Cody Qiushi Chen

Home

b. 1986, HK.

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Cody

Qiushi

([tʃʰjoʊ ʂ])

Chen

designer / architect.

He designs digital products, spatial experiences with emerging technologies. Past: CMU HCII, CMA.

See My Selected Work↘


2024

HCI Capstone

Pittsburgh, PA

CMU Human Computer Interaction Institute

Developed modular virtual patient personas and interfaces using LLMs (OpenAI, Hugging Face) to enhance counselor empathy on 7 Cups platform.

Conducted human AI co-creation interviews, heuristic evaluations, storyboarding, and iterative prototyping. Achieved validated high-fidelity prototypes, improving volunteer preparedness for mental health scenarios.


BIM / Architectural Design-Build

Peace Garden Pergola

2024, Built Project

ASOS on Design Build

Pittsburgh, PA

CMU School of Architecture

A continuation of the Peace Garden Project. Participants included SoA, CivE, AECM faculty/ staff/ students, Campus Design & Facility Development, Facility Management & Campus Services and campus constituents with the goal of improving the student experience and quality of life on campus through design build intervention(s).


Computational Design / Digital Fabrication / HCI Research

VaporSeed

2023, Course Work

Applied Fabrication in HCI

Pittsburgh, PA

CMU Human Computer Interaction Institute

Designed and fabricated a free-form custom diffuser and lamp cover, challenging the monotony of minimal commercial products (MUJI diffuser) by introducing expressive forms. Completed over 20 iterative prototypes using Rhino 7's Sub-D modeling to precisely control and refine the geometry, seamlessly fitting it to the diffuser base using Mesh-NURBS Hybrid Techniques. Applied a personal design language inspired by architectural precedents, achieving subtle yet dynamic ripple effects that visually enhance interior ambiance. Real-time rendered for iterative analysis and aesthetic decision making during the design process.

The final translucent, 0.5mm translucent 3D-printed form effectively integrates lighting and aroma diffusion, enriching user interaction and spatial experience. 


Architectural Design / Computational Design

Umbrella Field(s)

2023, Course Work

ASOS on Obsolescence

Pittsburgh, PA / Ahmedabad, India

CMU School of Architecture

A proposal of rammed earth + Ash(con)crete + Bamboo Weave Canopy. Low tech in materiality, community/computational effort in formal innovations.

Led architectural proposal of Incubator Space For Gig Worker/ Small Business and Startup Workshops. Situating on the verge of Sanska Kendra, a new urban field typology serves as the stimuli countering the obsolescence, invigorating the relics of modernity.

Advanced Synthesis Optional Studio on obsolescence of modernist architecture in the context of contemporary India.


Architectural Interface / Realtime Rendering / Affinity Mapping / Computational Design / Lighting Design

Vanka’s Canvas

2022, Course Work

ASOS on Social Justice

Pittsburgh, PA

CMU School of Architecture

A proposal of Architectural Interface for Immigrant Art.

Led architectural proposal integrating immigrant art protection, affinity-mapped insights from onsite research. Parametric adaptive truss system design (Rhino/GH); executed lighting & real-time visualizations with Enscape.

Advanced Synthesis Optional Studio on Social Justice.


UX Design / HCI Research / Design System

Adaptive User Interface for Venmo

2022, Course Work

Design of AI Products

Pittsburgh, PA

CMU Human Computer Interaction Institute

Group project design on applying adaptive user interface (AUI) concepts for recurring payments using Apple ios design system and animation. Design critique and feedback on this new AUI feature with Micah Alpern, design head at Venmo.


UX Design / HCI Research

CUI for Autonomous Vehicle

2022, Course Work

Interaction Design Overview

Pittsburgh, PA

CMU Human Computer Interaction Institute

Group Project Design and implementation of a conversational user interface that enabled a tailored experience for a trip in an autonomous vehicle using Voiceflow. Successfully applied human-centered design methods to design an end-to-end experience in which the CUI accounted for complex scenarios in the user journey map. 

Tested 5 milestone scenarios agents with 20+ participants for iterative design improvements.