#teamrocketdesign

Our information architecture for our proposed solution: Chekkit

A Plugin for mobile and desktop applications that will let users know what is the amount of truth in each piece of news that is shared with them and that they share.  

When news links are shared in social media communities, These posts will be automatically labelled with an indicator showing how authentic the information is, ie. whether or not the link has been verified by multiple trusted news sources. Further, when people try to share these links, they will be prompted with a notice telling them that the link they're sharing is dubious.

False information is also passed along via user-generated text messages, photos, and videos. If selected by the user, the user has the option to check the information and see if it has been flagged as false or malicious information. 

To facilitate prioritizing the flow of information that has to be verified by news agencies,  when new content is generated, and it crosses x value of virality, it is intimated to news agencies for cross-checking and verification. This way, verification priority is given to the fastest- shared and most sensational fake news.

Users are also at liberty to flag down information that they know is fake, or that they think is doubtful. This flag is stored in the app’s info as one of the indicators that the story may be dubious.

These interactions take place outside the app, and are a plug in extension for all social media information sharing apps and websites.  

Users can go directly to the app to access the following features:

Inside the app, user can see and compare the reports of the same news story from different agencies, to see for themselves how true a piece of news is.  

They can directly post a link and see the veracity of the story instantly. 

They can also check the authenticity of previously seen news and articles, see their flagging history, etc, etc. Call to action buttons to flag or report certain news stories. 

MINI CHALLENGE 1

Defining our Problem Statements and Pain Points: Our Journey

When we received the design brief, we first noted some key points; the intersections between humans and technology (that’s where good design lives!), the socio-cultural challenges that arise with changing technologies, the adaptability of technology, and privacy concerns of the people that use tech.

We quickly brainstormed with our group some issues, we felt, needed help in our world today. These were all over the place! They ranged from climate change, the environment to language barriers, food practices, to social unrest and political issues. They seemed at first to be too huge and disparate problems with a HUGE scale. We discovered from the discussion that there was a common dark thread connecting some of these global issues.

This common thread is the way fake news and information in the digital space is used to affect real political, environmental and social change.

 We have therefore come up with the following problem statement:

“In the age of digitalization, people are sharing personal information unknowingly over applications and websites. This data is being collected and used to manipulate people based on their emotional and social needs.”

PAIN POINTS

You cannot track what information is shared, Who is sharing, or Who is the target

People feel scared and insecure about what information is floating around about them. This is true especially for minorities and those without power.

You cannot know what is shared inside the bubbles of social media without being inside them,

To be inside the bubble, you have to be targeted based on your biases

Impact:  This manipulation by outside parties impacts people and the environment on both local and global scales. From political polarization, communal unrest, mob lynchings to climate change denial, vaccination disbelief and other pressing concerns. 

Secondary research references:

The Year dark patterns won - https://www.fastcompany.com/3066586/the-year-dark-patterns-won

Dark Patterns in UX - https://uxdesign.cc/dark-patterns-in-ux-design-7009a83b233c

Aljazeera video - https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/peopleandpower/2019/04/india-fake-news-agitprop-190416054316199.html 

Facebook and Brexit - https://www.ted.com/talks/carole_cadwalladr_facebook_s_role_in_brexit_and_the_threat_to_democracy?language=en

Step 1 in our design sprint: 

We’ve begun our brainstorming session for problem identification. This is where we try to answer questions like:

What problems exist? Who is being affected? What contributes to the problem?