Bookmark: "“I, Obscura,” a dark pattern zine launched from Stanford and UCLA"

2021-08-23

Bookmarked:

“I, Obscura,” a dark pattern zine launched from Stanford and UCLA pacscenter.stanford.edu

Scholars at Stanford and UCLA assembled this zine (on Issuu.com or as a 45MB PDF) on deceptive patterns, primarily to make them more tangible to non-techy people.

’I, Obscura’ hopes to illuminate dark design patterns by telling stories. A compilation of case studies, this zine offers readers a set of dark pattern examples, along with possible design and policy solutions. These examples assist with demystifying deceptive design of the possible harms to individuals, and to prompt policymakers to action

The nine case studies, along with the accompanying explanations and hints also make this a good device for educational contexts with design professionals.

I'm Sebastian, Sociologist and Interaction Designer. This journal is mostly about bringing together social science and design for inclusive, privacy-focused, and sustainable "human-first" digital strategies. I also tend to a "digital garden" with carefully curated resources.

My occasionally sent email newsletter has all of the above, and there is of course also an RSS feed or my Mastodon/Fediverse profile.

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