Most people don't realize that they use their laptops a little bit differently from everyone else. Someone carries their ultraportable laptop from meeting to meeting, someone else twists their 2-in-1 into a cookbook on a kitchen counter, and someone else parks their car on an overlook and flips open their makeshift movie theater. The way someone uses their laptop also depends on their unique circumstances: someone relies on a wifi connection at a local diner, while someone else uses their laptop as just one part of a high-tech ecosystem. We have created design principles behind some of the most expensive laptops and some of the cheapest. Together with hundreds of participants, we have influenced the products and services offered by some of the most beloved tech brands.

Western Europe has a rich animal-based food culture that makes veganism close to impossible. A food marketer wanted to promote plant-based options but was stymied by the intricate cultures wrapped up in German bratwurst, Italian cheese, and French pastries. To help, we looked to a vegan group that has learned to thrive in similarly plant-antagonistic conditions - BBQ Country of Southeast USA. By learning how people stay vegan in a place where family and tradition are cooked into granddads BBQ ribs, we find lessons for European grocers.

In an unincorporated town in Northern California stands a library that, at first glance, is just too small and unassuming to meet the needs of the community. Targeted for demolition and reconstruction, developers failed to understand the role the library held: in a sea of estrangement, it provided an island of belonging. This project is about invisible needs, isolation, and needing a space to call home.

In 2022, 70% of all jobs in Michigan required some post-secondary education; 60% of people living in Michigan had either never been to college or had dropped out without a degree. This project aimed to help adult students in Michigan overcome barriers to enrolling in and completing community college programs, opening up pathways to emerging careers.

Bangkok was suffering from pollution, the pandemic, and a stressed public utility system. We created a process to involve private institutions, governmental organizations, and the public in making the entire city of Bangkok more resilient.

Pop Quiz: how do your habits and small, everyday choices affect your energy levels? Many business leaders from all around corporate America were feeling burnt out, so we made a little quiz that asks big questions to prompt positive changes.

This is a  game that disguised itself as a best-selling business book. What people think they got is a book about changing toxic cultures in the workplace; what they actually got is a rulebook that makes changing that toxicity fun.

High in the Mongolian Altai, Kazakh nomads preserve the herding and craft making practices of their ancestors. They decorate their movable homes with beautiful felt carpets and embroidered wall hangings. Despite the long history of these traditions, however, the forces of modernization, globalization, and sedentarization pose a threat to their longterm survival. Our team is collaborating with Harvard researchers and the British Museum to help preserve the art and craft of the Kazakh Mongolian home via experiential 3D models.