Have you ever been in a position where you found it a lot harder canceling a subscription than you did subscribing to it in the first place? Or proceeding with your basket to an online checkout only to find the total price riddled with hidden fees? If the answer to your question is ‘yes’, then you’ve simply been a victim of dark design patterns. These interfaces deceive users and manipulate them for the ill gain of many companies and organizations. Dark design patterns come in various forms, such as mousetrapping, bait and switch, and disguised ads, just to name a few. They not only violate ethical principles, but they also lead to a negative user experience.
Mousetrapping
Just as the name would suggest, this dark design pattern confines the user (mouse) into a service (trap) that they most likely will find very difficult to get out of — and in some cases, exiting is not an option at all. Take for instance Amazon and the European Union (EU). A CNN Business article mentions how the process in which users cancel their Amazon subscriptions had to be revised in order to comply to their region’s consumer protection policy. The tedious process of unsubscribing from that service left many users having no choice but to stay put.
Bait and switch
This type of dark pattern design involves the advertising of a good or service at a certain price level when really there are terms of service that are not as explicit as the advertisement that mislead consumers and even find some ineligible to take part in. An example of this would be when companies get consumers excited about certain products advertised with different accessories leading the consumer to think that they are all sold as a package. When in reality, the accessories are sold separately from the main product. Another example of this would be ads put up on TV where goods or services would be presented in an attractive manner and just as the ad concludes, the presenter’s voice suddenly speeds up just as they talk about the terms and conditions. Companies have amassed loads of negative responses towards this type of dark pattern design that leaves them feeling very misled.
Disguised ads
This may well be the most annoying of them all. Once upon a time, ads would simply be dismissed by clicking on the ‘x’ button found at whatever top corner of the screen or ad itself. However, these days most of those ‘x’ buttons are actually hidden links that open brand new tabs and bombard you with useless content that is irrelevant to what brought you to the site in the first place. Overtime, these dark design tactics proved to be very dangerous with some even opening numerous pages that could end up being malware — gaining unauthorized access to our computer systems. On the other hand, features like pop-up blocks have swooped in to save the day from malicious software and overall consumer experience as they surf the web.
All in all, these misleading and deceitful dark design patterns are only proving harmful to the user experience and challenge the trust and relationship a consumer can have with a company. They are unethical and ones I personally think companies should stop using.
