tiffany tseng

Assistant Professor, Computer Science
Barnard College, Columbia University

I direct the Design Tools Lab where we design tools that empower people to realize their creative potential.

My research combines computational technologies with design-based research to enable new forms of creative expression, including design tools in the domains of animation, machine learning modeling, electronics prototyping, and online design communities for makers.

Prior to joining Barnard, I was a research scientist at 🍎 Apple and a Project Assistant Professor at the 🗼 University of Tokyo. I also spent several years as a lead UX designer and design engineer on Tinkercad at 🧰 Autodesk and on online code editors at 🎏 Glitch. I received my PhD from the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the ✨ MIT Media Lab. In my previous life as a mechanical engineer, I designed at 💡 IDEO and 👶 Fisher-Price.

research and publications

Please check out my most recent work and publications on the Design Tools Lab website.

prospective students

For current Barnard and Columbia students, find out more about joining the Design Tools Lab as a research assistant here. The lab supports undergraduates doing research for credit and paid opportunities for master's students.

For prospective PhD students, while I do not currently have the funding to admit a student through Columbia CS, I have two pending grant applications which, if successful, would allow me to take on 1 student this coming admission cycle (for Fall 2027). I expect to know my funding situation around Feb 2027. I'm able to consider students with external funding (e.g., through NSF GRFP). If you are interested in working with me, please mention me in your graduate application to Columbia CS.

teaching

This semester (Fall 2026), I'm teaching

BC COMS3891 Senior Thesis Seminar
BC COMS3930 Creative Embedded Systems

small design tools and resources

Stencilfy Create a stencil from any text, using any font app blog post
Tinkercad Code Blocks Visual programming for Arduino Blog Post
Character design with Microbit Inspired by Tamagotchi Blog Post

fun stuff

I enjoy collecting records and was a former college radio DJ at WMBR.

I'm an avid reader and am always looking for book recommendations.

I kept a food journal of snacks and food that I ate while living in Tokyo (2020–2021).

I had a snack blog called Tasty Snacking where I reviewed over 2,000 snacks.

old version of website (2020)