Deceptive Patterns (Dark Patterns) are design patterns that try to trick the user into doing something they wouldn’t normally want to make, usually benefitting the company. They can range from making certain functions really hard to find and use, to using certain colours or language to trick the user through psychology. Deceptive Patterns existed prior to the screen, for example in the 1938 German election, where the ballot sheet read “Do you agree with the reunification of Austria with the German Reich that was enacted on 13 March 1938, and do you vote for the party of our leader Adolf Hitler?”, with a large “Yes” circle and a much smaller “No” circle. This is deceptive for a number of reasons (without considering the Nazi factor); firstly, the obvious hierarchy of the “Yes” circle encourages users to tick that one. Also, these are two separate questions rolled into one answer, without the option to vote for one without the other, forcing users into more decisions than they want to make.
I find it really interesting how deceptive patterns can be seen throughout history and not just in UX design, and this helps to highlight their significance. I think it’s really important to bring more attention to deceptive patterns as their usage throughout history shows they are more than just a technique to get companies more money but can also lead to much bigger and worse things happening as people continue to fall for them.
I wanted to consider what can be done around deceptive patterns, as a designer who will soon be going into the industry. I’ve been reading Mike Monteiro’s “Ruined by Design” which talks about ethical issues around UX design. Around halfway in the book the topic of Deceptive Patterns comes up and how to stop them is discussed. Monteiro’s view is that Deceptive Patterns are the most basic form of manipulation a company can use, which makes their wide usage frustrating. Basically as designers today, there’s simply no excuse to include them in designs, even when asked to. This idea comes from an earlier point in the book which is that we as designers are the ones with the ability to create products, so at the end of the day, it is our responsibility to stop bad practices. We should be defiant in our work and gatekeep from allowing predatory techniques into our work. There is no ethical reason to include deceptive patterns and doing so is to go against the idea of creating a good user experience, and therefore you are failing at your job. I think this is a really interesting moral outlook on this topic as it places the responsibility on the designer, rather than the higher up that wants them in the project. While quite an extreme view on the topic, I think it’s a really good way to approach it by putting the responsibility on the designer it forces you into a position where you simply cannot do it as it goes against your moral conscience. I think by taking this mentality it may be a step in the right direction to getting rid of deceptive patterns in UX and making better experiences for all.
Taking this time to explore Deceptive Patterns has been really interesting as it’s helped me understand just how important it is to avoid them and how dangerous they can be. I also found it really interesting to explore how as designers we can combat these techniques and what we can do to stamp it out.