• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Red Kite Creative logo

Red Kite Creative

  • Web Design
    • Custom WordPress Website Development
    • Responsive Design
    • Completely Custom Web Design
    • Ecommerce Website Design
  • Site Management
    • WordPress Maintenance and Support
    • WordPress Performance Optimization
    • WordPress Training and Consulting
  • Portfolio
    • All Projects
    • WordPress
    • Ecommerce
  • About
    • About Red Kite
    • What We Do
    • Working With Us
    • Testimonials
  • Blog
    • The “Minding Your Business” Blog
  • Contact

Dark Patterns of Manipulation

October 23, 2018 by Debbie Campbell

Example of a dark patternHere’s a great example of a ‘dark pattern’ I encountered today. Dark patterns are UX (user experience) interactions designed to trick or mislead users.

Note the ‘Temporary offer, only 1 left’ in the screenshot here? This is a very typical example of this type of manipulation – trying to make you think you’re going to miss out on a great deal if you don’t jump on it immediately.

Also, they make it look like the products are on sale, but these prices have always been the same…

Dark Patterns in the Wild

These practices are deceptive and unethical, and there are a lot of them out there. 11 types have been classified by darkpatterns.org:

  1. Bait and Switch – you want to do one thing but another thing happens instead.
  2. Confirmshaming – guilting you into opting into something by using shaming language.
  3. Disguised Ads – ads that look like navigation elements or content.
  4. Forced Continuity – charging your card without notifying you when you finish a ‘free’ trial. And often making it very hard to cancel.
  5. Friend Spam – asks for your social contacts and then spams them.
  6. Hidden Costs – the last step of the checkout process has unexpected fees.
  7. Misdirection – focuses you on one thing to prevent you from seeing another.
  8. Price Comparison Prevention – seller makes it hard to compare prices of their products.
  9. Privacy Zuckering – you get tricked into sharing more information publicly than you intended.
  10. Roach Motel – easy to get into, impossible to leave.
  11. Sneak into Basket – during the purchasing process extra items are added to your cart.
  12. Trick Questions – a question appears to ask one thing but is actually asking another.

Learn more about dark patterns and how to protect yourself from these subtle (and not-so-subtle) manipulation tactics.

Share this content...

Filed Under: UX Tagged With: dark patterns

Previous Post
Next Post

Primary Sidebar

Categories

  • +News
    • Launches
  • Ecommerce
  • +WordPress Info
    • Plugins
    • Website Performance
  • +Getting Help
    • Hiring a Web Professional
    • Consulting
  • Hosting
  • +Productivity
    • Client Relationships
    • CRM
  • +Resources
    • Analytics
  • +Security
    • Privacy
  • +Self-Promotion and Marketing
    • Blogging
    • Business Credibility
    • Measuring Website Success
    • Branding
    • Newsletters and Email Campaigns
    • Video Marketing
    • SEO
    • Podcasting
    • Social Media
    • Website Content
    • Establishing Trust
  • Scams
  • +Training
    • Tutorials
  • -Web Design
    • Website Usability
    • Graphic Design
    • Website Forms
    • CMS
    • Ecommerce
    • Responsive Web Design
    • UX
    • Information Architecture
    • Web Typography
    • Conversion Rates
© Copyright 2022 Red Kite Creative LLC · All Rights Reserved · Client Support · Privacy
Mmm, cookies! This website uses cookies to give you the best user experience. Manage cookies >View cookie policy >Accept
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website.

We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.

Learn more about our privacy policy.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT