Design » Deceptive patterns
Often referred to as “dark patterns”, deceptive patterns are manipulative design solutions that aim to nudge users towards actions that are against their intention and often their personal benefit. Commonly dismissed as unethical among responsible designers, they have a legal relevance as well.
About the name
There is a good reason to not call them “dark” to promote breaking the connotation of dark/black with negative:
Deceptive dark patterns
The phrase “dark pattern” is …problematic. We really don’t need to be associating darkness with negativity any more than we already do in our language and culture.
Why it's time to update our language about bad design patterns
amyhupe.co.uk
(for more on the general topic of avoiding racist bias in language use, ref://a0bwmqha is a good resource.)
…but even from a most practical perspective this not-self-explanatory term is not very comprehensible for those outside a certain bubble:
https://mobile.twitter.com/quinnkeast/status/1355089301487411201
I have chosen to use the term “deceptive patterns” wherever possible and only use “dark patterns” when quoting the work of others.
Good explainers to start from
“I, Obscura,” a dark pattern zine launched from Stanford and UCLA
pacscenter.stanford.edu
More in-depth analysis
Design
darkpatterns.uxp2.com
Legal definitions
Guidelines on the protection of the online consumer | ACM.nl
acm.nl/en/publications/guidelines-protection-online-consumer
Academic research
What Makes a Dark Pattern... Dark? Design Attributes, Normative Considerations, and Measurement Methods
Dark Patterns after the GDPR: Scraping Consent Pop-ups and Demonstrating their Influence
From unethical to illegal
With an increasing volume of GDPR-related court rulings, there is also a growing body of case law stating how deceptive patterns violate the law:
The end of dark patterns in “cookie walls”: German court bans deceptive designs | Spirit Legal - JDSupra
jdsupra.com/legalnews/the-end-of-dark-patterns-in-cookie-5786302/
At the same time, there is a lack of specific statements in the applicable laws. While deceptive patterns obviously violate the spirit and the foundations of laws, they are rarely explicitly mentioned as something outlawed:
Dark Patterns in Personal Data Collection: Definition, Taxonomy and Lawfulness
papers.ssrn.com
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Those pop-up 'I agree' boxes aren't just annoying – they're potentially dangerous
Last edited: Feb 2023