Julia Sorzano

Julia is a unique hybrid of art and science. At Dartmouth College she earned degrees in Biology and Studio Art. “I needed both to stay in balance,” she says. “Each activity helped me understand the other better.” From there she competed around the globe as a world-class kayaker, representing the US in two Olympic Games as an alternate. Afterward, as an industrial design student at Art Center College in Pasadena, CA, Julia had two epiphanies. First was the wood shop, where she became a maker. And next was human factors, where she became a sense-maker. “Studying users made me feel whole, like biology and studio art fused together.”

At Peer Insight, Julia is continuing a decade-plus career in design research that began with IDEO, Continuum, and Philips Design. Her clients have included Procter & Gamble, Abbott Laboratories, Capital One, and Home Depot. She has received design awards from Business Week and ID Magazine and has had her design work featured at the Consumer Electronics Show and in The New York Times Magazine. Despite the high aesthetic honors for these projects, “I still see myself as an ambassador for the user, first and foremost.”