\u201cA user interface that has been carefully crafted to trick users into doing things..they are not mistakes, they are carefully crafted with a solid understanding of human psychology, and they do not have the user\u2019s interests in mind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dark UX has various dark patterns through which it stealthily functions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What are Dark Patterns?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nA dark pattern is a user interface that has been carefully crafted to trick users into doing things. For instance, signing up for recurring bills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
User Experience (UX) designer Harry Brignull coined the neologism on 28 July 2010 with the registration of darkpatterns.org, a “pattern library with the specific goal of naming and shaming deceptive user interfaces”. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dark UX patterns are tricks used in websites and apps that make you do things that you didn’t mean to, like buying or signing up for something.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.leo9studio.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Web-1280-\u2013-9-3.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nIn 2016 and 2017 research has documented social media anti-privacy practices using dark patterns. In 2018, the Norwegian Consumer Council (Forbrukerr\u00e5det) published “Deceived by Design”, a report on deceptive user interface designs of Facebook, Google and Microsoft. A 2019 study investigated practices on 11,000 shopping websites. It identified 1818 dark patterns in total and grouped them into 15 categories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How does Dark UX Work?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, it works quite in the dark. That is, the user is deceived, manipulated and kept in the dark about the actual situation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you use websites and apps, you don\u2019t read every word on every page – you skim read and make assumptions. If a company wants to trick you into doing something, they can take advantage of this by making a page look like it is saying one thing when it is in fact saying another. You can defend yourself by staying aware and informed about Dark UX and its various types. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trick questions<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nWhile filling in a form you respond to a question that tricks you into giving an answer you didn’t intend. When glanced upon quickly the question appears to ask one thing, but when read carefully it asks another thing entirely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.leo9studio.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Web-1920-\u2013-1-1-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nAnother common dark pattern amongst checkboxes is double negatives \u2013 language that makes the user unsure whether to tick or to untick. Here\u2019s a great example\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sneak into Basket<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou attempt to purchase something, but somewhere in the purchasing journey the site sneaks an additional item into your basket, often through the use of an opt-out radio button or checkbox on a prior page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sports Direct is a high profile abuser of this dark pattern. In the past a \u2018free\u2019 mug and Sports Direct magazine (\u00a31 delivery charge) have been added to customer baskets online, without any notification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though the retailer has now added a pop-up offering the \u2018free\u2019 mug to users, note how inconspicuous the \u2018no thanks\u2019 text is compared to the large white \u2018yes please\u2019 button.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.leo9studio.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Artboard-\u2013-2-1-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nRoach Motel<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThis type of dark pattern is pretty common and fairly relatable by all. You get into a situation very easily, but then you find it is hard to get out of it! For example, a subscription. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The IIIM Jobs website is a perfect example. It\u2019s a painfully long process to unsubscribe their daily mails. It\u2019s been years with their unwanted emails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.leo9studio.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Artboard-\u2013-3-1-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nPrivacy Zuckering<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou are tricked into publicly sharing more information about yourself than you really intended to. Named after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let’s take the infamous example of Facebook. Facebook shares user data with advertisers by default. Users must change settings manually to opt-out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Price Comparison Prevention<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe retailer makes it hard for you to compare the price of an item with another item, so you cannot make an informed decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Misdirection<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe design purposefully focuses your attention on one thing in order to distract your attention from another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the screenshot below you can see how the \u2018add to basket with donation\u2019 red button appears to suggest moving forward to the next stage of the checkout. The lost CTA to continue \u2018without donation\u2019 button points backward, leaving the unobservant user to assume this is some sort of back arrow to return to a previous page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.leo9studio.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Artboard-\u2013-4-1-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nHidden Costs<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou get to the last step of the checkout process, only to discover some unexpected (and surprisingly high) charges have appeared, e.g. delivery charges, tax, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bait and Switch<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBait-and-switch scams appeal to people who want to save money. A company offers a compelling deal, to draw customers to the business. When the customer contacts the business and finds that the deal is not available, the company then tries to convince the customer to buy something else, assuring them that they are still receiving a good deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Bait](\"https:\/\/www.leo9studio.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Artboard-\u2013-5-1-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nConfirmshaming<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe act of guilting the user into opting into something. The option to decline is worded in such a way as to shame the user into compliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here is an image providing a classic example of confirmshaming. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.leo9studio.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Artboard-\u2013-7-1-1024x583.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nDisguised Ads<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAdvertisements that are disguised as other kinds of content or navigation, in order to get you to click on them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"disguised](\"https:\/\/www.leo9studio.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Artboard-\u2013-6-1-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nForced Continuity<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWhen your free trial with a service comes to an end and your credit card silently starts getting charged without any warning. In some cases this is made even worse by making it difficult to cancel the membership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How does that happen? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe user is asked to give their credit card or payment information for a free trial or a web service\/benefit and the supplier hides the \u2018subscription renews automatically\u2019 info or makes it very hard to cancel the automatic renewal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Friend Spam<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe product asks for your email or social media permissions under the pretence it will be used for a desirable outcome (e.g. finding friends), but then spams all your contacts in a message that claims to be from you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
