Johnson Prototyping

To test the early version of my misinformation-spotting (fabricated information/news) PowerPoint game, I conducted two playtests with my roommates. Each session lasted about 5-7 minutes. I observed how they interacted with the clickable texts acting as buttons to jump from slide to slide. In my game, there are a total of 4 headlines, each has three options to choose from. I set up true, false, and fact-check  buttons for them to pick. The fact-check button is meant to imitate real-life fact-checking services, they often give out more accurate opinion on certain events. For the headlines, I've given them a "AI-generated" feeling when wording to confuse them and make them second-guess themselves. For example, they were convinced that the solar panel generating power during night time headline was false but it was true. One roommate didn't hesitate to press false and skipped the fact-check and found out that it was actually true. 

On the fact-check, I decided to make a fake fact-check to make them realize that not everything on the internet is true, sometimes even the fact-checkers themselves. I purposefully misspelled fact-check and not surprisingly, neither roommate found out before I disclosed this information in the game. They then realized that they need to be more careful when taking in information from the internet. 

In both true and false answers, I put down why it was either real/false, and showed them the source of the information. Both roommates looked carefully at the answers and hoping they got the right answer. However, the game isn't about getting the right answers, it's about getting the information from authentic sources. I observed that when they seem puzzled about whether the headline is true or false, they will often look for the fact-checker. I think that's a good way to teach our future players about what they should do when something about an article is sketchy and they're skeptical about the authenticity of the information. 

Overall, they  both passed the prototype and I was satisfied with the results. I asked them to share their thoughts after the game finished. They both claimed that they are vulnerable to misinformation and that they need to work on more about protecting themselves from false/fabricated contents on the internet. I think this prototyping is very successful as I had seen the results I was expecting. I'm getting a better idea of how our future game development will go based on this interactive experience. 

For the future game development, I will be sure to add in ideas of how fact-checking can help many people to detect false information. This includes adding clearer visual cues, such as highlighting suspicious wording, inconsistent imaged, or unreliable sources. This will undoubted increase our workload but it will help players to clearly see where the information are mismatched and how discrepency are detected. I also plan to incorporate more interactive elements that show why a headline is misleading rather than just telling the players it's false. By giving players the option to examine sources, compare claims and identity red flags (suspicious wordings) the game can strengthen their real-world false information detection skills.

As the project evolves, I hope our game can have a simple but impactful reminder of how fact-checking isn't just a tool, it's a habit and the go-to when people are unsure about certain information, to prevent them from manipulation, misunderstanding and the spread of harmful misinformation.