
Dark Patterns in UI/UX Design - znq
https://mobilejazz.com/blog/dark-patterns-in-design/
======
nimbius
Speaking as an automotive mechanic, This works well in the front-of-shop
according to our manager. Tires, while a staple of the garage area, are for
some reason kept on proud display in the windows and in the customer area of
the shop. This isnt because customers like to look at tires, its because the
smell apparently is found to be reassuring by the customer.

Weird displays for exotic fluids are another good example...we have one where
a customer turns a wheel to "feel" the viscosity of a motor oil versus a high-
end brand. It doesnt translate into any substantial performance gains for the
car frankly, as the engine is operating hundreds of degrees hotter than our
shop, but the customer applies this experience to the car for some reason.

we also use an interactive display for steering fluid to show customers a
performance fluid, but nobody stops to consider most steering systems these
days are hydraulically assisted.

~~~
jandrese
Wow, this 0W20 feels so much more fluid than the 10W20!

I've never considered that the tires in the waiting area were basically air
"fresheners".

~~~
crooked-v
That makes me think of the small but very real business in "new car smell"
scented sprays.

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gayprogrammer
I don't understand how the elevator story is an example of a dark pattern. I
see that the sign did not effectively accomplish its goal, but that doesn't
fit the definition given: the intent to trick users into doing something
undesirable.

~~~
gremy0
It's not, it's just a pretty standard and well understood UX principle; A
couple of simple words is far more likely to be read than a long fluffy
sentence. It's just a UX pattern.

It's like saying effective contrast is a dark pattern.

~~~
rmrfrmrf
I think it goes beyond that. "Well designed" temporary signage needs to look
out-of-place and basically intentionally ugly.

Temporary signage that fits into the environment will appear permanent, and
thereby ignored by the public.

This is why graphic designers use the terms like "effective" rather than
aesthetic terminology to describe their work. Sometimes ugly designs are the
most effective.

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thomascgalvin
> Imagine you want to buy something: You pick it, add it to your cart, and go
> through the entire check out process. In the final step, you see that the
> company has added an extra cost that was not mentioned on previous web
> pages.

This drives me insane. I was recently about to purchase something from
theMysterious Package Company, which is kind of a "story by mail" thing. They
send you notes and letters and trinkets and such, which come together to tell
a story.

The product I was interested in was like $85, which is steep but I really like
the property it's based on, and I figured that since these were physical items
that had to be physically mailed, the cost was probably justified.

Until I got to the last page and they threw in an additional $25 shipping fee.
Fuck that noise. _And_ they kept spamming me with "you forgot to finish
checking out!" emails for the next week.

~~~
robert_tweed
You may be interested to know that both of those are illegal in the EU.
Shipping costs are a special case unless the price is clearly
disproportionate. But under the CCR in the UK (I forget the EU directive it's
based on) if things are automatically added to your basket, you are entitled
to a refund and to keep the item.

The email thing is covered by the GDPR, but was covered by UK law already.
John Lewis (a UK retailer) lost a test case for exactly what you described:

[https://news.sky.com/story/spammer-to-pay-damages-after-
cour...](https://news.sky.com/story/spammer-to-pay-damages-after-court-
victory-10402884)

~~~
test6554
I would never be comfortable getting a refund and keeping the item. Cause the
cost just gets passed onto the next person. I would return the item if I got a
refund. I either agree to all of your terms and do business with you or I
don't agree to all of them and you lose my business.

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radley
Unfortunately, the author doesn't really address how dark patterns apply to
design. It seems to be more about his discovering that dark patterns is a
thing, and that other designers should be aware of it.

When I worked at Zynga, I was very confused by their farming mechanics. Good
UX meant users shouldn't need to wait hours to proceed with their game. But
that annoying wait period created an itch that drove micro-transactions.

Was that a dark pattern? No. There was a decent understanding between user and
service how it worked.

