Dark Patterns: Roach Motels of the Internet

In the wake of the recent Cambridge Analytica data breach newsbreak, a #deletefacebook campaign was ignited and many called for the deactivation of Facebook accounts. Have you ever actually tried deleting your Facebook account or how about deactivating your Amazon account? Ever had a difficult time trying to unsubscribe from a marketing email?

If your answer to any of the above questions is “Yes”, then you have very likely been a victim of dark patterns. By definition, dark patterns are subtle, intentional tricks used on websites or apps that make you take actions you don’t intend to do to benefit the company (i.e. subscribe or activate) or make it very difficult to take actions that will hurt the company (i.e. unsubscribe or deactivate). At their core, these are malicious practices that harm users and benefit the organizations behind them. Be aware as you browse the internet and apps and try not to fall into any of these dark patterns traps. The metaphor to roach motels is an apt one- dark patterns are designed to let you in easily and make it really difficult to get out.

Below is a classic example of a dark pattern. The “Continue with Free Plan” link is discretely tucked away into the top corner in fine print and blends into the background graphic, while the paid plans are prominently displayed with large font in the center of the screen. Also notice how the Professional Plan is tagged with “Recommended” and the “Confirm Trial” button is highlighted and stands out enticing you to click.

Another dark pattern example is the below marketing email from Old Navy. Clearly, Old Navy knows how inboxes are set up and display unread emails with a blue circle on the left-hand side. They have purposefully included a blue circle embedded in the email subject line to appear as a symbol of unread email, therefore encouraging the user to click, even if it has already been read. This design likely benefits Old Navy’s open or clickthrough rates.

The below video walks you through the process of deactivating your Amazon account. As you might have guessed, it’s not an easy process and requires the user to navigate through layers of webpages through not obvious links.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=kxkrdLI6e6M

https://darkpatterns.org/