How to spot dark patterns on the web

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Eric Ravenscraft

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Every day, it uses programs conscientiously designed through professional designer groups to deliver the most productive user enjoyment possible. At least that’s the idea. However, if you’ve already found that it’s less difficult to create an account than canceling it, you’ve encountered a dark pattern. And over the next few weeks, WIRED will look at non-unusual examples in online shopping, social media, research, etc.

The term “dark models” was first coined through UX specialist Harry Brignull to describe how the software can subtly inspire users to do things they didn’t need to do, or discourage habits that are bad for the company. When you need to unsubscribe from a mailing list, but the “Unsubscribe” button is small, low-contrast and buried in paragraphs of text on the back of an email, it’s a strong sign that the company is placing sophisticated obstacles between you. cancellation.

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The button to buy an item on sale, on the other hand, is large, bright and the most sensible thing about email. It’s to hide this one.

Not all dark models are maliciously designed, and some UX designers may not even know that they have created a formula that tricks users. In many cases, designers can simply do what works. But being aware of how app design plays with human bias is essential to be a victim of dark patterns.

“If you don’t feel effective using a generation tool, you may not continue to use it,” says Tiny Habits and BJ Fogg habit specialist. “Look at all the apps on your phone, all the apps you’ve used once and ever again. They haven’t been able to carry it forward at number two, let alone create a habit. These apps didn’t help you succeed. »

Take an app like Duolingo, for example. It allows you to connect via Google or Facebook, and after some fundamental setup questions, without delay transferring it to a lesson. Compare this to other apps like Rosetta Stone that require a multi-step procedure to create an account, and then ask users to decide across a variety of course plans and sign up for a trial account, which includes providing payment details before you even try. the app.

“Duolingo does a very clever task in helping others succeed. Without that, I would say that Duolingo would not be the number one platform in language information,” says Fogg, who says he uses the app every day to be informed in Hawaiian.

Since every tap is a chance for a user to get frustrated and leave, developers have an interest in learning and manipulating the micro-decisions that users make that can lead to enjoying or hating an app.

The challenge arises when the company that creates an app or site has other priorities than the user who uses it. For example, when you sign up for a monthly subscription service, the maximum number of companies will facilitate this procedure. However, if you need to cancel, the company may discourage you with some speed stops. Sometimes it can be subtle, like making the “No Matter, I’d Like to Stay” button bright and colorful while the “Yes, I need to cancel, let’s make it” button more subtle.

This might seem like a minor thing. Most users will probably figure out the correct button to click. But if even a small number of users don’t pay attention and keep their subscriptions when they don’t mean to, that can mean money for the company.

“A lot of corporations will make it difficult for other people to leave,” Brignull says. “They’ll get there, but if they can stay 10% longer than the time, or 20%, the bills can live a little longer. And if you do this en masse for thousands of other people, it translates into huge sums of money, for other people who are going to leave anyway.”

In some excessive cases, barriers to company misbehavior can be excessively difficult. If you need to close your Amazon account, for example, you deserve to touch Amazon directly and ask the company to do so. You can’t do it yourself. And place the commands on the back of a support page that tells you all the reasons why you don’t deserve it.

If you proceed, Amazon will ask you to fill out a form that will send an email asking to close your account. Then the company replies with an automated email explaining why you shouldn’t do that a second time. If you’re really, really sure, you can click a link at the bottom of a massive email that will take you to a page where you can send another email to Amazon, confirming that you truly do, in your heart of hearts, want to close your account.

This strategy is what Brignull calls a “gardon motel. It’s easy to get in, but it’s much harder to get out. For some services, this may not be intentional. It takes a lot of effort to make sure that the registration procedure is simple, but adjusting the final account procedure is not such a high priority.

In other cases, such as Amazon, particular efforts can be made to make a task more complicated because, from the company’s point of view, it deserves not to be easy. A beneficial interpretation is that Amazon doesn’t need users to delete their accounts, because it would cause them to lose the content they purchased, so Amazon does the most complicated task on purpose, to gain user benefits. But it doesn’t mean that Amazon also gains advantages when consumers who need to close their accounts are frustrated and possibly give up doing so.

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This is just one example. Brignull has known a dozen types of dark patterns like the cockroach motel, all indexed on his website, in Darkpatterns.org. For example, there is the “stealth in the basket”, where a store enters something in your cart while making the payment to buy anything else, such as a warranty or a service plan that you want to deactivate to remove it from your cart.

You’ve probably also noticed what Brignull calls “verifyshaming,” where you’re encouraged to opt for anything or stay subscribed to a newsletter. For example, when a shows you an image of an unhappy puppy before you verify your abandonment, or when you read an article and a full-screen pop-up window appears asking for your email address, and your only features are “OK” or “No, I hate reading attractive things”. Brignull also presents heinous examples of dark patterns on the Twitter account @darkpatterns it explodes.

When it comes to dark models, the bad news is that corporations have groups of other people committed to trying and experimenting with the techniques that get the ultimate desirable response, and you … is that you? The good news is that education is a difficult tool.

“If you know what cognitive biases and the kind of tricks that can be used to replace your brain and convince you to do things, then you’re less likely to see that you’re idiotic,” Brignull says.

Brignull also recommends public calling companies. The complicated fun of canceling a subscription can help you earn a few dollars in the short term, but if you call a site to fool customers, they can take steps to correct the design to satisfy customers. “Complaining out loud is a very clever thing. So don’t complain by email when no one can see it, because they’re going to fuck you up. If you complain in public, you’re more likely to get a faster response and a more effective response,” Brignull says.

Dark patterns are everywhere, and while not all attempts to manipulate a user’s habit are destructive to the user, it is vital to know that a company’s goals do not fit their own. For some companies, if they can inspire you to do something you wouldn’t do otherwise, they will.

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