Correctiv Faktenforum
Fact checking streamlined
Correctiv's Faktenforum is a real-time web application that streamlines fact-checking. Originally conceived as an educational tool for building a fact-checking community, it proved just as useful to professional journalists.
| Client | Correctiv ↗ (opens in a new tab) |
|---|---|
| Year | 2023-present |
| Categories | App, Branding, Website |
| Collaborators | Pascal Garber ↗ (opens in a new tab), Caroline Lindecamp ↗ (opens in a new tab), Benjamin Werner ↗ (opens in a new tab) |
| Special thanks | to the fact-checking editorial staff at Correctiv |
I co-developed it from the ground up with my friend Benjamin Werner, in collaboration with project lead Caroline Lindecamp at Correctiv. We began by studying the professional team's existing workflow, which scattered information across Excel sheets, Kanban boards, and a handful of other tools. It was immediately clear that an application built for an effort this cooperative would need real-time collaboration and communication at its core. The goal was a comprehensible, transparent data structure for collecting and describing potential misinformation, the evidence that proves or disproves it, and the final rating and labeling.
The layout concept is simultaneity. The interface is a dashboard that keeps as much information as possible on the surface. The challenge was to admit as much complexity as the work demands while preserving visual and semantic orientation — especially for newcomers. Searchable, filterable activity and notification streams let users stay on top of their tasks and keep an overview. On mobile the structure stays the same. Its segments are reached seamlessly through scroll-snapping, and complexity is further reduced by moving secondary information into easy-to-reach drawers.
The app is multilingual and built around a role system that tailors the experience to each role's needs. New users need onboarding and guidance throughout; experienced users want a reduced, frictionless environment. Beyond the core check workflow, the app carries a forum section for topics ranging from meet-and-greets to feedback and events, a subscription system for workshop events, an admin area with user administration and visual data analytics, and a handbook section.
False claims travel the way soap bubbles do — they enclose a distorted picture of the world, drift within a closed sphere, and burst at the first touch. Fact-checking is that touch. I brought this motif to the project and developed it into its key visual. On the marketing website, which I designed and built, it becomes the interactive lead segment: images of the false claims drift past inside the floating bubbles, each one leading through to its fact-check.
