The Problem of Media Noise

The Problem of Media Noise

After 15 years of crafting digital experiences and placing users at the center of everything I design, I found myself trapped in the most poorly designed user experience of all: modern media consumption. The irony wasn’t lost on me - here I was, preaching user-centered design by day, while doomscrolling through anxiety-inducing headlines by night.

As someone with a Masters in AI, I couldn’t help but notice how algorithms had essentially gamified our attention spans. These systems weren’t optimizing for user wellbeing or knowledge transfer - they were optimizing for one metric: engagement. And let me tell you, nothing says “engagement” quite like rage-clicking through 47 articles about why your generation is responsible for the death of fabric softener.

The Cost of Doomscrolling (A UX Designer’s Nightmare)

Picture this: A Research Software Engineer who specializes in creating “seamless digital experiences” spending three hours seamlessly transitioning from one anxiety-inducing article to another. The user journey? Start with checking the weather, end up reading conspiracy theories about birds. The conversion funnel? Sanity in, existential dread out.

My behavioral science background was screaming at me. I was watching myself become a case study in operant conditioning - refresh, scroll, dopamine hit, repeat. The platforms had created the perfect Skinner box, and I was the pigeon pecking at the news feed button hoping for… what exactly? Enlightenment? Hardly.

The worst part? I knew exactly what was happening. I could map out the dark UX patterns, identify the persuasive design elements, and still found myself three hours deep into an article about someone’s controversial opinion on sandwich construction.

Building Resilience Through Design Thinking (Or: Physician, Heal Thyself)

So I did what any self-respecting engineer would do: I decided to solve my own problem. Enter oncemag.com - my attempt at applying Design Thinking methodology to the information overload crisis.

The process went something like this:

• Empathize: Realize I’m drowning in digital noise (also, so is everyone else)
• Define: The problem isn’t information - it’s information without intention
• Ideate: What if news consumption wasn’t designed like a slot machine?
• Prototype: Build a platform that respects cognitive load
• Test: Use it myself and stop checking if the world ended every 5 minutes

oncemag: A Weekly Dose of Sanity

Here’s what oncemag.com actually is: a weekly magazine that collects the most iconic, important news and presents it as a curated, predictable package. No scrolldoom. No endless feeds. Just a satisfying piece of information that arrives like clockwork - predictive, non-intimidating, optimistic, but overall critical with that essential splash of sarcasm.

Think of it as the antithesis of modern media consumption. Instead of 24/7 anxiety delivery, you get a weekly digest that respects both your time and your sanity. It’s journalism meets curation meets “let’s not lose our minds, shall we?”

The format is deliberate: weekly, because anything more frequent is just noise wearing a tuxedo. Predictive, because understanding where we’re heading matters more than obsessing over every micro-event. Optimistic yet critical, because the world needs hope seasoned with healthy skepticism. And yes, sarcastic, because sometimes the only reasonable response to absurdity is a well-placed eye roll.

Democratizing Sanity in the Attention Economy

My work has always focused on democratizing communication between users and organizations. With oncemag.com, I’m trying to democratize something even more fundamental: the right to not be constantly manipulated by engagement algorithms.

The platform represents my optimistic lens on the world - the belief that we can create digital experiences that enhance rather than hijack our lives. It’s built on the radical assumption that people are capable of consuming information thoughtfully when given tools that support rather than subvert their intentions.

As someone who looks at everyday activities seeking optimization opportunities, I couldn’t ignore the glaring inefficiency of modern media consumption. We’re essentially running our brains on Windows Vista when we could be running on… well, anything else.

The Bigger Vision: A Platform for Critical Thinking

But here’s the thing - oncemag is just the beginning. My plans go beyond a weekly magazine. I’m building towards something bigger: a platform for critical thinking that includes in-depth researched living topics, timeline visualizations that teach us where we come from and where we’re going.

Imagine interactive timelines that don’t just show events but reveal patterns. Deep dives into topics that matter, researched with the rigor of academia but presented with the accessibility of your favorite podcast. Visual storytelling that makes complex ideas digestible without dumbing them down.

This is about creating a sanity bubble - but not an echo chamber. It’s a space where you’d want your parents to find you, and where you’d want your children to get lost in. A digital environment that nurtures curiosity rather than exploiting it, that builds understanding rather than harvesting clicks.

The Research Software Engineer’s Rebellion

Building oncemag.com is my act of rebellion against the attention merchants. But it’s also an act of creation - building the media ecosystem we deserve rather than settling for the one we’ve inherited.

In true prototyping fashion, it’s an ongoing experiment. We’re starting with the weekly magazine format, but the roadmap includes:

• Interactive timeline visualizations that make history tangible
• In-depth research pieces that go beyond surface-level analysis
• Critical thinking tools that help readers develop their own analytical skills
• A community of people who value depth over speed, understanding over reaction

Because if there’s one thing my years in tech have taught me, it’s that the best solutions don’t just solve problems - they create new possibilities. And the possibility of a saner, more thoughtful information ecosystem? That’s worth building.

Your cognitive load - and your children’s future media literacy - will thank you.