Qi YangAssistant Professor of Design Studieshe/him/his

My background spans design, psychology, and systems engineering. As an interdisciplinary researcher and designer, I develop design tools that help people make creative and human-centered decisions. My research focuses on two connected agendas: how people move through ideas and how people move through space.

In the mental realm, I investigate metacognition in design, studying how people reflect on and guide their own thinking. I design human and AI co-creative systems that augment cognition, encourage curiosity, support long term skill growth, and help overcome design fixation. This work aims to create tools that are wise — tools that expand human creativity and learning rather than simply producing outcomes.

In the physical environment, I study the dynamic interaction between people and buildings in healthcare and educational settings. Using empirical studies and computational modeling, I examine how spaces shape human wayfinding behavior and experience such as perceived uncertainty, with the goal of improving human health and well-being.

Selected Publications

Yang, Q., Feng, S., Zhao, T., & Kalantari, S. (2024). Design with myself: A brain–computer interface design tool that predicts live emotion to enhance metacognitive monitoring of designers. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 185, 103229. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2024.103229

Yang, Q., Dubey, R. K., & Kalantari, S. (2024). PATH-U: A data-driven agent-based wayfinding model incorporating perceived path uncertainty and cognitive strategies in unfamiliar indoor environments. In Building Simulation (pp. 1-23). Beijing: Tsinghua University Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-024-1217-3

Yang, Q., & Kalantari, S. (2024). Real-time continuous perceived uncertainty annotation for spatial navigation studies in buildings. Journal of Building Engineering, 82, 108250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2023.108250

Yang, Q., Cruz-Garza, J. G., & Kalantari, S. (2023). Brain-computer interfaces as an architectural design tool: Feasibility and usability study. Automation in Construction, 154, 105011. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2023.105011

Kalantari, S., Mostafavi, A., Xu, T. B., Lee, A. S., & Yang, Q. (2024). Comparing spatial navigation in a virtual environment vs. an identical real environment across the adult lifespan. Computers in Human Behavior, 157, 108210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2024.108210

For a full list of publications, see Yang’s CV.