From the links, it seems like consulting is primarily focused on UX, and agencies are responsible for the implementation. As a developer, I'm really hoping this isn't the case.
Edit: another thing I notices is that consultant firms seem to deliver intangibles like teaching clients best practices or ideas gleaned from cutting-edge research, while agencies are just focused on delivering the tangible product.
> From the links, it seems like consulting is primarily focused on UX, and agencies are responsible for the implementation
I would say that's mostly true. A lot of the "pure" consulting I've done has been in the form of teaching, critiquing and building reports/style guides that other designers and developers use internally to build products.
I will say that finding consulting work like that is exponentially harder than finding your typical freelancing gigs (which is expected).
Edit: another thing I notices is that consultant firms seem to deliver intangibles like teaching clients best practices or ideas gleaned from cutting-edge research, while agencies are just focused on delivering the tangible product.