The distinction of dark pattern is when that understanding is broken by
tricking the user into an unexpected obligation.

~~~
jgimenez
Do you honestly think making a user pay because you introduced an artificial
and annoying wait is in benefit of the user?

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superkuh
The darkest of these patterns of simple and becoming ubiquitous: nothing
displays unless you have javascript enabled, not even text, images, or other
static content. NASA.gov is a prime example of this. So the user leaves JS on
and then the site does a whole bunch of bullshit unrelated to the site service
using JS.

A slightly less, but more overtly, evil version of this is hiding everything
behind an opaque div that is only cleared when JS on their domains is enabled.
Reddit's new design is a prime example of this.

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jackfrodo
I recently registered as a user on Twitch, and was surprised by the amount of
dark patterns there. It seems like every other action costs money, which isn't
necessarily bad, but it makes me wary of clicking on anything because it seems
half of them lead to a payment screen. It's just that there's no indication of
what's a premium feature and what's not, and that's clearly intended to get
users to want to perform an action and emphasizes what they're missing out on.

~~~
_jal
> It's just that there's no indication of what's a premium feature and what's
> not

This behavior drives me nuts, and I leave anywhere I see it and I can. It is
just so hostile and obnoxious. I don't mind people wanting money for things,
but this sort of thing immediately gives me the feeling of interacting with an
adversary, that I need to consider implications and watch for double-crosses.

It is really weird to me that people design their stores to feel untrustworthy
and sneaky, but I guess it works well enough to keep them at it.

~~~
jackfrodo
Right, and I think it's bad in the long run. If Twitch wants to become a
bluechip brand, they're going to have to do a lot to make me at least sorta
believe that they have my best interests in mind.

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RobertRoberts
Has anyone actually lost anything of value from a dark pattern?

If so, then this seems the place to start the discussion. Until real loss
happens, dark patterns will persist.

~~~
sbhn
A company I worked for put the bonus acceptance tick box into an automated pop
up after successful registration. Peoples reflex reaction to a pop up is to
close it straight away when one appears. Most bonuses were never accepted so
never awarded. Lots of money saved for the company advertising ‘register now’
bonuses.

~~~
usaphp
> Peoples reflex reaction to a pop up is to close it straight away when one
> appears.

It greatly depends on a user type, it might be true for tech users but average
Joe will read the pop up almost everytime.

~~~
Zombieball
I never realized this. Any sources?

A quick google brought me to this aritcle ([https://sumo.com/stories/pop-up-
statistics](https://sumo.com/stories/pop-up-statistics)) which indicates a
conversion rate of 3-9% for pop ups requesting info / sign-up. So you may be
right!

~~~
sbhn
Yeah, so you register on the site, press next, your registration is
successful, meanwhile a pop up was initiated which contains t&cs and
acceptance confirmation. Using your estimate, 3-9% of bonuses were accepted,
and needed to be paid to the new customer. It’s a dark pattern

~~~
Zombieball
Yeah it probably is.

I wasn’t commenting on the dark pattern though. I was surprised to hear that
“common users” don’t just auto dismiss pop ups.

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guylepage3
>You’re not designing for the company, but rather for the users who will
interact with the product.

So many engineer CEO’s really need to understand this. Engineers tend to skip
over the first step in this process, defining the segment or demographic, and
then end up just having their design team design to meet their esthetics. I’ve
seen this at so many companies.

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antonkm
> How many times have you been asked to put in your credit card information
> for a free trial or version of something?

I just paid Pingdom $100 since my trial was done. Didn't need to confirm, the
card was drawn since I added it on registration.

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test6554
I already have an email filter for the word "unsubscribe". it goes straight to
my trash as well as "preferences" for people who think I should "manage my
preferences"

~~~
Bromskloss
Do you never voluntarily subscribe to anything?

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tracker1
I usually rage quit when I see dark patterns. The only way to win is not to
play...

    
    
        ... Global Thermonuclear War

