Research vision · Human–computer interaction
Interactive Tools for Design Reasoning
I envision interactive tools that help people reason through complex problems and make informed decisions. My research investigates how these tools can support reasoning about both problems and solutions as they develop together.
Designers do more than find solutions to predefined problems. As they develop a design, they also reconsider goals, identify constraints, and discover new possibilities. Yet design tools increasingly emphasize producing outcomes, while important opportunities to examine the decisions behind those outcomes can be missed.
I study this challenge in CAD and digital fabrication, where decisions about geometry, materials, fabrication, and physical use shape one another. My projects investigate three ways to support this reasoning: comparing possible fabrication workflows (CAMeleon), prompting reflection during modeling (aCADemy), and helping collaborators develop decisions that remain unresolved (FuzzyCAD).
Research question · How can interactive tools support design reasoning as problems and solutions co-evolve?
I organize this research around two dimensions: whether a tool begins by supporting the Problem Space or the Solution Space, and whether reasoning involves individuals, groups, or communities. These are entry points, not one-way processes: understanding the problem and developing solutions continually inform each other.
Looking ahead, I want to explore how design communities can capture and organize reasoning so it travels with shared CAD models and can be reused by others. When that reasoning is missing or incomplete, I want to investigate tools that help communities reconstruct possible explanations from existing artifacts and shared expertise. In the longer term, I hope to extend these approaches to architectural and graphic design, and to everyday decisions where people discover what they need while exploring options.
Updates & milestones
Upcoming A-exam presentation: Beyond Design Outcomes: Interactive Tools for Design Reasoning. I will present my research agenda on how interactive tools can support reasoning as design problems and solutions co-evolve. Cornell Tech, Bloomberg Center, Room 201 (20 VC). To request the Zoom link, please email sf522@cornell.edu.
Presented the TOM assistive technology search engine with Maayan Keren and the TOM Global team at Cornell Tech's AI and Accessibility Summit 2026 ↗.
Siegel PiTech PhD Impact Fellow with TOM Global. Built a multi-source assistive technology search tool. Project details ↗
CAMeleon was accepted to ACM CHI 2026; I attended and presented the work in Barcelona, April 13–17.
OriStitch was featured in Cornell News ↗.
Y-AR and OriStitch were published at the ACM Symposium on Computational Fabrication.
2025 PiTech fellowship work featured in a Cornell spotlight ↗.
PiTech PhD Impact Fellow with NYC Mayor's Office of Climate & Environmental Justice. Flood dashboard ↗
Invited talk at Cornell Tech's XR Collaboratory.
Invited talk at Carnegie Mellon University's Generative Systems for Design class.
Received an XR Collaboratory Prototyping Grant ↗.
Publications, ongoing research & applied projects
Showing all 9 projects
CAMeleon lets designers compare fabrication workflows for the same CAD model. By examining alternative processes and their trade-offs, designers can explore possibilities beyond familiar methods and reconsider the goals and criteria guiding their choices.
aCADemy is an AI-based reflective interface that works alongside CAD software. It raises contextual questions about fabrication during modeling, helping designers recognize considerations as their designs develop. Questions can remain relevant before a designer is ready to act, while design decisions stay in the designer's hands.
FuzzyCAD lets collaborators mark unresolved decisions directly on CAD geometry and communicate the constraints, context, and competing alternatives behind them. Across asynchronous handoffs, collaborators with different expertise can advance the design without prematurely finalizing decisions, and reconsider how inherited problems were framed.
People seeking assistive technology often describe everyday challenges without knowing the technical names of relevant solutions. Developed with TOM Global, this tool connects conversational intake to searches across assistive technology catalogs, open-source designs, and commercial products. It helps staff assess whether a result can be used as-is, adapted, or turned into a new maker challenge when existing solutions do not fit.
Developed with the NYC Mayor's Office of Climate & Environmental Justice, this interactive dashboard presents flood sensor readings, historical events, and localized monitoring information in an accessible format. It helps New York City residents explore flood-related data and better understand conditions relevant to their neighborhoods.
Y-AR is a mixed-reality CAD tool for creating three-dimensional wire structures that connect to objects in the physical environment. Its interface incorporates springs as design primitives, both to apply forces that hold objects and to accommodate dimensional inaccuracies from mid-air modeling and measurement.
OriStitch transforms existing flat fabrics into self-folding three-dimensional structures through computational embroidery. Functional threads are stitched in specific patterns and then activated with heat to achieve a target form. The workflow works with a range of materials, including leather, woven fabric, and denim.
Multi-Self is a BCI–VR design tool that provides real-time visual feedback about designers' emotional responses to support metacognitive monitoring. A pilot study with 24 participants reported increased design exploration and self-awareness, while responses to the accuracy of the emotional feedback were mixed.
Emotive Room explores how an interactive architectural environment can respond to people's emotional states through real-time brain–computer interaction. By changing spatial color and form in response to stress-related feedback, the project investigates responsive environments that may support calmness and well-being.
Fishing days and life beyond CAD
Waders on, rod out, and fall colors everywhere. 🎣
A sunny day on the water, and a catch worth a photo. 🎣
Shuo Feng · Ph.D. Student, Information Science · Cornell Tech