Questions tagged [dark-patterns]
A design pattern which is carefully crafted to accomplish some result but does not have the user’s interests in mind.
51 questions
5
votes
4
answers
243
views
Are there such things as ethical design patterns?
We should all probably be quite aware of dark patterns by now (whether you believe they exist or not is another thing), and I am curious as to whether there is such thing as the opposite of dark ...
- 27.7k
1
vote
2
answers
153
views
Does this consent screen have a name?
Just found this one:
Despite the illusion of control, it is actually a cognitive nightmare where users must choose options filled with technological jargon and even time frames. It also includes ...
- 38.3k
2
votes
1
answer
321
views
Should I include sold out items?
I'm working on an e-commerce site that doesn't have many products (actually there are only 5). These products are high quality and quite expensive.
Now the most desirable product (the 2nd most ...
- 38.3k
48
votes
4
answers
11k
views
What's this dark pattern for placing an expensive product next to an even more expensive product to make it appear cheaper?
I have the idea that you can encourage your users to buy a specific product from a list of options if you position it as the middle-ground, sensible option.
Example: I sell widgets. Copper widgets ...
- 583
0
votes
2
answers
140
views
What is the name for the "request trial" pattern?
This is a very common pattern with SAAS: instead of giving you a price, they ask you to request a trial or demo. Sometimes you will find the price hidden somewhere on the website, but most of the time ...
- 38.3k
1
vote
2
answers
610
views
Are enabled checkboxes and radiobuttons dark pattern?
My research on dark patterns opened insights on examples which may be confusing such as enabled checkboxes and radiobuttons. If they were provided in an "enabled" state to the user's would ...
3
votes
1
answer
385
views
strike through is a dark pattern or not
I have been doing some research on dark patterns and I saw some automated chrome tools which are using the dataset of 11k crawl by Mathur et.al (open source) for creating the automation tool.
In one ...
0
votes
3
answers
414
views
Synonyms for Dark Design Patterns
There are many terms interrelated to dark patterns. I feel confused with the following terms:
Dark design patterns
Dark UX
Asshole design
Do all of the above mean dark patterns? If not, then what is ...
0
votes
3
answers
174
views
Are there solutions to dark patterns? [closed]
I have been reading about dark patterns, but it is still unclear if there is a solution to them. I know there are many types of them, but how can I be sure I'm not using one accidentally? Is there a ...
4
votes
1
answer
84
views
How deal with usage of dark patterns in relationship with user and business needs
The morality of using dark patterns presents an ambivalent dilemma. Are there some guidelines or the framework when the business need doesn't correspond with users?
Example
Business need: Standart ...
- 101
5
votes
3
answers
310
views
Is forcing users to signup after clicking a play button a dark pattern?
Im in a tricky situation.
We are creating a page with a live video stream that in order for the user to view it they need to sign up for an account. I created a page where there is a clear action to ...
2
votes
2
answers
441
views
The "Hey Google" interaction - Dark UX Pattern?
Let's understand what we are talking about here -
1) On android phones - the moment you say, "Hey/Ok Google", Google starts acting based on your voice commands, i.e. becomes voice-activated.
2) On ...
- 3,939
0
votes
1
answer
350
views
Locked content before clicking CTA
We want to increase our conversion rate, so the marketing team suggests to use the pattern when information is locked before the customer clicks CTA.
I actually don't know how this pattern is called ...
- 11
192
votes
9
answers
27k
views
Is the "hot network questions" element on Stack Overflow a dark pattern?
I asked a question on meta about hiding the "hot network questions" element on stackoverflow.com. One of the comment replies was that the "hot network questions" is basically a way for Stack Overflow ...
- 1,489
6
votes
2
answers
734
views
Dark Patterns - Preselection
Say you have stakeholders wanting a certain journey which you deem unethical.
Would you agree that pre-selecting an option for a user before they've even had a chance to read the options is ...
- 1,895
7
votes
2
answers
997
views
When does a persuasive pattern become a 'dark' pattern?
The UI Patterns website lists a large number of current and emerging design patterns.
Under the section called Persuasive Design Patterns, and many of these patterns are commonly seen in social media ...
- 27.7k
3
votes
3
answers
433
views
Duplicate CTAs - recommendations, pros and cons?
Hows does everyone feel about the solution below where there is duplicated CTA buttons at the top and bottom of a module?
We've some data to show that both buttons are being clicked but is this good ...
- 31
8
votes
2
answers
642
views
Is it a dark pattern to change Radio buttons into a Dropdown?
Is it a dark pattern to change Radio buttons into a Dropdown in order to default to a particular option? The default option is the best deal and recommended for the user. However we still want to keep ...
- 83
9
votes
3
answers
548
views
What's a UX-friendly way to inconvenience a user into action e.g. prompt for payment
Tl;Dr: What's the most fundamentally UX friendly equivalent to a pre-roll video advertisement which doesnt involve an actual advertisement - only a prompt to pay to remove the inconvenience?
My UX ...
- 113
2
votes
2
answers
234
views
Member exclusivity e-commerce vs no sign up e-commerce
I've noticed two types of e-commerce sites:
1) Member exclusive site
2) Shop without a membership site
1 goes against all of my UX design philosophies.
What I mean is that I've always known that ...
- 5,525
152
votes
17
answers
15k
views
How to encourage honest user behavior in UI
My company creates solutions for waste management facilities. One particular piece of software is used on touch screens at the entrance of a facility. The municipiality runs the facility. We don't ...
- 1,593
20
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Purposefully obscure user interface design to encourage behaviours
Installing Windows 8 makes it seem that it is mandatory to create a Microsoft account, however the option to install without one is there, albeit wilfully buried.
Logging out of the Windows Phone ...
- 303
4
votes
3
answers
437
views
"Your friend has sent you a message on our website, register to see it" - is there a name for this technique?
Sometimes I get emails like the following, presumably targeted to me as a friend/contact of some person, X:
You have a message from X on our super awesome website! Click here to read this message.
...
- 145
2
votes
2
answers
594
views
Is showing product price after registering bad UX?
I'm redesigning a website for a client which consists of showing their visitors how the product works. I was thinking about a step-by-step with intuitive icons illustrating each step so that it won't ...
- 177
8
votes
0
answers
2k
views
Why does Amazon Smile require accessing a separate URL? [closed]
I am doing some shopping on Amazon and a dialog box came up with this text:
Remember, start at smile.amazon.com to support American Red Cross.
Amazon donates a portion of eligible purchases made ...
- 245
-1
votes
3
answers
218
views
If the user needs credits to buy stickers/emoticons should the credit no. avail always be visible?
I'm working on an app that allows the single purchase of stickers, not just sticker packs.
This means we need to user a credit system for the sticker purchase since you can't have in app purchases ...
3
votes
4
answers
767
views
Should navigation arrows function very differently depending on context?
This one seems pretty fundamental to me — should the steering wheel ever control the gas?
See one of Refinery29's slideshows. The arrows are the navigation: clicking right flips to the next slide and ...
- 133
34
votes
3
answers
7k
views
Tick this checkbox if you DO NOT want.. underhanded tactics?
Very often when registering on a new site I see checkboxes with long explanations saying something along the lines of:
Tick checkbox if you want to receive newsletters.
This is not unusual but a ...
- 667
64
votes
14
answers
10k
views
Preventing users from closing browser tab. Bad idea?
I have a customer who wants to add one of those annoying JavaScript alerts that prevent users from closing a browser tab to make them a discount offer. You know, something like:
"are you sure you ...
11
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Is it still effective and appropriate to use psychological pricing for IT people?
I need to build pricing plan for service that will be used mainly by developers and designers. I can't decide what price to use, e.g. $20 or $19.
I'm afraid that well-educated and smart people (...
- 303
8
votes
3
answers
2k
views
When offering options, at which position in a sentence should be the desirable one?
When I ask the user a question with two options of which I want the user to choose a specific one, should I formulate the sentence so that the desired option it the latter or the other way around?
...
- 828
3
votes
5
answers
371
views
Is Chrome's ToS usage statistics opt-in a dark pattern?
I've just published a blog article on Google's deceivingly clever trick to increase the opt-in rate for its Chrome usage statistics collection program. Take a look at the Chrome ToS screen, especially ...
user12741
5
votes
3
answers
901
views
Why can't I set a real output volume on radios and TVs?
You all know the story. We're watching some TV-series in the evening, and when the commercial break comes the volume goes up 10 dB, or at least it feels that way some times. The same on commercial ...
