Frustrated that you’ve accidentally taken an action you didn’t mean to take?Reverse engineer the process that led you there. Was it the fault of bad user interface design, or were the designs intentional?
Forced Continuity
Forced Continuity
When your free trial or introductory offer ends and you’re auto-enrolled into the paid version without further acknowledgement.
Friend Spam
Friend Spam
When a company like LinkedIn asked you to “grow your network” but used your “permission” to send sign-up emails to your contacts on your behalf telling them to sign up too.
Privacy Zuckering
Privacy Zuckering
Sharing more personal information than you intended to? Looking at you, Mark!
Roach Motel
Roach Motel
Easy to get in, an absolute labyrinth to get out of. Have you ever tried to cancel your Prime subscription?
Confirmshaming
Confirmshaming
Guilting a user to opt-in to something. For example, closing a pop-up and the website applies a negative opt-out: “No thanks, I’m fine with losing customers!”
What can you do to fight back against dark patterns?
The first step is to be aware of them, and think critically about your actions online. Once you start looking for dark patterns, you’ll realize they’re everywhere.