Journalism + Design

09/26/2018

Fixing the Unplanned Internet (Workshop)

Next week, Aram Zucker-Scharff of the Washington Post will kick off our three-part event series, "Ad Tech: Broken by Design," on the messy relationship between digital advertising and journalism.

Join us for the first workshop on Wednesday, Oct. 3, at 6pm—details and registration here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fixing-the-unplanned-internet-workshop-registration-50506273624

AD TECH: BROKEN BY DESIGNA three-part series from The New School’s Journalism + Design Program Session I: Fixing the Unplanned Internet (Workshop)Q: What piece of technology has done more to shape news and general web design than anything else? A: The banner ad. From dictating how websites take fo...

02/07/2018

Finally, tech's elite speak out against Silicon Valley's unchecked power

Miss our event on Monday night? Not to worry! You can re-watch the whole thing on The New School's livestream channel (https://livestream.com/thenewschool/Dark-Side-of-Design), and/or read this fabulous write-up from Mashable. Two thumbs-up for reporter Kerry Flynn's excellent kicker:

"I'm playing Candy Crush. I figured it was appropriate," the student next to me said to his girlfriend.
"Well, they aren't talking about that. They're talking about the little red dot," she replied, referencing the notification symbol on smartphone apps.
The panelists talked about both.

Meet the new Center for Humane Technology.

02/06/2018

Eugene Lang College

We're live now with Nicholas Thompson of WIRED, Alexis Lloyd of Axios, Roger McNamee of Elevation Partners, James Williams of Time Well Spent, behavioral consultant and author Nir Eyal, and design ethicist Tristan Harris. Watch them delve into the complex issues around design, ethics, and addictive technology:

The Dark Side of Design: Where is the line between sharp UX and user manipulation? As venture capitalists and former tech execs speak out about social media addiction, designers are facing ethical questions about their work.

Join Journalism + Design for an intimate discussion about how persuasive technology and behavioral design are colonizing our attention. What can we learn about designing digital content and reaching a large online audience—while maintaining ethical rigor?

Location:
Theresa Lang Community and Student Center, Arnhold Hall, 202
55 West 13th Street, Room I-202, New York
Monday, February 5, 2018 at 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm

02/05/2018

The Dark Side of Design by The New School

Yesterday, the New York Times reported on the growing backlash against big tech companies, and a new coalition aimed at spreading awareness around their tactics. Backed by Time Well Spent's Tristan Harris, early Facebook investor Roger McNamee, and Common Sense Media, the new organization is launching a "Truth About Tech" campaign "modeled on antismoking drives and focused on children because of their vulnerability."

Check out the article (link in comments), and if you're interested in the subject, tune into our event tonight, The Dark Side of Design, where we'll delve into this very debate. Tickets are sold out, but we'll have a livestream up here:

https://livestream.com/thenewschool/Dark-Side-of-Design

Watch The New School's The Dark Side of Design on Livestream.com. Where is the line between sharp UX and user manipulation? As venture capitalists and former tech execs speak out about social media addiction, designers are facing ethical questions about their work. Join Journalism + Design for an in...

02/02/2018

Nir Eyal on Persuasive vs. Coercive Technology | Journalism + Design

We caught up with behavioral design consultant Nir Eyal ahead of Monday's panel and got his thoughts on habit-forming technologies, the difference between persuasion and coercion, and how companies can make digital products that people actually want to use. Check it out, and register for our event on Feb. 5 with Nir, James Williams of Time Well Spent, and Alexis Lloyd of Axios. Only a few spots left!

Persuasion is when you help people do something they want to do. Psychological hacks that get a user to do something they didn’t want to, that’s unethical.

02/01/2018

Our Reading List on Addictive Technology and Persuasive Design | Journalism + Design

Coming to our event next week, or just interested in design ethics? We put together a reading list of the articles that inspired conversation among the J+D team and sparked the idea for our panel, "The Dark Side of Design." Check it out, and join us on Monday to hear more on the subject from behavioral design consultant Nir Eyal, Time Well Spent cofounder James Williams, and Axios Chief Design Officer Alexis Lloyd.

Where is the line between sharp UX and user manipulation? How can we design content to reach a large online audience while maintaining ethical rigor?

01/30/2018

The Crisis in Journalism Is a Wicked Problem | Journalism + Design

J+D Director Heather Chaplin has been exploring the idea of "wicked problems" — a term coined in 1973 by two design theorists — as a new way to view the crisis in journalism. A wicked problem is one that is so complex, so unstable, and so multi-faceted that it can never be solved, she writes. "Can we give up looking for a solution and dedicate ourselves instead to a lifelong practice of observing, adjusting, intervening, and redesigning as needed?"

People who work on wicked problems don’t look for grand solutions. They study the system, pay attention to relationships, then look for leverage points.

01/24/2018

What We’ll Be Up To in 2018 | Journalism + Design

Thanks for checking out Journalism + Design! Wondering what we're all about? Here's a recent post on what we have in store for 2018:
http://journalismdesign.com/what-well-be-up-to-in-2018/

Since our launch in 2014, the Journalism + Design undergraduate program at The New School has become the second biggest major at the college and the fastest-growing degree at the university. Today, we have more than 80 J + D majors and hundreds of students taking our classes. Our professors come fro...

01/16/2018

Journalism + Design's cover photo