Qihui Gu

Information Experience Design (MA)
A color photo of Qihui Gu wearing her favorite grey mohair hat and a cream fleece jacket, sitting by the sea with fjords in the background, calmly looking at the camera.
Echo Therapy — Term 3 Design Fiction Project
Echo Therapy — Term 3 Design Fiction Project
Echo Therapy — Term 3 Design Fiction Project. An overview showcasing the complete Shella experience.
This video presents the full outcome of my design fiction project, including a futuristic advertisement, user interactions with the AI mental health product Shella, the app workflow with CBT homework and a lengthy user agreement, and packaging design with subtle critical messages. Set in a near-future context, the project explores the applications and potential implications of AI in psychological therapy.
Shella Product Packaging Design — Term 3 Design Fiction Project
Shella Product Packaging Design — Term 3 Design Fiction Project
Shella Product Packaging Design — Term 3 Design Fiction Project. An in-depth presentation of design strategies behind the product and its packaging.
Design Fiction Video Screenshot — Term 2 Project
Design Fiction Video Screenshot — Term 2 Project
Design Fiction Video Screenshot — Term 2 Project. The video depicts a speculative scenario of a future user’s emotional dependence on the Shella device. It effectively conveys Shella’s subtle control and emotional influence, highlighting the critical intent behind the design fiction.
Echo Therapy — Term 3 Design Fiction Project
Shella Product Packaging Design — Term 3 Design Fiction Project
Design Fiction Video Screenshot — Term 2 Project

About

Qihui Gu is a product designer based between London and Shanghai. She holds a BA in Furniture and Product Design from Chelsea College of Arts and is currently pursuing her Master’s at the Royal College of Art. Her practice focuses on product creation, user research, and designing for vulnerable groups.

She is skilled in nature-inspired design, multi-species narratives, and multi-sensory experiences, using these to explore aesthetics of control and emotional dependence in emerging technologies. Her current project, Shella, critically examines the role of AI in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Combining personal experiences, expert interviews, and user testing, the project simulates a soothing and gentle AI therapy device—while revealing deeper concerns around emotional dependency, data extraction, and human-machine trust. Through tactile prototypes, narrative design, and interface systems, she exposes how AI, under the pressures of overstretched healthcare systems, may offer comfort on the surface while subtly exerting control.

Framing her research through the question “How can speculative design methodologies enable critical discourse around AI’s role in therapeutic settings?”, she uses design fiction and contextual inquiry to provoke reflection on trust, autonomy, and emotional automation in human-machine interactions.

Contact：

qihuigu9@gmail.com

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