LinkedIn was behind what has become the best-known example of Friend Spam. During the registration process, LinkedIn asked users to grant access to their email accounts, claiming that doing so would boost the new user\u2019s career prospects by creating a \u201cstrong network\u201d. In actuality, LinkedIn then used the new user\u2019s email address to send invitation emails to all of their contacts. Linkedin had to cough up $13 million damages in 2015!<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Here](\"https:\/\/www.leo9studio.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Artboard-\u2013-1-1-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nNow that we’ve chanted “Lumos!” and have enlightened ourselves about Dark UX and its patterns, stay tuned to stay informed about more of such crucial knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nRead More Blogs<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Learn awesome hacks of design thinking<\/a> in just 4 minutes. Learning and applying these awesome hacks will help you have a great kick start!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nIn 2016 and 2017 research has documented social media anti-privacy practices using dark patterns. In 2018, the Norwegian Consumer Council (Forbrukerr\u00e5det) published “Deceived by Design”, a report on deceptive user interface designs of Facebook, Google and Microsoft. A 2019 study investigated practices on 11,000 shopping websites. It identified 1818 dark patterns in total and grouped them into 15 categories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How does Dark UX Work?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, it works quite in the dark. That is, the user is deceived, manipulated and kept in the dark about the actual situation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you use websites and apps, you don\u2019t read every word on every page – you skim read and make assumptions. If a company wants to trick you into doing something, they can take advantage of this by making a page look like it is saying one thing when it is in fact saying another. You can defend yourself by staying aware and informed about Dark UX and its various types. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trick questions<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nWhile filling in a form you respond to a question that tricks you into giving an answer you didn’t intend. When glanced upon quickly the question appears to ask one thing, but when read carefully it asks another thing entirely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\nAnother common dark pattern amongst checkboxes is double negatives \u2013 language that makes the user unsure whether to tick or to untick. Here\u2019s a great example\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sneak into Basket<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou attempt to purchase something, but somewhere in the purchasing journey the site sneaks an additional item into your basket, often through the use of an opt-out radio button or checkbox on a prior page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sports Direct is a high profile abuser of this dark pattern. In the past a \u2018free\u2019 mug and Sports Direct magazine (\u00a31 delivery charge) have been added to customer baskets online, without any notification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though the retailer has now added a pop-up offering the \u2018free\u2019 mug to users, note how inconspicuous the \u2018no thanks\u2019 text is compared to the large white \u2018yes please\u2019 button.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\nRoach Motel<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThis type of dark pattern is pretty common and fairly relatable by all. You get into a situation very easily, but then you find it is hard to get out of it! For example, a subscription. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The IIIM Jobs website is a perfect example. It\u2019s a painfully long process to unsubscribe their daily mails. It\u2019s been years with their unwanted emails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\nPrivacy Zuckering<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou are tricked into publicly sharing more information about yourself than you really intended to. Named after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let’s take the infamous example of Facebook. Facebook shares user data with advertisers by default. Users must change settings manually to opt-out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Price Comparison Prevention<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe retailer makes it hard for you to compare the price of an item with another item, so you cannot make an informed decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Misdirection<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe design purposefully focuses your attention on one thing in order to distract your attention from another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the screenshot below you can see how the \u2018add to basket with donation\u2019 red button appears to suggest moving forward to the next stage of the checkout. The lost CTA to continue \u2018without donation\u2019 button points backward, leaving the unobservant user to assume this is some sort of back arrow to return to a previous page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\nHidden Costs<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou get to the last step of the checkout process, only to discover some unexpected (and surprisingly high) charges have appeared, e.g. delivery charges, tax, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bait and Switch<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBait-and-switch scams appeal to people who want to save money. A company offers a compelling deal, to draw customers to the business. When the customer contacts the business and finds that the deal is not available, the company then tries to convince the customer to buy something else, assuring them that they are still receiving a good deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\nConfirmshaming<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe act of guilting the user into opting into something. The option to decline is worded in such a way as to shame the user into compliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here is an image providing a classic example of confirmshaming. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\nDisguised Ads<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAdvertisements that are disguised as other kinds of content or navigation, in order to get you to click on them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\nForced Continuity<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWhen your free trial with a service comes to an end and your credit card silently starts getting charged without any warning. In some cases this is made even worse by making it difficult to cancel the membership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How does that happen? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe user is asked to give their credit card or payment information for a free trial or a web service\/benefit and the supplier hides the \u2018subscription renews automatically\u2019 info or makes it very hard to cancel the automatic renewal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Friend Spam<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe product asks for your email or social media permissions under the pretence it will be used for a desirable outcome (e.g. finding friends), but then spams all your contacts in a message that claims to be from you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
