Misinformation and disinformation thrive in today’s technology landscape, and arguably present the greatest threat to modern society. Information architecture – the practice of designing and managing digital spaces – has an opportunity to intervene. This podcast looks at disinformation from an information architecture perspective, and considers ways to expand the practice of IA to address this new reality.
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What is Information Architecture? Information architecture is the practice of designing virtual structures – the shape and form of online spaces and digital products. When you click on a navigation menu or follow the steps in a process, you're experiencing the information architecture of a web site or digital product.
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What is disinformation? Understanding disinformation is the purpose of this podcast. We are trying to figure out exactly what it is and what it means. If information architecture is the practice of designing virtual spaces, then disinformation is something that can occupy that space to disrupt the user's experience. Alternatively, it is a way of manipulating the space (like flooding it with irrelevant facts) to achieve an end unrelated to the space's original intention.
Dan is an information architect, user researcher, and product designer. His company, Curious Squid, LLC, consults with organizations all over the world on information architecture and user experience design. He is the author of three books on user experience design. In his previous podcast, A Lens A Day, Dan recorded interviews with over 50 practicing information architects about their practice.
Brandon is a program leader at Rare, a conservation nonprofit with a distinctly human approach to creating community-based solutions. For the past 5 years at Rare, Brandon has directed the Climate Culture program, helping shift Americans towards the adoption of high-impact climate solutions that reduce carbon emissions.
Brandon is also a recovering CEO. Previous to Rare, he was CEO of Adaptive Path, a once pioneering UX design firm based in San Francisco. Under his leadership, the firm was acquired by Capital One in 2014, when WIRED took the moment to recognized Adaptive Path’s role in having an "outsized effect on the Web we know."
Brandon still serves as a member of Board of Advisors for the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Institute of Design in Chicago. And for the past 7 years, he’s been living with his family in Washington DC.
Dana is a pioneer and thought leader in civic design, bringing deep experience to that space. After working with banks, insurance companies, and tech companies for decades to improve experiences for their customers and workers, Dana takes that knowledge to the government space. She has applied this work in dozens of states, and even advised election commissions in other countries.
David Dylan Thomas lives a double life as the writer and director of White Meat, a movie that answers the question, "What if enslaved people came back from the dead as zombies but only ate white people?" and as the author of Design for Cognitive Bias, creator and host of The Cognitive Bias Podcast, and a twenty-year practitioner of content strategy and UX, who has consulted major clients in entertainment, healthcare, publishing, finance, and retail. As the founder and CEO of David Dylan Thomas, LLC he offers workshops and presentations on inclusive design and the role of bias in making decisions. He has presented at TEDNYC, SXSW Interactive, Confab, An Event Apart, LavaCon, UX Copenhagen, UX Days Tokyo, Artifact, IA Conference, IxDA, Design and Content Conference, Emerging Technologies for the Enterprise, and the Wharton Web Conference on topics at the intersection of bias, design, and social justice.
Adam Ratner, MD, MPH is a pediatric infectious disease specialist in New York City. Having cared for many patients during both the 2018-2019 measles outbreak and the COVID-19 pandemic, he has a particular interest in vaccine-preventable diseases that impact children and their families.
Amelia Finaret is an associate professor of global health and economics at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania. She is also a clinical dietitian at a local hospital, seeing patients with diabetes, eating disorders, growth problems, cardiovascular disease, and obesity. She is the author, with Will Masters, of the textbook Food Economics: Agriculture, Nutrition, and Health, and her research focuses on data quality for large-scale nutrition surveys, the health effects of foods, and the economics of malnutrition.
Claire Wardle is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at Cornell University. She studies information ecosystems, with a focus on effective communication in an age of AI and conspiracy.
Nick Suplina is the Senior Vice President for Law and Policy of Everytown for Gun Safety, the nation’s largest gun violence prevention organization. In this role, he oversees the organizational strategy for policy, research and investigations, and leads the group's work confronting the disinformation spread by the gun lobby and its allies. He has served as a government fraud prosecutor and as an advisor to the New York State Attorney General, has testified before congress, and regularly appears in the news as a gun policy expert.
Zanagee Artis advocates for policies to end oil and gas leasing and development on public lands and waters at the Natural Resources Defense Council. His advocacy focuses on ending offshore drilling and conserving the Alaskan Arctic for future generations.. He co-authored A Kids Book About Climate Change and is the co-host of the associated podcast, 1 Point 5: A Kids Podcast About Climate Justice. Artis is also a founder of Zero Hour, a global youth-led climate justice organization based in the United States.