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Dark Patterns are designed to confuse and enroll

arstechnica.com

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Re: Dark Patterns are designed to confuse and enroll

#41

Post by sp332 »

ryanlm wrote: post #38
sp332 wrote: post #2

Not just the web either. This morning Cortana turned green and said "Oh hey!" in my taskbar. I clicked it and it gave me the regular interface - there was no alert or anything, they just wanted to boost their Cortana interaction numbers for the day. That's wasting my time and making it less likely that I will pay attention if there is an actual alert later.

It seems like your first problem is you're using Windows 10. You agreed to let them do what they want with THEIR operating system.

I think their end goal is to make money. And they're not going to do that if people don't like their products.

Re: Dark Patterns are designed to confuse and enroll

#42

Post by pc86 »

EGreg wrote: post #3

The site itself has a dark css theme. Made reading about "dark patterns" that much scarier. It's actually an interesting phenomenon -- how the experience is changed by the site you read it on.

TIL a grey background (despite the entire content area being white) is a dark theme.

Re: Dark Patterns are designed to confuse and enroll

#43

Post by happyslobro »

sp332 wrote: post #41
ryanlm wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems like your first problem is you're using Windows 10. You agreed to let them do what they want with THEIR operating system.

I think their end goal is to make money. And they're not going to do that if people don't like their products.

It might not matter if users like their products, so long as OEMs and corporate / school IT managers like them.

Re: Dark Patterns are designed to confuse and enroll

#45

Post by edwhitesell »

noxToken wrote: post #19
LeonM wrote: post #9

What about those 'free' WiFi access points that require you to login with Facebook for 'prevention of abuse', and then abuse your Facebook account by posting you were there.

Do you have an example of that? That can't be a thing.

It's essentially another dark pattern. In accordance with the use policy of the Facebook APIs you can't require a like in exchange for something. If you see that, definitely report the offender to Facebook.

Source: I used to be involved with a WiFi company that offered Facebook "login".

Edit: clarified my involvement

Re: Dark Patterns are designed to confuse and enroll

#46

Post by lpolovets »

wldcordeiro wrote: post #24
someone7x wrote: post #12

The thing about dark patterns is that feels like an abuse of the commons. Because of scummy practices like this I am absolutely less willing to explore a site that requests my email, or buy something from a random site (I just see if it's on amazon and buy it there). For example, a few days ago there was a Show HN about PlateJoy, which sounded really interesting. But, the only way I could learn about it was to enter…

Yep, AllTrails recently went with a dark-pattern, want to see any info on the trail? Sign-up. If you don't you'll get a brief flash of the detail page before redirecting to a sign-up form.

Is that a dark pattern, or poor ux?

Re: Dark Patterns are designed to confuse and enroll

#48

Post by kordless »

lpolovets wrote: post #46
wldcordeiro wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, AllTrails recently went with a dark-pattern, want to see any info on the trail? Sign-up. If you don't you'll get a brief flash of the detail page before redirecting to a sign-up form.

Is that a dark pattern, or poor ux?

Does it really matter?

Re: Dark Patterns are designed to confuse and enroll

#49

Post by rfrey »

wldcordeiro wrote: post #24
someone7x wrote: post #12

The thing about dark patterns is that feels like an abuse of the commons. Because of scummy practices like this I am absolutely less willing to explore a site that requests my email, or buy something from a random site (I just see if it's on amazon and buy it there). For example, a few days ago there was a Show HN about PlateJoy, which sounded really interesting. But, the only way I could learn about it was to enter…

Yep, AllTrails recently went with a dark-pattern, want to see any info on the trail? Sign-up. If you don't you'll get a brief flash of the detail page before redirecting to a sign-up form.

That does not sound like it's trying to trick you. They're offering something valuable in return for your email address. That is what every startup guru advises companies to do.

Apparently the value wasn't high enough for you to sign up. That's fine. But why is it a "dark pattern"?

Re: Dark Patterns are designed to confuse and enroll

#50

Post by [deleted] »

rfrey wrote: post #49
wldcordeiro wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, AllTrails recently went with a dark-pattern, want to see any info on the trail? Sign-up. If you don't you'll get a brief flash of the detail page before redirecting to a sign-up form.

That does not sound like it's trying to trick you. They're offering something valuable in return for your email address. That is what every startup guru advises companies to do. Apparently the value wasn't high enough for you to sign up. That's fine. But why is it a "dark pattern"?

[deleted]
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