Do you think your actions are the result of your own free choices? What if those actions are the inevitable and necessary consequence of antecedent states of affairs? What does this mean for your free will? In a deterministic world where there’s an exclusive future for all our actions, digital users can become more predictable and monetizable than ever. In fact, by using creative designs and deceptive strategies, companies can create deterministic worlds and exploit the fact that human behaviour is hardwired to choose the path of least resistance. Sites and apps designs become highly relevant in this scenario, because if you know how people think, . Several companies observe and learn an incredible amount of information about user behaviour in order to refine what is called “ ,” discrete design elements intended to influence human behaviour through how decisions are presented. you can design choice environments that make it easier for people to choose what you want choice architectures There are all around you, and they : they always influence user behaviour, even when they fail to accomplish its objective or there’s no explicit strategy behind. choice architectures are never neutral Nudging “Nudging” refers to how users can be driven towards making certain choices by appealing to psychological biases. A is any aspect of the that . It represents a small feature of the environment that alters people’s behaviour but does so in a non-enforced way. nudge choice architecture alters people’s behaviour in a predictable way without forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic incentives It’s true that choice architectures influence by default (even when there’s no apparent intention behind), so a nudge is best understood as the . intentional attempt at influencing choice (Example of nudging: the pre-selected amount suggests is the ‘right’ one. Source: ) The Internet Patrol Nudges work without limiting the user’s original set of choices, and can produce positive results like: Sending people a simple reminder to schedule a dental check-up proved to double the rate of people who . Sending students a few personalized text messages helped many of them remember to . Using an where people are automatically registered as organ donors can significantly increase the number of donors. Improving health caring. signed up for an appointment Improving financial decisions. refile their application for student aid Increasing choices that benefit others. opt-out system for organ donations Whether through reminders, personalized notifications, awards or default settings, nudges can steer people to make better choices. But the question is: better to whom? What if there were opposite interests behind the act of driving user’s behaviours? The dark side There are tricks that go beyond nudges to influence decision making, and cause users to do things they may not otherwise do. are subtle ploys many companies use to manipulate you into doing something, such as buying or signing up for something, or disclosing personal or financial details. A design that delivers the best conversion rate might not be the same that delivers the best user experience. Dark patterns (Example of a dark pattern applied to hide extra costs. Source: ) Shopify Dark patterns may exploit to make it harder for a user to be fully in control of its faculties during a key decision moment. In other words, . timing the moment when you see a notification can determine how you respond to it. Or if you even notice it Dark patterns also leverage on a very human characteristic: we’re lazy by design, so producing is always an effective strategy. Designs that require lots more clicks/taps and interactions discourage users into engaging with that content. friction (In this example, the user must actively unselect the extra product, or otherwise it will appear in the checkout. Source: ) Econsultancy The site details some of these deceptive mechanisms like (when the design makes it simple to sign up but hard to cancel), (ads masqueraded as content that isn’t trying to sell you something), or (named after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is the trick of getting you to overshare data). Darkpatterns.org “roach motel” “disguised ads” “privacy Zuckering” These strategies extend everywhere on the internet, and although some countries try to , the truth is that not all governments seem to be taking action: regulate this behaviour has been accused of using manipulative design practices to , making it nearly impossible to tell ads apart from organic search results. is a US tax preparation software to file taxes online that has been accused of . has also been accused of using dark patterns to , making the offline-account option harder to find. Google trick users into clicking on ads TurboTax making it ridiculously complicated to find the actual free part of the service, and even making sure to hide it from Google results Microsoft push users into opening cloud accounts As digital users, we are in a very hard spot. The fact that many are making 58% of US bank content not readable for the average American), and about contain dark patterns, reveals that we are continuously under siege. Is there any way out? US banking sites harder to read than Moby-Dick ( 11% of retail websites Final thoughts Manipulation through behavioural techniques can occur quietly and leave no trace. Since companies can drive customer’s decisions through heavy analytics and user interfaces, it’s easy to imagine a digital future in which social platforms employ algorithms to , only accepting or highlighting the ones that could generate sufficient revenue. predict the virality and monetizability of each post Companies are super focused on testing and experimenting with different techniques to get the most desirable responses, and since they are incredible experts in the discipline, it seems hard to avoid being deceived. The good news is that , and by knowing some of their strategies and trying to be aware of our cognitive biases, we might be able to sidestep some of the traps. education is a powerful tool Sites like or have lots of examples regarding dark patterns and awesome material. I suggest you take some time and go through them. It will pay off. You can also explore or use the hashtag on Twitter to call out what you’ve found or discover what others have found. Social media engagement is a good way to put pressure on companies to stop using these practices. Darkpatterns.org Princeton’s Web Transparency @darkpatterns #darkpatterns If you can detect deception you're more likely to avoide them. Interested in these topics? Follow me on or Linkedin Twitter

Facebook

Google

Microsoft

Super

Trace

Twitter

How AI is Making it Easier to Spread Fake News

These Are The Secret Weapons of Fake News

Read My Stories

Too Long; Didn't Read

Make resilience your competitive advantage

What About The Illusion Of Choice?

What About The Illusion Of Choice?

About Author

Comments

TOPICS

THIS ARTICLE WAS FEATURED IN

Related Stories

Untitled Story

Don't Let Them Fool You: Manipulative Strategies Used By Big Tech Companies To Sell You Stuff

Amazon Accused of Unfairly Charging Consumers Without Consent

How Amazon Upsells Customers to Become Prime Members

Interface Interference, Roach Motel, Misdirection, Sneaking, & Confirmshaming with Amazon

The FTC (Read: Lina Khan) Finally Sues Amazon in Landmark Antitrust Lawsuit #BreakUpBigTech

Don't Let Them Fool You: Manipulative Strategies Used By Big Tech Companies To Sell You Stuff

Amazon Accused of Unfairly Charging Consumers Without Consent

How Amazon Upsells Customers to Become Prime Members

Interface Interference, Roach Motel, Misdirection, Sneaking, & Confirmshaming with Amazon

The FTC (Read: Lina Khan) Finally Sues Amazon in Landmark Antitrust Lawsuit #BreakUpBigTech

Light-Mode

Classic

Newspaper

Dark-Mode

Neon Noir

Minty

HN StartUps