Dark patterns more about how they handle you

In older ones publications we have talked about Dark patterns. If you feel like you're being asked to do something you don't want to do but you have no (apparent) options, you might be in front of a Dark pattern.

Dark patterns are techniques that deliberately mislead you to do what a company wants. So it is probably worthwhile to understand how they work. Let's look at some examples:

Confirm something and feel unique

Web designers who want to make you sign up for a newsletter try to make you feel smart enough to answer a question correctly σω See the image below:

This is the worst kind of popup. Not only is it disruptive to my reading experience, it's also manipulative. #webdesign #darkpatterns pic.twitter.com/Yhi7Vk3TOQ

- TJ Pitre (@tpitre) July 26, 2018

To skip registration, you should click on the almost invisible link that says you are not interested in cat.

All this is deliberate. A simple pop-up window may have better results because they do not try to fool you. But the above practice is very common. Tumblr has too many examples if you want to see.

Bait and switch

Sometimes you click on one button to do something, and you discover that you have done the exact opposite. This is the classic bait and switch.

Microsoft used this trick when launching Windows 10. At one point they had two buttons: upgrade now or upgrade tonight.

Now suppose you were one of those who didn't want to install Windows 10. Which button will you press? Too many ended up installing Windows while they didn't want it.

Later it got worse: even its closing window that displayed the two buttons could cause an installation.

There are other types of Dark patterns, but they all have one audience: they assume you do not read the instructions and that you work with instinct. So at some point you can click on the wrong button to continue with whatever you do. Too many companies use this technique.

For example: Last April Facebook used Dark patterns to undermine EU privacy rules. Take a look:

Notice the buttons on the left. The button that closes the pop-up window after accepting the settings is blue, so it stands out. The button that allows you to adjust the settings is white so that it is as bright as blue. The title "Manage data settings" makes the page a little scary for non-geeks.

Facebook knows that the vast majority of its members will press the blue button without reading anything just to make the pop-up disappear. However, with the "agreement" of the users, the company has their consent for the collection of data, which is now legally required by the GDRP.

None of the above is illegal. But Facebook does not show the neutral options it gives you.

Φυσικά υπάρχουν χιλιάδες τέτοια παραδείγματα στο Internet. Ας μιλήσουμε λίγο για τα crapware. You know many times free app installers hide traps:

The idea here is that you will click “Next” without reading what the installer wants to install. The right image even offers with very small ones letterthe direct download the app and it will not send you to another page with dozens of ads. This practice dates back to the 1990s.

We could go on

There are many other types of Dark patterns. Any design that tries to get you to do something you don't want to is using one dark motif. For more you can take a look at the following posts:

• Dark Reatterns: How they mislead the wrong privacy options
• Facebook dark patterns: what are the dark motifs and how they deceive