In the Loop: Julka Almquist

A Human Centered Approach to Food Innovation

Food is deeply connected to culture, emotion, values, and behavior. It is an area rich with possibilities for design research and exploration. In this talk, Julka will discuss how a human-centered design approach is particularly generative for food innovation because of the focus on understanding consumers. She will share some of her own experiences and research approaches to food projects and explore the ethics of food design and the importance of a thoughtful consideration of the larger implications. 

About Julka

Julka Almquist is a senior design researcher at IDEO Chicago. She is particularly passionate about food projects and design in the public sector. Prior to IDEO, she worked as an ethnographic researcher. Her ethnographic work brought her to a variety of cultural contexts, including the Dominican Republic, Sri Lanka, and Botswana. She also spent five years as a researcher at the Mayo Clinic and was a fellow in their SPARC Innovation Lab. Julka has an interdisciplinary PhD (at the intersection of anthropology and design) from the University of California, Irvine.