Experience

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  Research for Design

  • Principal

    • Jul 2005 - Present

    Research for Design was formed to plan and design workplaces and products based on a better understanding of how they can improve the performance and lives of the users. This may seem to be just common sense, but most workplaces and products are actually based on conventions, the latest current styles, or misconceptions of how people really work and are productive. We use a rapid problem solving approach, working interactively and intensively with the client and users to understand the context, the needs, the existing situation, the gaps, and then creating solutions.

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  Joe Aki Ouye, Artist

  • Artist

    • Jul 2005 - Present

    I paint what I see every day. The people, landscapes, cities and towns around me. There is a saying in Zen that there is no past, no future, only the here and now. When painting, forget about the concepts of what you are seeing and only see the shapes, lines, colors and values in front of you. I started out with landscapes but more recently have gravitated towards figurative art. I find that they are more powerful and direct for addressing pressing political and social issues important to me: immigration, my Japanese American heritage, racial discrimination , and economic disparities.​

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  Optimaze, Inc.

  • Member Board Of Directors

    • Jan 2016 - Dec 2021

    Optimaze provides cutting edge software and services for workplace planning.

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  New Ways of Working Network

  • Co-Founder and Champion

    • Dec 2005 - Apr 2012

    We are an interactive network of organizational innovators - people who are transforming their work environment – or preparing to do so. We take an integrated approach to workplace change, combining corporate real estate, human resources, and information technology. Our members are an intriguing mix of experts from the fields of workspace design, technology and real estate/facilities. Plus, our organization is enriched by the contributions of respected academic researchers and knowledgeable consultants who participate in New WOW events and report preparation, sharing their insights and latest research.

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  Gensler

  • Vice President, Consulting

    • Dec 2000 - Jun 2005

    Co-leader of the firm-wide Consulting Group Led and participated in workplace projects for progressive clients such as: IBM, GSA-Workplace 20.20, Bank of America, Cisco Systems, Sun Microsystems.

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  Workplace Productivity Consortium

  • Founder and Director

    • 1994 - 2000

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  Facility Technics

  • President

    • 1985 - 1995

    Facility Technics was one of the pioneers of then nascent field of facility planning. Clients included corporations and public institutions such as HP, Bank of America, Pacific Gas and Electric, and the State of Hawaii. FT emphasized quantitative and logical analysis largely based on the theories of Prof. Horst Rittel.

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  Center for Planning and Development Research

  • University of California, Berkeley, CA

  • Assistant Director

    • 1976 - 1980
    • University of California, Berkeley, CA

    Started up the official research center of the Department of Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley. My role included securing research funding, overseeing research and initiating new research efforts, including funding of small research grants to students.

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  Institute for the Foundations of Planning, University of Stuttgart

  • Stuttgart, Germany

  • Researcher Associate

    • 1972 - 1973
    • Stuttgart, Germany

    My main role was to participate in a research project for the United Nations Environmental Program. This program, the International Referral Service, was a design and pilot of information system for coordinating the planning for region-wide environmental impacts and projects. The pilot area was the Rhine River Valley. My responsibilities also included teaching one class per semester.