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Paris Buttfield-Addison
Hi! I’m a computer scientist, researcher, game designer, writer, artist, and technical product leader based in Hobart. I work at the intersection of technology, policy, and human behaviour — turning what people actually do with software into decisions teams can ship against. At Yarn Spinner I’m Head of Product, Research & Analytics, leading the work that informs narrative tools used in thousands of games played by millions, including DREDGE, A Short Hike, and Venba. I co-founded Secret Lab, the indie studio behind BAFTA-winning Night in the Woods and the ABC Play School games, and earlier helped ship consumer products at scale at Meebo (acquired by Google).
I’ve written over 20 technical books on AI, machine learning, and software development. My PhD (Computer Science, HCI-adjacent, on cross-platform personal information management) trained me to work fluently across qualitative and quantitative methods — interview and diary studies, moderated and unmoderated testing, surveys and trade-off analysis, and A/B-integrated decision frameworks. I’m completing a law degree because I wanted to understand how regulation works, particularly for AI. I do independent research on AI governance, analysing gaps between policy, law, and how people actually behave when using these systems, and I build AI-agent workflows to accelerate synthesis and brief-writing.
I help run /dev/world (longest-running Apple developer event not run by Apple, since 2008), serve as President of Tasmanian Game Makers, and host a radio show on space news. I’ve worked at Meebo (acquired by Google) and delivered keynotes and workshops worldwide.
Learn more about me. My amazing wife Mars is here.
I’ve written over 20 technical books on AI, machine learning, and software development. My PhD (Computer Science, HCI-adjacent, on cross-platform personal information management) trained me to work fluently across qualitative and quantitative methods — interview and diary studies, moderated and unmoderated testing, surveys and trade-off analysis, and A/B-integrated decision frameworks. I’m completing a law degree because I wanted to understand how regulation works, particularly for AI. I do independent research on AI governance, analysing gaps between policy, law, and how people actually behave when using these systems, and I build AI-agent workflows to accelerate synthesis and brief-writing.
I help run /dev/world (longest-running Apple developer event not run by Apple, since 2008), serve as President of Tasmanian Game Makers, and host a radio show on space news. I’ve worked at Meebo (acquired by Google) and delivered keynotes and workshops worldwide.
Learn more about me. My amazing wife Mars is here.
