Dark Patterns

Question 1

What are Ben shniederman’s 8 golden rules?

Answer 1

1. Strive for consistency
2. Enable frequent users to use shortcuts
3. Offer informative feedback
4. Design dialog to yield closure
5. Offer simple error handling
6. Permit easy reversal of actions
7. Support internal locus of control
8. Reduce short-term memory load

Question 2

What is ‘dark pattern’?

Answer 2

A design pattern used to serve the interests of companies rather than users

Question 3

Dark patterns are on the border between

Answer 3

persuasion and trickery

Question 4

What is the designer’s dilemma when it comes to dark patterns?

Answer 4

Balancing business goals with a duty to users, you must keep to the guidelines as to which is the proper dark pattern to use in the circumstances.

Question 5

Why would designers use dark patterns?

Answer 5

To achieve companies goal for higher revenues and user subscriptions

Question 6

What do dark patterns attempt to do?

Answer 6

Sneak things past the user, confuse them or make certain actions as difficult as possible.

Question 7

Dark patterns serve the company or the user?

Answer 7

company

Question 8

T or F: Dark patterns range from the mildly annoying, to the downright illegal.

Answer 8

True

Question 9

How can you incorporate the prioritizing of advertisements into your design in a more responsible way?

Answer 9

Clearly distinguish the advertisements from the rest of the content.

This way, users aren’t tricked too much, and they will be able to ignore the prioritized ads while proceeding with their tasks.

Question 10

Why are the sponsored ads in Gmail classed a dark pattern, while the promotions tab shows more advertisements that aren’t?

Answer 10

Because Google is using your browsing history to create personalized ads

Question 11

How can you balance the evil of the prioritizing advertisements dark pattern?

Answer 11

Visually show that the user is dealing with advertisements.

Question 12

When designing dark patterns, you as a designer should ask yourself…

Answer 12

What do I want to show and why? What do I want to hide and why?

Question 13

opt-in/opt-out dance

Answer 13

an effective way to confuse users into agreeing to things you know they don’t really want.

Question 14

In what way can a monthly charge be classed as a dark pattern?

Answer 14

It coerces people.

Question 15

Why is the ‘sneaking products into baskets’ dark pattern considered illegal, whereas tricking people into automatically opting in to a weekly newsletter is not?

Answer 15

Because the sneaked-in products trick people into spending more money than they intended

Question 16

Implied consent

Answer 16

a dark pattern you can use to reduce the likelihood that users end up rejecting the request for consent when accessing a web page or site.
something you can use with the best intentions possible whenever you don’t want to disturb the users’ flow when they’re accomplishing a task.

It is often used for consent to terms and conditions of online purchases, or for consent to the use of cookies on a web page. You can use visual design elements such as color, size, and position to make the request for consent as inconspicuous as possible, hoping that users will glance over it and continue to use the service

Question 17

What visual elements do designers use to trick people into consenting implicitly with terms and conditions of a service?

Answer 17

Color and contrast

Question 18

What functional element should you introduce to make an implied consent design pattern more user-friendly?

Answer 18

A button that needs to be clicked

Question 19

What is meant by ‘dark pattern’?

Answer 19

A design pattern use to serve the interests of companies rather than users.

• Dark patterns attempt to sneak things past the user, confuse them or make certain actions as difficult as possible.
• Dark patterns range from mildly annoying, to the downright illegal
• Dark patterns could be considered as the purposeful misuse of well-established user interface design guidelines.

They’re on the border between persuasion and trickery. Because you have a dilemma with balancing business goals with a duty to users, you must keep to the guidelines as to which is the proper dark pattern to use in the circumstances.

Question 20

How can you balance the evil of the prioritizing advertisements dark pattern?

Answer 20

Visually show that the user is dealing with advertisements.

Question 21

Why are the sponsored ads in Gmail classed a dark pattern, while the promotions tab shows more advertisements that aren’t?

Answer 21

Because Google is using your browsing history to show personalized ads

Question 22

What does ‘volunteering information’ mean?

Answer 22

Furnishing more information than the person asking the question need know.

Question 23

How can you use colors as a dark pattern?

Answer 23

1. The colors of text have low contrast to the background

2. The colors of inline links are the same as the colors of non-interactive text

Question 24

Which of the following is true about dark patterns?

