Skeptical design
I’m just thinking out loud today, but wanted to get this down somewhere (even if nobody will read it). Is there a way to create a design that encourages a user to apply reasonable skepticism? I’m not talking about making people paranoid that their computer is watching them. You computer is not watching you. Honest. Rather, I’m referring to educational programs that encourage kids (K-college) to be skeptical of things they read.
This comes back to a couple recurring conversations I’ve been having about our education system. I certainly think our education system in the States has, for the most part, failed us. I don’t expect everybody to be a super genius, but I do expect a base level of competency that simply doesn’t exist. A big part of that seems to stem from an inability to discern the difference between information and propaganda.
It is true that advertising has very little effect on the younger generation (kids just coming out of high school and younger). At least they aren’t effected by traditional advertising much. There is peer-based advertising, but I digress. People today don’t seem to understand the difference between a valid and rational documentary and one-sided propaganda posing as a documentary. Or news program. Or reality (as opposed to reality TV). I propose this problem is exacerbated in the schools, but I don’t know of evidence supporting that hypothesis.
Of course, that’s an important statement unto itself. I recognize, more or less, the limitations of my own knowledge. However, I try to apply a litmus test against any new knowledge to determine if it’s reasonable. Granted, I was the kid in class that corrected the teacher or book when an error occurred. The students I’ve seen the last few years don’t even consider a text book could be wrong. Hint: every text book ever written has errors.
I don’t have any solution right now, but I wonder if there are ways to encourage exploration and skepticism into the UXD at a fundamental level. There are some amazing UIs for children to explore ideas, gamers to access advanced tools from limited controllers, and professionals to accomplish complex tasks with few keystrokes. I’m going to try drafting up some concepts over the next few weeks and explore the question here (and perhaps another blog or two). Can design encourage appropriate skepticism?