Design built tools that broke journalism. Can we also build tools to fix it?

Journalism’s ongoing “apocalypse” is well documented: Fake news is overrunning our social media feeds, publications are folding and laying off reporters by the thousands, and journalists are facing intimidation from powerful actors around the globe, including here in North America.

Sadly, some design-driven systems like Facebook have helped accelerate this apocalypse. These are perilous times for the news, and for our very sense of reality.

But when we consider the specific needs of publications and journalists in the industry, we find problems that a robust human-centered design practice is well-equipped to tackle. Namely: Can designers help journalists do their work better? And if so — how?

In this session, I will briefly outline the perilous problems facing journalism today—making the case that the most headline-grabbing problems (“fake news is taking over!”) are often the result of more tackleable problems that are going unresolved (like “how can I ensure my content gets to my readers directly?”).

Then, using examples from my work and others, I will highlight methodologies from service design, systems design, and design research that designers can employ to help journalists and publications build a more resilient, user-driven strategy.

I will conclude with some best practice tips for how designers can step beyond our design circles to proactively offer strategic support to journalism — and other civic industries in need.