Adaheid Mestad has joined HGA as a design anthropologist and senior associate in the Rochester, Minn., office.

She will collaborate across national offices with HGA’s multidisciplinary Research Collaborative Group to understand and design relevant features that enhance the user experience within space planning and design.

Her expertise includes cultural anthropology, experience design strategy, and organizational/social architecture for public, cultural, and institutional organizations. Her work has focused on health and wellbeing, placemaking, urban revitalization, cultural institutions, and community asset design.

Before joining HGA, Mestad was director of the Minnesota Children’s Museum of Rochester. Previously, she was manager of experience & engagement design for Mayo Clinic Destination Medical Center and she was also part of Mayo Clinic’s Patient Experience Enterprise Leadership team.