Dark patterns
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This document discusses "dark patterns", which are user interface design patterns that are intentionally manipulative. Dark patterns use psychology and ethnography to emotionally manipulate users. Examples of dark patterns discussed include roach motels, which make it easy to join but hard to leave; forced continuity, where canceling a free trial is difficult; hidden costs that are only revealed at checkout; and trick questions that mislead users. While dark patterns can increase metrics like clicks and sales, the document questions whether they should be used, as they prioritize persuasion over empathy and putting the user first.
Dark patterns
- 1. Dark Patterns A designers guide to being evil
- 2. What Dark Patterns are…
- 3. Dark Patterns are….. Intentional persuasive patterns, different from anti patterns Dark Patterns use psychographics, and ethnography to create a emotional resonance with it subjects. • Designed with a good knowledge of human psychology • Designed to manipulate or deceive the user • Tricks, traps and pitfalls *The casino industry is the largest practitioner of Dark Patterns.
- 4. Psychology of Dark Patterns “Tools of the trade”
- 6. Machiavellianism This archetype is compelled by the following Psychological factors and cognitive triggers. • Personal gain • Manipulation • Exploitation • Deception • Obscurity • Inflated Self Worth • Esoteric • Visionary • Embellishments
- 7. Cognitive Biases People’s tendencies to think a certain way, sometimes influences them to make irrational decisions. • Heuristics - hard wiring in the brain • Motivators • Beliefs • Emotions • Persuasive
- 8. Additional Psychological Patterns • Bias blind spot • Illusory correlation • Gambler’s Fallacy • Post-Purchase Rationalisation • Neglecting Probability • Projection Bias • Pareidolia
- 9. Why Dark Patterns are Used Why good designers go bad
- 10. Why Dark Patterns are Used • Aggressive environments and targets • Focus on simple & complex KPIs • More clicks • More sign-ups • More sales • More views • Profit • Increase conversation ratios • Program beliefs • Close the gap with unrealistic goals • Subvert authenticity with persuasion • Create false trust
- 11. Dark Patterns Understanding the methods and tactics
- 12. Dimensional Aspects of Dark Patterns • Define an Archetype • Create the victim Persona • Establish or select a Dark Pattern • Create some success measurement criteria • Consistently measure and rebaseline
- 13. The formula Archetype + Persona + Pattern & Method Equal Tangible Result
- 14. Methods
- 15. Roach Motel Easy to get in. Hard to get out. An interface that makes it easy, and often enticing, for the user to get into a situation, but difficult for them to get out.
- 16. Roach Motel Example - Email newsletters • Make it very easy for a user to subscribe to an email newsletter • Make the unsubscribe option difficult to find • Bad navigation • Confusing forms • Missing opt-out options
- 17. Forced Continuity Cancel at any time during the free period
- 19. Misdirection • The flipping of the ok and cancel buttons?
- 20. Hidden Costs WTF is ‘Taxes and fees’? Add-ons.? The practice of adding on costs and charges at the end of a checkout process, that were not previously detailed.
- 21. Hidden Costs • Facility charge • Convenience charge • Order processing fee • $2.50 to print out my own tickets!
- 22. Trick Question Tick this box to opt-out of not opting-in A question, when glanced upon briefly, appears to ask one thing, but on closer inspection, is asking something else.
- 23. Disguised Ads Download buttons, download buttons everywhere. Adverts disguised as UI elements in order to trick users into clicking on them. Clever ad for Pay Pal Signup
- 24. Other Examples Gambling • Fruit machine design (Slot Machine, style) • Advertising • Retail • Inkjet printers • Banks and Credit Cards Incentivized money trailing-chasing bad money
- 25. Free to PlayGames Video games that are free to acquire and play, but offer virtual items, currency, gameplay enhancements, and shortcuts for a price.
- 26. Microtransactions In concept there is nothing wrong with micro transactions, However when they follow a Gamblers Fallacy they become addictive.
- 27. The Big Question Should we leverage Dark Patterns in our work?
- 29. Dark Patterns are…. Less empathetic and tip the scale on persuasion
- 30. Consider Using Dark Patterns When persuasion is the motivating factor Dark Patterns can be leveraged in a simplistic manner. (There is always the ability for the designer to create a new Dark Pattern to drive customer goals and outcomes)
- 31. Influencing the user isn’t always evil • HFI -PET Design • Persuasion, Emotion, Trust
- 32. Should we use these techniques? • User Experience should put the user first and that might mean being persuasive to guide, shift and define the experience.
- 33. Twit Poll
- 34. Thank You • Twitter • @raymonaco • raymond.monaco@designit.com • For more information on Dark Patterns • www.darkpatterns.org See you on the Dark Side
Editor's Notes
- #4: Dark Patterns have three dimensions to them, they are psyographic, Ethnographic and persuasive.
- #5: We will discuss some of the archetypes of Dark Patterns and how to leverage or craft patterns for these specific Archetypes & personas.
- #6: So how do we invoke these patterns and and what do the look like.?
