This is a project about tackling online disinformation

Date: 03/30/2020

Class Project

Timeline: One Semester

Project Description

The intention behind this project was twofold. How can we create hostile design that makes websites hard to access and hostile to users to discourage them from doing a certain behavior's without directly restricting access.

The second exploration was for using product design to tackle online misinformation. I leveraged Safari as a platform to develop a tool for tackling malicious actors. Coining the term Mindware. “Misinformation intentionally designed a propagated to mislead, dupe or influence opinion.”

Relevance

Sadly this project has become even more relevant. AI generated content is causing more disruption to sites like Youtube and Instagram, it’s supercharging our content landscapes with misinformation and clickbait for profit.

Contributors

Leo Felix

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Mindware

Please download this project to view it.

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Corporations and bad actors profit from disinformation, right now, nobody’s going to stop it.

Are there design solutions to real world problems. Absolutely. Design can be a tool to solve some of the worlds most complex problems by modifying user behavior with hostile and intuitive design. We can reimagine the software landscape to guide user behavior instead of always enabling user freedom.

I’m not a freedom absolutist. While Mindware doesn’t fully restrict access to any site it does add intentional hostility and friction which would in theory compel a user to second guess whether they actually want to proceed to the information they’ve requested.

Early Work Timeline