AQ is a team of designers, developers and researchers building products that help people do great things and learn from the world around them.

Chris Palmieri

Chris Palmieri

After studying graphic design and Japanese language and aesthetics, Chris moved to Tokyo in 2001 to begin his design practice. He co-founded AQ in 2004.

As managing director, Chris leads the design process, working with teams to clarify ideas, and transform them into beautiful, hard-working products.

Chris teaches Designing Everyday Life in Modern Japan, a course on the history of design in Japan at the University of Illinois.

Eiko Nagase

Eiko Nagase

Eiko co-founded AQ in 2004, and leads user research and workshop facilitation in Japan. She believes all good relationships start from listening, and strives to always keep her ears open.

Drawing from her roots as a communication designer, Eiko works with clients and designers to ensure that products and services have the right message and feel.

Tomomi Sasaki

Tomomi Sasaki

Tomomi is a project director and partner at AQ. She started as a junior project manager in 2009, making endless to-do’s and bug reports, before embracing facilitation skills and the practice of UX and service design as key to delivering useful tools and services.

After building up our UX consulting practice, Tomomi moved from Tokyo to Paris in late 2014. She focuses on expanding our opportunities for experimentation and growth, while working closely with the team to maintain the health of our project portfolio.

Visit Tomomi's Website

Michi Migita

Michi Migita

Michi is a UX researcher with a focus on fieldwork, coordinating and facilitating interviews for the team to better understand the users that we design for. Her ability to build rapport with just about anyone serves her well in this role, and she delights in coming up with unexpected solutions for clients and her team.

Before joining AQ, Michi spent a few years building and operating educational software for SMBs.

Yumi Houmura

Yumi Houmura

Yumi is a UX researcher. After studying user centered design as a student, she specialized in research and has conducted usability tests and user interviews for more than a decade. She sees her daily work as a way to make it easier for people to grasp the essence of the products and services they encounter.

Yumi is also a passionate dog lover. She volunteers at a shelter and is studying to be a dog trainer, in a quest to complement her command of UX with DX (dog experience).

 Amelie Ström

Amelie Ström

Amelie is a Product Designer at AQ with a passion for human-centered design. Starting from her time in the music and fashion industries in US and Europe, Amelie has continually drawn inspiration from working within teams of diverse professional and culture perspectives. 

After previously living in Fukuoka, Amelie moved to Tokyo in 2023, and can be found alternately exploring the city through its museums and cafes, or taking long hikes in the mountains.

Shohei Suzuki

Shohei Suzuki

After graduating from university, Shohei spent several years tutoring children at a private school, where he honed the listening skills that he now brings to his research work. He spent a year in Canada studying UX design before moving back to Japan to join AQ in mid-2023. Shohei enjoys both indoor and outdoor activities, especially tennis, which he has been playing since junior high school.