Answer 24

They’re all unethical and risk a brand’s reputation. You’re better off using other means to further your users’ needs and clients’ interests.

A product that uses a dark pattern will lead to many abandonments from its users, as they will no longer trust the brand. It’s a risky step to take as it could harm your product, so it is better not to use it and avoid that issue.

Question 25

Why are the sponsored ads in Gmail classed a dark pattern, while the promotions tab shows more advertisements that aren’t?

Answer 25

Because Google is using your browsing history to show personalized ads

Question 26

How can you balance the evil of prioritizing advertisements’ dark patterns?

Answer 26

Visually show that the user is dealing with advertisements.

Question 27

What is a negative transfer?

Answer 27

A behavioral phenomenon where a previous action has a negative effect on another action.

Question 28

What is the opt-in/opt-out dance?

Answer 28

An effective way to confuse users into agreeing to things you know they don’t really want. Agreeing to receive newsletters, to distribute personal details to third parties, or to terms and conditions of a purchase can all be achieved with the dark pattern of automatic opt-in.

Besides tactical decisions on whether to have an initially checked or unchecked box, you will have to think about the phrasing of the checkbox label thoroughly. Furthermore, to be a responsible designer, you should make sure that the checkboxes are clearly visible before users’ attention is drawn to a confirmation button.

Question 29

Of the following approaches, which one is most likely to trick users into inadvertently agreeing to distribute their details to third parties?

a. An automatically selected opt-out checkbox
b. An unselected opt-in checkbox
c. An unselected opt-out checkbox

Answer 29

c. An unselected opt-out checkbox

The fact that the box isn’t selected makes the user think that they won’t be signed up for anything.

Question 30

What is the monthly charge design pattern?

Answer 30

It is a scheme of monthly payments. That is not a dark pattern in itself, but it definitely has the potential to be.

Just think about the monthly payments you still make to the gym where you haven’t been in the last couple of months. You wanted that subscription and consciously made the decision to take it – at least, you did once, back then, at a time when every waking moment wasn’t spent rushing about being busy… like you are now. You even thought it would give you some extra motivation to work out, didn’t you? Then, somehow, matters got ahead of you and dropped too much of this thing called ‘life’ into your lap, and you started feeling bogged down. Now, for some reason, cancelling your subscription when you don’t use it anymore seems like too much effort or too low in priority to get done. And that is exactly what companies are hoping for when they force you to take a subscription—when they could just sell you a product or service once and be satisfied with that, and perhaps some nice words of feedback from you after a few weeks or so.

Question 31

In what way can a monthly charge be classed as a dark pattern?

a. It coerces people
b. It tricks people
c. It confuses people

Answer 31

a. It coerces people

Question 32

How can you responsibly use the monthly subscription dark pattern to make users accept a long commitment?

Answer 32

It’s a common practice; however, by offering an option to unsubscribe for users to easily notice, you send the message that your client brands genuinely value their users.

Question 33

Why is the ‘sneaking products into baskets’ dark pattern considered illegal, whereas tricking people into automatically opting in to a weekly newsletter is not?

Answer 33

Because the sneaked-in products trick people into spending more money than they intended

Question 34

In which case could you, as a designer, defend incorporating the “sneaking into baskets” dark pattern into your designs?

a. If it leads the user into investing in a sustainable future for mankind
b. If the products are directly related to the intended purchase
c. If the type of products are considered harmless and generic

Answer 34

a. If it leads the user into investing in a sustainable future for mankind

We can use dark patterns for charitable purposes, and we could also use them for other fair purposes of a good cause. One example is to lead the user to take some action that will invest in some way in a sustainable future for humankind.

Question 35

What is implied consent?

Answer 35

A dark pattern you can use to reduce the likelihood that users end up rejecting the request for consent when accessing a web page or site. It is often used for consent to terms and conditions of online purchases, or for consent to use of cookies on a webpage.

Question 36

What visual elements do designers use to trick people into consenting implicitly with terms and conditions of a service?

a. color and contrast
b. Flashy images
c. Shapes that are completely hidden in patterns

Answer 36

a. color and contrast

Question 37

What functional element should you introduce to make an implied consent design pattern more user-friendly?

a. A button that needs to be clicked
b. A complete overview of the terms
c. A checkbox that serves to opt users in automatically

Answer 37

a. A button that needs to be clicked