Human–computer interaction tools with gameful design for critical thinking the media ecosystem: a classification framework

In response to the ever-increasing spread of online disinformation and misinformation, several human–computer interaction tools to enhance data literacy have been developed. Among them, many employ elements of gamification to increase user engagement and reach out to a broader audience. However, there are no systematic criteria to analyze their relevance and impact for building fake news resilience, partly due to the lack of a common understanding of data literacy. In this paper we put forward an operationalizable definition of data literacy as a form of multidimensional critical thinking. We then survey 22 existing tools and classify them according to a framework of 10 criteria pointing to their gameful design and educational features. Through a comparative/contrastive analysis informed by a focus group, we provide a principled set of guidelines to develop more efficient human–computer interaction tools to teach how to critically think in the current media ecosystem.