Designing with the dark side
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The document discusses the ethical implications of design and marketing practices, categorizing them into three types: stupidity, fraud, and evil. It emphasizes the need for designers to avoid manipulative and misleading strategies that can discourage critical thinking and create mistrust among users. The author advocates for a focus on genuinely engaging and satisfying customers while warning against prioritizing short-term profits over ethical considerations.
Designing with the dark side
- 1. How does Darth Vader like his toast?
- 2. A little on the dark side.
- 3. Designing with the Dark Side
- 4. First, let’s make a distinction: Stupidity Fraud Evil
- 5. Stupid Design ● Hard to follow (anti-patterns) ● Unclear what action is expected ● Sloppy or lazy (but with no ill intent) ● Simply broken (errors, missing steps, etc.)
- 6. Actual Fraud (illegal-ish*) ● Outright lying about product or features ● Ponzi or confidence schemes ● Deliberately misleading testimonials ● Deceptive terms of purchase *Must prove: False statement, knowledge, intent, reliance, and injury.
- 7. Dark Side - Evil design ● Purposefully misleading ● Emotionally manipulative ● Disconnects actions from outcome ● Discourages critical thinking
- 8. Reducing friction is not evil ● Clear call to action on each page ● Simple, digestible steps ● Auto-fill forms & offer to save data ● Move “account creation” to the end ● Give an “out” that still gets you something
- 9. Reducing friction the Amazon way
- 10. Fogg Behavior Model B.J. Fogg, 2007 behaviormodel.org Hard Easy<- Ability -> HighLow<-Motivation-> Line of action Triggers succeed Triggers fail
- 11. Fogg Behavior Model B.J. Fogg, 2007 behaviormodel.org Hard Easy<- Ability -> HighLow<-Motivation-> Interaction Design Marketing/Advertising
- 12. Fogg Behavior Model B.J. Fogg, 2007 behaviormodel.org Hard Easy<- Ability -> HighLow<-Motivation-> Persuasive Design
- 13. Evil (persuasive) design ● Purposefully misleading ● Emotionally manipulative ● Disconnects actions from outcome ● Discourages critical thinking
- 14. Purposefully misleading: Cart Slamming (Active.com)
- 15. Purposefully misleading: Cart Slamming (Ticketmaster)
- 16. Purposefully misleading: Cart Slamming (Ticketmaster)
- 17. Purposefully misleading: False Options (Microsoft)
- 18. Purposefully misleading: False Options (Microsoft)
- 19. Purposefully misleading: Packaging design (General Mills) Of the first 6 ingredients, 4 are just sugar.
- 20. Purposefully misleading: Unsubscribe 3-card monty (Amazon)
- 21. Purposefully misleading: Unsubscribe 3-card monty (Amazon)
- 22. Emotionally manipulative ● Create a problem (the more personal the better) ● Position your product as the solution
- 23. Emotionally manipulative ● Scarcity & loss aversion ● Overestimation of perceived risks
- 24. Emotionally manipulative ● Give a (meaningless) gift ● Create a sense of urgency ● Humanize with a conversational tone
- 25. Emotionally manipulative ● Discounted price ● Reassurance ● Urgency ● Flattery ● Visualization ● Social Proof
- 26. Disconnect actions from outcome ● “Winning” vs buying (ebay) ● Create a “token” economy ● Focus on “rewards” ● Incentivize investment ● Leverage “sunk cost”
- 27. Disconnect actions from outcome ● Buy credits or redeem points ● Gift cards and “breakage” (unredeemed prepaid items) ● Refill your Starbucks card?
- 28. Disconnect actions from outcome ● Make users feel special ● Anchor on the “reward” ● Reinforce positive feelings ● I too, am a sucker.
- 29. Discouraging critical thinking ● The Paradox of Choice (fewer options increase satisfaction) ● Maximizers vs. Satisficers ● Customers with a “sunk cost” create their own justifications
- 30. Discouraging critical thinking: The Paradox of Choice Barry Schwartz, Social Psychologist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO6XEQIsCoM Satisfaction Number of options
- 31. Discouraging critical thinking: The Paradox of Choice ● Lower confidence with 30 choices vs. 6 ● More regretful and dissatisfied with choice ● More likely to defer to “expert opinion”
- 32. Discouraging critical thinking: Maximizers ● Exhaustively seek the best ● Second-guess decisions & compare with others ● Expend much more time and energy ● Unhappier with outcomes Satisficers ● Accept “good enough” ● Don’t obsess about other options ● Quickly move on after decisions ● Happier with outcomes
- 33. Maximizers want to rule the galaxy
- 34. Mudhole? My home this is! - Satisficers
- 35. Overall maximizers were less satisfied, unhappier, & more stressed — despite the fact that they ended up with an average of $7,430 more in salary than the satisficers. Sheena Iyengar, Social Psychologist http://blog.idonethis.com/satisficing/
- 36. Getting them to commit: Maximizers ● Money-back guarantee ● Testimonials & reviews ● Clear return policy ● Coupon or promo code Satisficers ● Clear “default choice” ● List popular options first ● Checklist of features ● Social sharing post conversion
- 37. 2 goats, 1 car. 1 2 3
- 38. 1 2 3 You pick door #1
- 39. 1 2 3 You pick door #1 Host reveals a goat
- 40. 1 2 3 You pick door #1 Host reveals a goat Want to switch your door?
- 41. 1 2 3 1/3 Chance 2/3 Chance
- 42. 1 2 3 1/3 Chance 2/3 Chance
- 43. 1 2 3 Changing your vote doubles your odds http://www.mathwarehouse.com/monty-hall-simulation-online/ https://www.khanacademy.org/computer-programming/monty-hall-simulation/1121357698
- 44. Discouraging critical thinking: Monty Hall & the “Sunk Cost Fallacy” ● Mythbusters tested 20 people, all 20 kept “their” door (Episode 177, Wheel of Mythfortune) ● Once we’re emotionally or financially invested in something, it’s hard to reverse course ● We justify our actions in terms of loss-aversion “I’d feel worse if I changed my mind and was wrong.”
- 45. Well, we’ve already got these plans...
- 46. Further costs are self-justifying* *A few personal examples :)
- 47. Designing “Sunk Cost” experiences
- 48. Farmville: 84 million dissatisfied users ● “Series of mindless chores… in an atmosphere of negativity, requiring unprecedented commitment… and encouraging users to exploit their friends.” - Game Developer Magazine ● “One of the 50 worst inventions” - Time Magazine ● Zynga’ revenues were over $1 Billion that year (2012)
- 49. Discouraging critical thinking: Leveraging “Sunk Cost” & fear of loss ● Make it easy to get started ● Tell people they’ve created something they’ll lose if they don’t continue ● Require regular interaction to avoid negative consequences ● Let people pay for more immediate gratification
- 50. Communicate accomplishment (even if people haven’t really done very much) ● Complete Profile vs. Create Profile ● Finish Your Order vs. Checkout ● Save & Return Later vs. Log out ● And provide early positive feedback to encourage feelings of mastery
- 51. “Choose wisely, you must… If you choose the quick and easy path — as Vader did — you will become an agent of evil.” — Space Kermit
- 52. Wrapping it up ● It’s our job to understand how to engage, motivate, and retain paying, satisfied customers ● Over-use of manipulative conversion strategies creates mistrust and drives people away ● You will be pressured by sales, marketing, product, etc. to maximize short-term profits ● If you don’t believe your organization is consistently delivering real value, leave