Dark Patterns: A Partial Explanation
May 21, 2020
Manipulation is a rich, multi-layered concept. DarkCyber noted “Dark Patterns: Past, Present, and Future: The Evolution of Tricky User Interfaces” is a slice of a manipulative pie, but the bakery has not been fully sampled. (Note: You may have to pay to read the article.) That poorly lit patisserie can be explored by future computer, scholar, analyst philosophers.
The pie slice at hand look good and seems tasty.
The article is the work of a number of computer, scholar, analyst philosophers. The main point is:
Dark patterns are user interfaces that benefit an online service by coercing users into making decisions they might not otherwise make.
The authors have ingested the thinking of the economist, scholar, and analysts Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein. The idea is that “helpful” suggestions, facts, comments, opinions, or other message payloads can cause a person to react. This is the Newtonian approach to manipulation. Like the pie, there is a quantum world of manipulation waiting to be documented; for example, a shaped experience slightly more subtle that a nun’s whacking an inattentive choir boy on the head with a hymnal.
The write up includes diagrams, an origin story, and a nod to the Google. Like many aspiring experts, the authors offer suggestions or recommendations presented in adulting language; for instance:
Let’s urge the design community to set standards for itself, both to avoid onerous regulation and because it’s the right thing to do.
Yep, that will work. The datasphere may be slightly more intractable for users unable to figure out a log scale.
Stephen E Arnold, May 21, 2020
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