The UX (User experience) area was created to improve the experiences and interactions that users have when using services and products. But what happens if designers misuse their experience to the disadvantage of users?
If designers use UX to cause damage to users, it’s a so-called “dark UX”.
Dark UX occurs when a designer influences a user in a way that benefits the interests of a company more than the user themselves.
In this article, we’ll show you 10 examples of what such a dark UX might look like.
1. Throw the bait and turn
In theory, it works by luring the customer to one thing, but then we turn around and something different than they expected happens. For example, we attract them to a free product, but then we demand shipping costs at a much higher price from them.
2. Hidden advertising
It’s an ad that blends in with the page and looks like the content of the page. This will increase the chance of the user clicking on it.
3. Deception
The design draws your attention to one thing in order to divert attention from another, often more convenient one for you.
4. Spam messages to your friends
A product requests access to your e-mail address or social network on the pretext that it will be used to achieve the desired result (e.g. finding friends), but then it sends spam to all your contacts in a message claiming to be from you.
5. Hidden fees
You get to the last step of the payment process only to find that there are some unexpected fees, e.g. delivery charges, tax, etc.
6. A deceptive question
A question is formulated in such a way that confuses the user. What do you think? If you click cancel, will you cancel your order or cancel the pop-up window?
7. To instigate guilt
The goal is to make the user feel guilty if they choose a different option than our preferred one.
8. To trap them
The design is created to get you into a certain situation as easily as possible (e.g. to create an account). But the moment you want to leave this situation (e.g. cancel your account), you’ll encounter plenty of obstacles.
9. Fear of missing something
The aim of this method is to make the user feel that the given product is in great demand, which puts them under pressure and forces them to make a quick decision. The user thus gets the feeling that if they don’t make a quick decision, they will lose the opportunity to buy this product.
10. Slipping into the basket
You can often encounter this technique in online stores. This happens when you “mysteriously” add another item to your cart along with the product you actually chose. Often using a checkbox on the previous page. That’s why you should always carefully check your shopping cart before paying.
In conclusion, I would just like to remind you that the goal of a good UX is to simplify working with your product. Therefore, we should avoid these patterns, and if we decide to use any of them, we need to find the right balance between user satisfaction and the goal of our company.
