Adobe and Cornell AAP's Pam Chueh on Designing Experiences and Diverse Points of View

By Julia Gamolina

Pam Chueh is a design strategist and co-founder of Circular Place. She is a Workplace Research and Strategy Program Manager at Adobe, and previously worked at Gensler. She received her Bachelors in Architecture from Cornell University in 2017.

JG: How did your interest in architecture first develop?

PC: Growing up as a kid, I loved painting and drawing. The arts were a big part of my childhood and identity. When I reached high school, I wasn’t exactly sure what this would mean for my ‘future career’. Did I want to be a full-time artist? An art teacher?

In middle school and high school, I was a full-on Girl Scout, and found myself really interested in community service through art, whether that was volunteering at our local arts non-profit or hosting art classes for kids through National Art Honor Society. Yes, I was nerdy. My Dad suggested I look into architecture because it felt like ‘the practical side’ of art, and I honestly hadn’t thought much about architecture with a capital A formally.

After looking into it, I found myself realizing how much environments shape how we gather and connect as communities. Particularly as I was designing art events, classes and programs, I started thinking about the layout of spaces and the design of an experience. To me, architecture was a way for me to master both. It was definitely enough of a curiosity for me to say, “Hey! Sign me up for half a decade of architecture school.”

“I was looking to take my experience in design strategy and truly apply it to the design of an organization — from how people work and how they learn to how they cultivate community...At Adobe, I’m proud to say I am helping the people who are shaping the future of creativity, by enabling them to do their best work. ”

— Pam Chueh

What were some of the initiatives, outside of your studio work, that you were involved in at Cornell?

When I was in high school, I had the opportunity to choose to go to RISD for interior architecture or Cornell. A big part of why I chose Cornell was because of the intersection of so many disciplines, outside of design, that were on campus. Once I got to Cornell, I actually found myself really interested in life, communities, and classes outside of studio - outside of the extremely intense first year of course. I can’t tell now if this was an ‘escape’, but I was extremely curious about diverse points of view.

I first got a taste of this my sophomore year at Cornell through the AAP student-run publication called Association. What I loved about this was that it highlighted work across our college, from planning to art to architecture. Through the publication and the team running it - Carly Dean, Erin Pellegrino, Nick Cassab - I realized how many ‘associations’ there were between these seemingly siloed disciplines. The biggest turning point for me was taking this pattern that I recognized, design as a connector, and seeing if I could apply it to a college-wide scale. In partnership with other urban planning, art and architecture students, we founded an organization at Cornell called Medium Design Collective, which aimed to be a platform for design across disciplines. It’s been amazing to see how this organization still exists and grows today, to include members from information science, engineering, architecture, etc.

A project I am most proud of actually from Medium is RAW EXPO, which connected more than 50 projects from across the university, by asking each participant to reveal their raw design process. One of my favorite memories is seeing the table for Ithaca Hummus — the design process from mashing chickpeas, to designing the container — adjacent to a floating dress hanging from the ceiling from Cornell’s fashion designers, next to a zooming Mars Rover from the engineering school.

You started a really unique track right out of Cornell - tell me about what you learned at Cornell and through your internship experiences that set you on this focus.

A turning point in my education was actually going through Cornell’s AAP NYC Program. From this experience, I got to be a student living in the heart of NYC while interning at a company. Honestly at that point, I knew I was looking for something that was the intersection of architecture and business but I had no idea what that meant. I was interning at Perkins Eastman as a Marketing and Business Development Intern, and loved the storytelling aspect, but I realized I still wanted to have an impact on the projects themselves.

I remember I had a challenge to myself to meet someone new once a week. I would look on LinkedIn for people who had come from design backgrounds, but were doing something ‘business’ related. I met Hannah Kim, who had graduated from Cornell from the DEA program, and she introduced me to Workplace Strategy. I loved learning about design strategy from her, and how you could work with different companies to understand their employees and translate it into a vision.

Tell me about your time at Gensler, and how this lead to your position at Adobe.

At Gensler, I was a Design Strategist where I worked with different clients to understand their employees’ needs and turn that into a strategy for a change they wanted to make. What drew me to Gensler was the people and the mission — to change the world through the power of design. I got to work with such diverse clients, from healthcare to consumer product companies, and propose future strategies for their workplace experience or organizational culture. While I was at Gensler, I actually had the opportunity to work with Adobe as a client at the beginning of the pandemic to help define a strategy for the future of work. Through my research, I got to immerse myself with the people and culture of Adobe. I loved helping shape their future, and found myself wanting to be in a position to see it through to completion.

In particular, I was looking to take my experience in design strategy and truly apply it to the design of an organization — from how people work and how they learn to how they cultivate community. When a position opened up at Adobe for a Workplace Research and Strategy Program Manager, I knew it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to work with another incredible team, take a strategy I had helped develop, and have an impact on the employee experience by being one myself!

“I always think about whether the company has a greater mission that I believe in, and if the role is an opportunity to work with people who will challenge me to be my whole self. Do I feel safe to be authentic? To push back on ideas? To be playful? Are there people at the company I admire?”

What do you do at Adobe? Where are you in your career today?

At Adobe, I am a Workplace Research and Strategy Program Manager, where I help develop ideas and goals for the future work experience for over 23,000 employees. What I find unique about this role is that I get to be thoughtful in understanding the needs of the business and employees, translate this into a plan, and collaborate with experts across the organization (from Talent, to IT, to Communications), to make ideas happen! In my day to day, this might look like interviewing leaders and employees across the company, conducting surveys, hosting focus groups with different teams, or brainstorming with different partners on projects like trainings for managers and leaders.

At this point in my career, I am looking to see a strategy through to completion, have a direct impact on employees’ experience of work and culture, and further a mission I’m passionate about. At Adobe, I’m proud to say I am helping the people who are shaping the future of creativity, by enabling them to do their best work.

In general, when you were in school and now, looking for the right roles, what were you looking for?

This sounds simple, but culture and people have always been top of mind for me. I always think about whether the company has a greater mission that I believe in, and if the role is an opportunity to work with people who will challenge me to be my whole self. Do I feel safe to be authentic? To push back on ideas? To be playful? Are there people at the company I admire?

At this point in my career, I realized that I want to be at a place where I can grow most, and growth is cultivated as much from your personal agency as it is from the conditions around you - your manager, your team, and your mentors.

What's important to you? What inspires you?

Places and experiences that foster community. Nothing inspires me more than seeing two people genuinely connect because of an event experience.

“...growth is cultivated as much from your personal agency as it is from the conditions around you - your manager, your team, and your mentors.”

— Pam Chueh

Who do you look up to, in the industry and beyond?

Amanda Ramos. She was my first ‘boss’ when I started my career at Gensler, and is a living example of how being yourself - full exclamations, laughter, and playfulness - just makes the work better. She created a family with our team at Gensler, and created the Innovation Consulting team.

Beyond the industry, it is definitely my mom and my dad. No matter what I do in my life, I don’t think it will ever come close to the bravery of immigrating to a new country, learning a new language, starting a career, and growing a family. My mom didn’t get to pursue a career she loved per se, but after she retired from her job, she started her own online business and is my favorite entrepreneur to look up to!

What advice do you have for those just graduating from school?

There are so many futures you can have. Be relentless in your curiosity and understand what makes people tick. You’ll likely find people who share those interests, are pondering the same questions as you, and have undergone similar or tangential paths. That curiosity will help you discover some pretty cool places and roles — many of which may not exist today yet. One of my favorite exercises is the five-year-plan from Designing Your Life.