LinkedIn was behind what has become the best-known example of Friend Spam. During the registration process, LinkedIn asked users to grant access to their email accounts, claiming that doing so would boost the new user\u2019s career prospects by creating a \u201cstrong network\u201d. In actuality, LinkedIn then used the new user\u2019s email address to send invitation emails to all of their contacts. Linkedin had to cough up $13 million damages in 2015!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\nNow that we’ve chanted “Lumos!” and have enlightened ourselves about Dark UX and its patterns, stay tuned to stay informed about more of such crucial knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nRead More Blogs<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Learn awesome hacks of design thinking<\/a> in just 4 minutes. Learning and applying these awesome hacks will help you have a great kick start!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While filling in a form you respond to a question that tricks you into giving an answer you didn’t intend. When glanced upon quickly the question appears to ask one thing, but when read carefully it asks another thing entirely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another common dark pattern amongst checkboxes is double negatives \u2013 language that makes the user unsure whether to tick or to untick. Here\u2019s a great example\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n You attempt to purchase something, but somewhere in the purchasing journey the site sneaks an additional item into your basket, often through the use of an opt-out radio button or checkbox on a prior page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sports Direct is a high profile abuser of this dark pattern. In the past a \u2018free\u2019 mug and Sports Direct magazine (\u00a31 delivery charge) have been added to customer baskets online, without any notification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Though the retailer has now added a pop-up offering the \u2018free\u2019 mug to users, note how inconspicuous the \u2018no thanks\u2019 text is compared to the large white \u2018yes please\u2019 button.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This type of dark pattern is pretty common and fairly relatable by all. You get into a situation very easily, but then you find it is hard to get out of it! For example, a subscription. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The IIIM Jobs website is a perfect example. It\u2019s a painfully long process to unsubscribe their daily mails. It\u2019s been years with their unwanted emails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You are tricked into publicly sharing more information about yourself than you really intended to. Named after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let’s take the infamous example of Facebook. Facebook shares user data with advertisers by default. Users must change settings manually to opt-out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The retailer makes it hard for you to compare the price of an item with another item, so you cannot make an informed decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The design purposefully focuses your attention on one thing in order to distract your attention from another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the screenshot below you can see how the \u2018add to basket with donation\u2019 red button appears to suggest moving forward to the next stage of the checkout. The lost CTA to continue \u2018without donation\u2019 button points backward, leaving the unobservant user to assume this is some sort of back arrow to return to a previous page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You get to the last step of the checkout process, only to discover some unexpected (and surprisingly high) charges have appeared, e.g. delivery charges, tax, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bait-and-switch scams appeal to people who want to save money. A company offers a compelling deal, to draw customers to the business. When the customer contacts the business and finds that the deal is not available, the company then tries to convince the customer to buy something else, assuring them that they are still receiving a good deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The act of guilting the user into opting into something. The option to decline is worded in such a way as to shame the user into compliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here is an image providing a classic example of confirmshaming. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Advertisements that are disguised as other kinds of content or navigation, in order to get you to click on them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When your free trial with a service comes to an end and your credit card silently starts getting charged without any warning. In some cases this is made even worse by making it difficult to cancel the membership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How does that happen? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The user is asked to give their credit card or payment information for a free trial or a web service\/benefit and the supplier hides the \u2018subscription renews automatically\u2019 info or makes it very hard to cancel the automatic renewal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The product asks for your email or social media permissions under the pretence it will be used for a desirable outcome (e.g. finding friends), but then spams all your contacts in a message that claims to be from you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n LinkedIn was behind what has become the best-known example of Friend Spam. During the registration process, LinkedIn asked users to grant access to their email accounts, claiming that doing so would boost the new user\u2019s career prospects by creating a \u201cstrong network\u201d. In actuality, LinkedIn then used the new user\u2019s email address to send invitation emails to all of their contacts. Linkedin had to cough up $13 million damages in 2015!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now that we’ve chanted “Lumos!” and have enlightened ourselves about Dark UX and its patterns, stay tuned to stay informed about more of such crucial knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Learn awesome hacks of design thinking<\/a> in just 4 minutes. Learning and applying these awesome hacks will help you have a great kick start!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSneak into Basket<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nRoach Motel<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nPrivacy Zuckering<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Price Comparison Prevention<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Misdirection<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nHidden Costs<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Bait and Switch<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nConfirmshaming<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nDisguised Ads<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nForced Continuity<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Friend Spam<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nRead More Blogs<\/h4>\n\n\n\n