Status: Conceptual Design → Proof of Concept Development
Wayfinder is a heutagogic capability development pathway and interactive journalism framework designed to transform journalism from static truth-claims into navigable knowledge ecosystems.
We haven’t moved from "Truth to Post-Truth" but from an era where knowledge systems were simpler to one where they’re overwhelmed by data velocity. Data is outpacing knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom.
Traditional journalism says: "Here’s what happened." Wayfinder says: "Here’s the evidence ecosystem. Navigate it. Understand how we know."
Wayfinder creates boundary objects—interactive investigations that serve different communities while maintaining evidential coherence:
Activists: Tool for mobilization
Policymakers: Decision support system
Academics: Research resource
Skeptics: Challenge mechanism
Affected Communities: Validation and voice
Journalists: Living investigation
All use the SAME evidence but interpret it for their needs. This enables coordination without consensus.
Every claim is evaluated across six dimensions:
*P*rovenance: Who said it? What’s their track record?
*R*elevance: Does this actually address the claim?
*O*bjectivity: What biases exist? Are they disclosed?
*M*ethods: How was evidence gathered? Is it sound?
*P*erspective: What viewpoints are represented? What’s missing?
*T*imeliness: Is this current? Has it been superseded?
Traditional journalism conflates all four. Wayfinder separates and makes each navigable:
Data Layer: Raw evidence, fully accessible
Knowledge Layer: Structured claims with PROMPT analysis
Intelligence Layer: Pattern recognition, contradiction identification
Wisdom Layer: Practical reasoning for decision-making
> "You’re not obsolete. You’re needed more than ever—but as Wayfinders, not gatekeepers. People need guides who show them HOW to navigate complexity, not just WHAT to believe."
Self-directed, result-focused capability development:
Level 1 (4-8 hours): Evidence Mapper - Map one claim’s evidence using PROMPT
Level 2A (8-12 hours): Process Documentarian - Show your methodology transparently
Level 2B (6-10 hours): Uncertainty Communicator - Replace false certainty with honest uncertainty
Level 3 (20-40 hours): Knowledge Architect - Create full interactive investigation
Level 4 (Ongoing): Epistemic Infrastructure Builder - Build tools, teach others
Each level produces usable professional outputs, not just learning badges.
Read: [claude.md](./claude.md) for full context
Try: Level 1 Evidence Mapping (4 hours)
Choose one claim you’re currently reporting
Apply PROMPT framework to evaluate evidence
See immediate value in your work
Decide: Continue or not (no pressure)
PhD Integration: This research can be dissertation work
Curriculum Development: Level 1-3 as journalism course modules
Research Questions: Measuring impact on comprehension, trust, behavior change
Phase 1 (NOW): Obsidian/TiddlyWiki/Notion prototypes
Phase 2 (3-9 months): SvelteKit + PostgreSQL + graph database custom platform
Phase 3 (9-18 months): Ecosystem building, community tools
Objects that maintain coherence across communities while adapting to local needs, enabling coordination without consensus.
Progressive disclosure (avoid cognitive overload)
Meta-cognitive prompts (make thinking visible)
Empathy-first contradictory evidence (reduce defensiveness)
Transparent navigation analytics (show exploration patterns)
Designed considering biological attention limits, psychological identity protection, social collective sense-making, and technical accessibility requirements.
✅ Conceptual framework (PROMPT, boundary objects, heutagogic design)
✅ Four-level capability pathway design
✅ Cognitive science integration
✅ SWOT analysis
✅ Technical architecture planning
🔄 Level 1 materials development
🔄 Evidence mapping templates
🔄 First example investigation
Week 1: Document Level 1 pathway, create evidence mapping template, build one example
Week 2: Share with 3 journalist friends for feedback
Week 3: Build simple website (GitLab Pages)
Week 4: First 5-10 participants start Level 1
[claude.md](./claude.md): Comprehensive project documentation for AI assistants
[CONTRIBUTING.md](./CONTRIBUTING.md): How to contribute to Wayfinder
[CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md](./CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md): Community standards
[SECURITY.md](./SECURITY.md): Security and transparency policies
Looking For: - Beta-testing journalists (especially demoralized ones!) - Academic partners (journalism schools, media studies) - Funders (Knight Foundation, Omidyar Network, European Media & Information Fund) - Developers (SvelteKit, PostgreSQL, D3.js) - i-Docs practitioners - Cognitive scientists interested in epistemic interfaces
Philosophy: Build in public, open source from day one, collaborative not competitive.
This project is licensed under the Mozilla Public License, v. 2.0. See
the LICENSE file for details.
SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-SA-4.0
Nico Carpentier: Participatory communication theory, PhD supervision
Susan Leigh Star: Boundary objects theory
i-Docs Research Network: Interactive documentary frameworks
National Union of Journalists (NUJ): Professional journalism practice insights
Interactive documentaries: Out My Window, Hollow, Welcome to Pine Point, Prison Valley
Tools: Korsakow (non-linear documentary), Klynt, Obsidian, TiddlyWiki
Cognitive science: Cowan, Schwartz, Kahan, Nickerson
Epistemology: Wittgenstein (late work on language games), Dempster-Shafer theory
Media theory: De Man, Derrida (irony), David Foster Wallace (New Sincerity)
Version: 0.1.0-alpha Last Updated: 2025-11-23 Status: Pre-release conceptual design
For AI assistants: See [claude.md](./claude.md) for full context and implementation details.
See TOPOLOGY for a visual architecture map and completion dashboard.