Marta Cuciurean-Zapan is a Design Research Lead at IDEO's Chicago studio. She applies her background in social science and visual art to inspire and ground teams. At IDEO, she is passionate about building and continuing to learn about innovative research approaches, futures perspectives, and the intersection of visual art and design.
Marta spent the past year at IDEO on a multi-national project on the future of mobility, during which the team adapted futures thinking to the research and design process. Prior to IDEO, she's worked with clients across multiple industries such as health care, hospitality, publishing, and consumer packaged goods. At Uptake, a predictive analytics startup, her efforts were focused on the intersection of Big Data and Thick Data - the qualitative, behavioral, and emotional context of product use. At Conifer Research, she led internal and client teams specializing in ethnography, co-creation, and strategic insights.
Marta has a Master's in Cultural Anthropology from Temple University in Philadelphia. Wandering the city by bike or on foot is a favorite past time. Travel, art history, installation art, photography, and fiction are her sources of pattern and meaning in everyday life.