About Me

Youth Digital Well-being Innovation and Research

Research & Innovation

As a researcher and AI product strategist, I specialize in youth digital well-being and research-driven tech solutions. With nearly two years consulting for major tech and media companies, I help organizations develop policies and products that promote adolescent mental health and development.

I hold a Master's in Social Psychology with a certificate in quantitative methods from the University of Colorado Boulder. My work combines rigorous research methodologies with practical product development, focusing on responsible AI and evidence-based content strategy.

  • Media Research & Analysis
  • AI Product Strategy & Development
  • Industry Consulting
  • Policy & Framework Design
  • Stakeholder Collaboration
  • Research Translation
Matt Puretz

Featured Projects

Innovative solutions at the intersection of research, technology, and youth digital well-being

Armadillo

2026 - Present

Created a youth-focused safety layer for the AI platforms that young people actually use (e.g. ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.) to reshape chatbot responses in a more developmentally-appropriate direction.

  • Independent benchmark testing showed adding Armadillo reduced ChatGPT's "Failing" grade responses by 84%
  • Low-cost safety solution that meets teens where they already are
  • Aimed at reducing young people's AI dependence and increasing their agency and healthy development
  • Fully-functional prototype in the validation stage
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YouTube Teen Creator Guide

2024 - 2026

Co-authored YouTube's global teen Creator Guide and consulted on the Teen Quality Principles, translating complex research into practical guidance for content creators worldwide, and drawing from research to consult on YouTube's teen policies.

  • Collaboration with international experts across adolescent development and digital well-being
  • Reviewed content and consulted on algorithmic policy recommendations
  • Translated research into digestible insights and recommendations for content creators
  • Creator Guide distributed internationally to creators that make content for teens
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AskYalda

2024 - 2026

Built an AI-powered research platform (www.askyalda.com) that delivers vetted media and developmental science insights to creators across industries, with trustworthiness and transparency as core principles.

  • Claude API integration with embedding-based search for anti-hallucination architecture
  • Built transparency through confidence-level disclosure and comprehensive source citation
  • 225+ users from high-impact target demographic
  • Enterprise version with customizable research libraries
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Public-Facing Reports

Get Real! Relatability on Demand. Teens & Screens 2025

Led flagship research study on how young people engage with traditional and digital media. Report provides creators and executives with actionable insights for making media that connects with youth audiences.

Role: Lead author
Sample: 1,500 adolescents
Type: Mixed-methods

Gaming: Inclusion's Final Boss

Led flagship study on gaming's potential for community-building, the barriers to belonging in those communities, and the ways that young people shape those communities to make them more inclusive. Report provides gaming industry insights on where action is needed to connect with more young people.

Role: Lead author
Sample: 1,500 adolescents
Type: Mixed-methods

Bridging the Empathy Gap–How Storytellers Can Capture Adolescent Audiences & Influence Perceptions of Systems-Facing Youth

Helped lead study on media's potential to help lead representation of and build empathy for systems-facing youth, including foster, immigrant, incarcerated, and unhoused youth. Provides industry recommendations for capturing authentic portrayals of youth experiencing these systems.

Role: Second author
Sample: 1,552 adolescents
Type: Survey

Heroes Like Us?

Helped lead study on film franchises adapted from comic books and how much diverse young audiences are and are not connecting with the characters they see onscreen. Provides insights into what story elements resonate with young people across demographics and recommendations for making content that resonates.

Role: Second author
Sample: 12,180 adolescents
Type: Survey