Ian T

Ian Tarter

I study how people make decisions, test what I find against data, and prototype what they need.

Open to full-time UX research and data roles, fall 2027

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Ian Tarter

About

I studied cognitive science at Carleton College, with a minor in data science and statistics. I worked in two labs there: one designed studies to help language learners get comfortable making mistakes, and the other measured allyship with researchers at Northwestern, UChicago and Yale.

I also design board games. Button Shy Games is publishing The Daily Weather, which raised over $29,000 from 1,800+ backers on Kickstarter.

Case studies

EXACT Sports, 2026

Measuring athletes with a phone

How interviews with coaches shaped an AR app that replaces pen-and-paper testing at athletic events.

Read the case study
Embodied Cognition Lab, 2025–26

Making mistakes feel safe

Designing and piloting a role-playing workshop to help language learners get comfortable making mistakes.

Read the case study
BIRDS Lab, 2025–26

Words that actually help

Surveys of 300+ LGBTQ+ people on which kinds of sympathy actually help.

Read the case study

Experience

UX Engineer Intern EXACT Sports

Ran field research with coaches, then designed, built and tested an iPhone app that measures athletes with AR and computer vision.

UX Intern SayKid

Tested and built voice apps in Voiceflow for ToyBot, a learning toy that kids talk to.

Research Assistant BIRDS Lab & Embodied Cognition Lab

Designed study protocols, ran pilot studies and feedback sessions, and wrote proposals with collaborators at Northwestern, UChicago and Yale.

R&D Intern WizKids

Built a Monte Carlo simulation to choose which characters go in each Star Trek: Captain's Chair expansion, weighing fan appeal against licensing costs. Ranked hundreds of outside game pitches with a weighted rubric built from the brand and market trends.

Data & Operations Intern EXACT Sports

Analyzed enrollment data behind a 13% year-over-year increase and built a staffing algorithm for hundreds of camps.

Skills

Research
Interviews, field observation, usability testing, surveys, experimental design, qualitative coding, A/B testing
Data
Python (pandas, NumPy), R (tidyverse, Shiny), SQL, regression, Monte Carlo simulation, data visualization
Design & build
Figma, prototyping, Swift and SwiftUI, ARKit and Vision, Voiceflow, Git and GitHub
Strategy
Market and competitor analysis, revenue modeling, recommendations to leadership

Games

The Daily Weather's navy wallet with its yellow cloud logo and Ian Tarter's name, lying on a spread of the game's weather, weekday and week cardsButton Shy, 2026

The Daily Weather

A pocket-sized solo card game with a new puzzle every day. Its Kickstarter raised over $29,000 from 1,800+ backers.

Read the case study
1 player, in progress

Asterion

In this solo campaign roguelite, uncover the mystery of the minotaur's labyrinth by constructing it yourself.

2–6 players, in progress

Superlatives

In this thinky cooperative word-guesser, you can see everyone's word but your own! As a group, assign silly superlatives like “Easiest to Balance on Your Head” or “Best Thing to Have on a Desert Island” in order to deduce your word.

2–4 players, in progress

Alphabet Soup

In this trick-taker word-maker, collaborate with your partner to strategically win words, and poison your opponent's supply with nasty letters.

See all my games

Contact

I'm looking for full-time UX research and human-centered data roles starting after I finish at Carnegie Mellon in August 2027. Publishers: ask me about Asterion, Superlatives or Alphabet Soup.