Lecture 11 Dark patterns Flashcards
Dark patterns
- Sinister approach to designing interfaces
- ‘Bad design’ is created intentionally
- UI is crafted to confuse / mislead / deceive users
- Business-centric rather than user-centric
- Tricking/trapping users is more effective than persuading them
homo economicus
For a long time economists believed humans were perfect informationprocessing machines – able to consume, understand and reason with all the
information provided to them.
Exploitative
Deceptive patterns
Cooperative
User-centered patterns
Exploiting perceptual vulnerabilities
Human perception is not perfect, shortcomings can be exploited to hide information
Exploiting vulnerabilities in comprehension
Humans have limits to literacy, numeracy, critical thinking and memory.
Exploiting vulnerabilities in decision-making
Cognitive biases are systematic errors in reasoning that all humans tend to make. They can be exploited.
Resource depletion/pressure
Humans have limited supply of attention, energy & time. When they are depleted, users become fatigued/vulnerable to tricks.
Exploiting expectations
Helpful design involves employing standards to make a product predictable for users. These standards can be subverted to trick users.
Forcing and blocking
‘Forcing’ involves putting a mandatory step in front of the action the user wants to complete, which they cannot decline, e.g. mandatory registration in order to complete a purchase. ‘Blocking’ involves the outright removal of a feature.
Exploiting emotional vulnerabilities
Humans do not like to experience uncomfortable emotions like guilt, shame, fear or regret, and will often take measures to avoid them.
Exploiting addiction
Humans are prone to addiction, where a habit develops harmful outcomes and becomes difficult to give up. This involves a cycle of
behaviour that can be intensified through design, e.g. infinite scroll or autoplay.
Nagging
Redirection of expected functionality that persists beyond one or more interactions.
Obstruction
Making a process more difficult than it needs to be, with the intent of dissuading certain action(s).
Sneaking
Attempting to hide, disguise, or delay the divulging of information that is relevant to the user.
