prove it.
  • Relentless focus on the right problem(s): Through early-stage strategy work, we ensure the right questions are asked and the right problems are solved before diving into solutions.
  • Product management chops: Our expert product management practice keeps projects on time, on budget, and aligned with your vision. This ensures we deliver on promises made to the business. Your PM is a partner that takes the management burden off your plate.
  • Industry expertise: We bring deep knowledge in industries like Cybersecurity, Construction, Engineering, Financial Services, Insurance, and more. You'll want to go with a partner who has been there before.
  • Scalable impact: From niche solutions to platforms serving over 20 million users, we have the confidence and capability to deliver at any scale.

Our services

Strategy services
  • Business strategy: Transforming business challenges into actionable product opportunities through market analysis and strategic planning.
  • Service design: Mapping end-to-end service experiences that delight users and drive business value.
  • Roadmapping & journey mapping: Visualizing and prioritizing the path forward while understanding key user touch points.
  • Go-to-market strategy: Position products for success with clear launch plans and competitive analysis.
  • Gap analysis & concept development: Identify market opportunities and develop innovative solutions to fill them.
Design services
  • User research: Uncovering deep user insights through methodical investigation and validation.
  • UX/UI design: Creating intuitive, beautiful interfaces that guide users naturally to their goals.
  • Design systems: Building scalable design frameworks that ensure consistency across products.
  • UX audits: Evaluating existing products through expert analysis to identify key improvements.
Engineering services
  • Web & mobile development: Crafting responsive, performant applications across platforms.
  • API & cloud architecture: Creating robust, scalable systems that power modern digital products.
  • Data & AI Integration: Connecting and enhancing existing systems with intelligent data solutions.
  • Testing & quality assurance: Positioning your products for success with clear launch plans and competitive analysis.