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The Dark (Patterns) Side of UX Design

Authors:

Joseph Hoggatt,

Austin L. ToombsAuthors Info & Claims

CHI '18: Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Paper No.: 534, Pages 1 - 14

https://doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3174108

Published: 21 April 2018 Publication History

Abstract

Interest in critical scholarship that engages with the complexity of user experience (UX) practice is rapidly expanding, yet the vocabulary for describing and assessing criticality in practice is currently lacking. In this paper, we outline and explore the limits of a specific ethical phenomenon known as "dark patterns," where user value is supplanted in favor of shareholder value. We assembled a corpus of examples of practitioner-identified dark patterns and performed a content analysis to determine the ethical concerns contained in these examples. This analysis revealed a wide range of ethical issues raised by practitioners that were frequently conflated under the umbrella term of dark patterns, while also underscoring a shared concern that UX designers could easily become complicit in manipulative or unreasonably persuasive practices. We conclude with implications for the education and practice of UX designers, and a proposal for broadening research on the ethics of user experience.

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Cited By

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Albuquerque NValença GFalcão T(2024)Investigating Manipulative Design on Social Media Platforms - the Case of KidinfluencersJournal on Interactive Systems10.5753/jis.2024.427115:1(860-874)Online publication date: 13-Aug-2024
https://doi.org/10.5753/jis.2024.4271
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Index Terms

The Dark (Patterns) Side of UX Design
1. Human-centered computing
2. Social and professional topics
  1. Professional topics
    1. Computing profession
      1. Codes of ethics

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cover image ACM Conferences

CHI '18: Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

April 2018

8489 pages

ISBN:9781450356206

DOI:10.1145/3173574

General Chairs:
Regan Mandryk
University of Saskatchewan, Canada
,
Mark Hancock
University of Waterloo, Canada
,
Program Chairs:
Mark Perry
Brunel University London, UK
,
Anna Cox
University College London, UK

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Published: 21 April 2018

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.datak.2024.102373
Albuquerque NValença GFalcão T(2024)Investigating Manipulative Design on Social Media Platforms - the Case of KidinfluencersJournal on Interactive Systems10.5753/jis.2024.427115:1(860-874)Online publication date: 13-Aug-2024
https://doi.org/10.5753/jis.2024.4271
Knyzelis M(2024)CREATIVE MANIPULATION: A CASE STUDY OF CONFIRMSHAMING AS A DECEPTIVE DESIGN PATTERNCreativity Studies10.3846/cs.2024.2130817:1(335-344)Online publication date: 9-Jan-2024
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