Who is making talk town?
Combining and honouring research evidence and lived experience
Zoë - Mayor
Deaf kids are in my DNA
My name is Zoë. I grew up with a deaf sibling - but didn't realise how much this influenced me until I went to university to study psychology. My undergraduate degrees had a strong emphasis on child development and psycholinguistics.
I also studied NZSL. This lead to a student job as a teacher aide for Deaf children, and after graduation, as a researcher in universities in New Zealand and abroad. At the Deafness, Cognition and Language Research Center, I ran the UK stream of an international study on Theory of Mind development in deaf toddlers.
I'm now a senior clinical audiologist, where I get to utilise cutting edge technology and counseling skills to improve quality of life for patients and whānau. Concurrently, I'm finishing up my PhD at HIT Lab NZ. I teach holistic hearing care to doctors at Fiji National University and trainee audiologists at the University of Canterbury.
To find out more about my 'why', check out my interview with Steve Moe on the seeds podcast series or more recently, Ōtautahi in Practice on Spotify.
Dr Mac - Chief Engineer
Moonlights as Parks and Recreation Manager
Dr Mackenzie Greenslade has just finished his PhD in Human Interface Technology at HIT Lab NZ (congrats Mac!!). Funded by a grant from Te Tītoki Mataora | Medtech Research Translator, Mac has joined Talk Town to build and test improvements incorporating feedback from deaf young people and whānau. Mac is a keen gamer and brings a wealth of expertise to the project.
Previous Residents
Talk Town was first published while Zoe was on parental leave with the Town Crier. Fire Chief and Speech Language Therapist Rosie Lamb provided expert support to help finish writing the final scenes and produce the game. Rosie now brings unique and important Deaf perspectives to the Speech Language Therapy programme at the University of Canterbury as a Clinical Educator.
Councillor Zoe Platt-Young wrote her Master of Human Interface Technology thesis on the game design needs of deaf young people. Check out her valuable insights here. Zoe Platt-Young is now finishing up her PhD at HIT Lab NZ.
Public Works Director, Brooklyn Waters from Stickmen Media programmed Talk Town and has provided heaps of help getting the 2026 re-release tidied up. Thanks Brook!
Talk Town Ltd.
A social enterprise to improve outcomes for deaf kids
In order to manage the prizes and grant monies we have received, we formed Talk Town Ltd - a social enterprise. We enjoy being part of the thriving social enterprise ecosystem in Ōtautahi Christchurch, New Zealand.
So far, 100% of our monies have gone into developing the game. We are currently exploring potential partnerships and opportunities to ensure that Talk Town Ltd. is sustainable, and Talk Town is available to as many deaf kids as possible. We hope this is the first of many innovative resources we create to help improve outcomes for deaf kids.
