Dark Patterns Flashcards
What are Ben shniederman’s 8 golden rules?
- Strive for consistency
- Enable frequent users to use shortcuts
- Offer informative feedback
- Design dialog to yield closure
- Offer simple error handling
- Permit easy reversal of actions
- Support internal locus of control
- Reduce short-term memory load
What is ‘dark pattern’?
A design pattern used to serve the interests of companies rather than users
Dark patterns are on the border between
persuasion and trickery
What is the designer’s dilemma when it comes to dark patterns?
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.
Why would designers use dark patterns?
To achieve companies goal for higher revenues and user subscriptions
What do dark patterns attempt to do?
Sneak things past the user, confuse them or make certain actions as difficult as possible.
Dark patterns serve the company or the user?
company
T or F: Dark patterns range from the mildly annoying, to the downright illegal.
True
How can you incorporate the prioritizing of advertisements into your design in a more responsible way?
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.
Why are the sponsored ads in Gmail classed a dark pattern, while the promotions tab shows more advertisements that aren’t?
Because Google is using your browsing history to create personalized ads
How can you balance the evil of the prioritizing advertisements dark pattern?
Visually show that the user is dealing with advertisements.
When designing dark patterns, you as a designer should ask yourself…
What do I want to show and why? What do I want to hide and why?
opt-in/opt-out dance
an effective way to confuse users into agreeing to things you know they don’t really want.
In what way can a monthly charge be classed as a dark pattern?
It coerces people.
Why is the ‘sneaking products into baskets’ dark pattern considered illegal, whereas tricking people into automatically opting in to a weekly newsletter is not?
Because the sneaked-in products trick people into spending more money than they intended
Implied consent
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
What visual elements do designers use to trick people into consenting implicitly with terms and conditions of a service?
Color and contrast
What functional element should you introduce to make an implied consent design pattern more user-friendly?
A button that needs to be clicked
What is meant by ‘dark pattern’?
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.
How can you balance the evil of the prioritizing advertisements dark pattern?
Visually show that the user is dealing with advertisements.
Why are the sponsored ads in Gmail classed a dark pattern, while the promotions tab shows more advertisements that aren’t?
Because Google is using your browsing history to show personalized ads
What does ‘volunteering information’ mean?
Furnishing more information than the person asking the question need know.
How can you use colors as a dark pattern?
- 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
Which of the following is true about dark patterns?
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.
