NPR already distributes news and cultural programming to tens of millions across the globe. As a media organization known for their reputability, our aim was to create a platform that enables NPR staff to inform and educate their audience about fake news topics that are trending around the world.

^{Goals
Design an NPR platform that makes it easy for users to identify and edcuate themselves about fake news topics.

Performance Indicators
SUS of final prototype >“A” grade

Responsibilities
End-to-end research, design, testing}

^{Timeline
2 Weeks

Team
3 Designers

Disclaimer
Passion project—prototypes are not actual NPR products.}

New Designs

A list view of trending fact check articles

A new ‘fact check’ section on NPR’s site lists controversial news topics with truthfulness badges for easy scannability.

Article details view with references to factual information

Provides users a full analysis on the truthfulness rating and gives citations to factual information & reputable sources.

User Research

“When deciding to believe news that I read, I need to see more sides of the same story.”

-User Interview

Interviews

We needed to talk to everyday people to understand their news consumption habits.

I interviewed a dozen individuals from the San Francisco Bay Area, with a goal to gauge awareness of fake news, and see the general willingness to fact-check.

We also conducted a 23-question survey through our network, synthesizing results from over 50 participants.

“How do you get your news?”

“Do you seek out news? Or are you exposed to it throughout the day? Why?”

“Do you fact-check news that you read? How? And how often?“

“When do you question the truthfulness of news that you read?”

52

Survey respondents

12

User interviews

3

Hours of interviews

8+

Hours of data synthesis

Findings

We synthesized our interview feedback on an Affinity Map to capture the motivations and preferences of our users. After comparing with our survey data, we distilled our findings into a few key focus areas that became the basis of our design:

People take a low effort approach to news

^{Many people consume news when it's convenient for them.}
^{Usually through app updates from trusted sources, or sometimes just social media.}

Those who fact check want to see more sides of the same story

^{We also found that skeptical users tend to make a web search for varying reports on news topics.}
^{They find that coverage from reputable sources helps determine their belief in news.}

Scannability is important when reading or fact checking news

^{Our survey data revealed that users favor scannability when checking news articles, or even when determining whether a news topic is fake or not.}

Inspiration

Our market research revealed various existing fact-checking tools on the web.

However, these products lacked reputability, usability, and scannability.

We thought carefully about how to adapt some of their most impactful features into a reputable NPR solution.

We were particularly inspired by:

^{The way certain sites evaluate and rate news for trustworthiness.}
^{How certain sites educate users on red flags to catch when reading news.}
^{The consistency of supporting sources in a fact check analysis}

Satisfying Personas

Based on research insights, we created user personas for two separate news consumers. Their goals and pain points represent feedback gathered from interviews and survey data.