- 55.2k
11
votes
1
answer
4k
views
Automatic agreement to terms of service
Is it acceptable (or even legal) to have "I agree to the terms and service" checkbox automatically checked when a new user signs up with our website? I'm trying to convince the person in charge to not ...
- 323
5
votes
7
answers
736
views
Showing users partial content to entice them to sign up?
I was trying to get one of my designers to check out a great question on Quora yesterday and he found to his annoyance that he had to sign up to read beyond the first answer
I was wondering if this ...
- 44.1k
42
votes
4
answers
3k
views
Can you, and should you, design against buyer's remorse?
We know that one way to design an engaging experience is to design for emotion, e.g. as outlined in Aarron Walter's book of the same name.
Part of the process of designing for an emotional response ...
- 71.3k
3
votes
2
answers
238
views
Where should 'decoy' options be placed?
I've been thinking about the placement of decoy products. For example, let's say you have a menu with
A. an egg and cheese sandwich for $5.00 (the decoy option)
B. an egg, cheese, avocado, tomato, ...
- 7,436
4
votes
2
answers
390
views
Is removing the video control playbar a dark pattern?
Lately, I've been finding more and more videos (mostly those with marketing purposes) that are don't have the so called "playbar", ie. the timeline control that allows you to jump inside the video to ...
- 3,321
21
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Is "Tweet to Unlock a Free Download" a dark pattern?
The Bricks seemed like an interesting free UI design resource, so I proceeded to attempt download and then I hit a "Tweet to Unlock" wall. This irked me... the resource is not free if there is forced ...
- 6,314
17
votes
3
answers
1k
views
What evidence is there that dark patterns are bad for business?
I recently got into a debate with a coworker about dark patterns. He's a numbers guy -- and I made the mistake of bringing up an example of a dark pattern for which I didn't have evidence of any ...
- 1,305
22
votes
8
answers
2k
views
Is implementing dark patterns unethical?
A recent question and discussion got me thinking - some UX practices are considered "dark patterns", and they're held up as bad UX from the user's perspective, though they can actually be good for the ...
- 6,498
11
votes
2
answers
751
views
Is duping the consumer really a good business practice?
I have had this at the back of my mind for sometime and I believe UX is the proper place to post this though I may not phrase the question right so please chime in if you have suggestions!
There are ...
- 759
17
votes
4
answers
3k
views
Recording Debit/Credit Card Details at the start of a 'Free Trial'?
Does anyone have experience, analytics or similar on the impact of taking payment details at the start of a free trial period for a product?
It's one of the things I hate the most about trialing ...
- 2,474
22
votes
7
answers
5k
views
Pop-under: Really that bad?
We're currently discussing to add pop-unders to one of our platforms to get users to use one of our notification features. As you can probably imagine, as a UX person I'm really against the use of pop-...
- 8,104
60
votes
11
answers
13k
views
Your download will start in X seconds
Is there any reason why many websites - including very mainstream ones such as microsoft.com and sourceforge.net - show a page with "Your download will start in 10 seconds; if you don't want to wait ...
- 601
6
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Deliberate Barriers to Entry in Web Design
ACHICA.com has taken the "members only club" concept to a level I've never seen online; you can hardly view anything on the site without registering. This is the first time I've seen barriers to entry ...
- 41k
7
votes
3
answers
1k
views
What examples are there of Operant Conditioning in UI? [closed]
Like many cars, my car makes an annoying beep when you start the car with your seatbelt unbuckled; plugging in the seatbelt immediately ends the noise. I used to find this annoying, but I eventually ...
- 41k
5
votes
5
answers
972
views
Encourage users to tap the "review" button
How to layout an Info screen, so as many as possible are tempted to tap the "review" button?
I wish users would tap the "review" button and write a long positive review on the app store where they ...
- 921
13
votes
3
answers
774
views
What are some of the negative consequences of using dark patterns in design? [closed]
After reading up on dark patterns ( http://darkpatterns.org/ ) and radical persuasion design, I have a question.
What examples are there of companies facing consequences (like litigation, lost ...
- 257
24
votes
11
answers
1k
views
Is "user experience" evil?
The discussion started when a fellow UI designer said that she was proud of working "making people lives better" as opposed to our fellows at the advertising dept, all day long "cheating people" ;-)
...
- 1,041