- #7: Understanding patterns and archetypes in Dark Patterns help us to craft the pattern that resonates with a particular target archetype. This is a classic archetype that people can leverage. This particular archetype has specific triggers that resonate with their preferences. If I can influence say personal gain as a singular dimension via a ponzi scheme, this directly plays to the inner machiavellian in the victims of the ponzi scam.
- #8: We all have some level of cognitive bias, targeting this bias in a design is how we can craft Dark Patterns that will resonate with large scale audiences. Classical Definition: A cognitive bias is a systematic error in thinking that affects the decisions and judgments that people make. Sometimes these biases are related to memory. The way you remember an event may be biased for a number of reasons and that in turn can lead to biased thinking and decision-making. In other instance, cognitive biases might be related to problems with attention.
- #9: There are many different patterns that can be leveraged in devious ways. These patterns can be leveraged and “Designed” to resonate with users. Classic Definitions: Bias blind spot (The tendency to see oneself as less biased than other people, or to be able to identify more cognitive biases in others than in oneself.) Illusory correlation Inaccurately perceiving a relationship between two unrelated events Gambler’s Fallacy The tendency to think that future probabilities are altered by past events, when in reality they are unchanged. The fallacy arises from an erroneous conceptualization of the law of large numbers. For example, "I've flipped heads with this coin five times consecutively, so the chance of tails coming out on the sixth flip is much greater than heads." Post-Purchase Rationalisation The tendency to persuade oneself through rational argument that a purchase was good value. Neglecting Probability The tendency to completely disregard probability when making a decision under uncertainty Projection Bias The tendency to overestimate how much our future selves share one's current preferences, thoughts and values, thus leading to sub-optimal choices. Pareidolia A vague and random stimulus (often an image or sound) is perceived as significant
- #10: Simply put they are easy to structure and the masterful complex patterns are perceived as unintentional and soft at best.
- #11: This is the short list of motivation factors: Aggressive environments and targets Financial Trading and Emerging Markets Focus on simple & complex KPIs Financial Markets More clicks Bait Advertising like tmz.com More sign-ups Google Plus/Microsoft More sales Amazon and most online retailers More views Startup companies Profit Most online retailers and financial markets Increase conversation ratios See price in cart Program beliefs Like Scientology and The church of Mormon Close the gap with unrealistic goals Like Google Plus Subvert authenticity with persuasion Apple with sustainability and manufacturing Create false trust Volkswagon with emissions testing.
- #12: In this section we will talk about the methods and tactics on how to craft the patterns
- #14: The basic formula in creating dark patterns.
- #17: Email news letters are a prime example of opt-in not so easy to opt-out. Purpose built navigation by design<Meaning easy to find what I want you to find> Forms that elicit what I need fast and easy. Controlled entry and difficult to navigate exit.
- #18: Netflix, Hulu, Spotify…… This is another great cast study in how get unsuspecting customer, because they rarely forget to unsubscribe. We have all seen the “just give me your credit card details, being used as an interrupter to the user experience . Just add your credit card and we will give you a 90 day free trial… !!!!!!
- #19: Forcing a customer journey is never the best outcome for the user experience or for converting users into sales.
- #21: Not being forthcoming with users of you service or system. Driving revenue by deceptive business practices.
- #22: Another example of a misguides attempt at driving revenue in a misdirected manner.
- #23: Deceiving nomenclature is often to blame for users unknowlingy opting-in to various schemes.
- #24: Click here with perceived notions and get a different misdirected outcome.
- #25: Gambling, (Random outcomes, sold as “winning” Advertising (Selling you stuff you did not know you wanted) Retail ( Guiding the customers path to purchases) Injet printers- what else is there to say, if you ever owned one you realize they are a money pit Banks and Credit cards- Loyalty schemes and various percentage based deceptions.
- #26: These games are not really free at all. Actually they are more like a demo, you play it get use to it the want to proceed and get asked to purchase something.
- #27: The interesting thing about how COD does Microtransactions are to progress you need to by “Supply Drops” when they open as seen in the below image they spin like a slot machine and slowly stop. This invokes the Dark Pattern of the Gamblers Fallacy. Many kids have maxed the parents credit cards in purchasing “Supply Drops” or pixels.
- #28: The real question is are you considering Dark Patterns as a persuasion mechanism for your clients? Are you giving them a chance to add value to projects via persuasive triggers?
- #29: When thinking of dark patterns think of a balanced approach if the goal is to be persuasive the Dark Patterns will be a strong mechanism to make that happen.
- #30: Dark Patterns are less empathetic, however that does not mean they are devoid of empathy. Being highly persuasive does not mean your creating an evil pattern is simply cannot account for the user experience. Dark patterns can also be neutral like in the case of netflix, spotify etc. As designers it depends on how far we really want to push the framework.
- #31: If you want to be less evil and enable persuasion patterning Dark Patterns are the way to do it.
- #32: HFI uses a PET design approach and you can see it is inherently not empathy based. It is mostly persuasion and focuses on build trust.
- #34: This was an informal poll asking the question Would you use a Dark Pattern as a UX pro? The participation was low, however the participants said on the surface would not use Dark Patterns, not fully understanding the implications and benefits.