Here Are 4 Dark Patterns in User Experience You Never Observed

There is no doubt that a better User Interface will take your website on to a different level. It will not just help you make users engage to your website through impeccable user experience (UX) but also to drive traffic and conversion to your website. But despite these advantages, it sometimes gets dark. This usually happens when companies exploit their UI to trick users into doing something they wouldn’t do in the first place. 

Yes, as a user, you can say that no one can make you do anything unconsciously or without your will. But, for a fact, some companies are doing that by using so-called ‘dark patterns’. Now, you must be wondering is it even possible? Yes, it is! There are some most common user experience dark patterns that can be changed into UI patterns with just a little bit of twisting and tweaking to promote positive user experience. Want to know what are those patterns? If so, keep scrolling!

Disguised Ads

As the term itself says, this particular pattern is incorporated so that ads are disguised in the page in such a way that it seems they are the part of regular content or navigation. In this tactic, advertising banners are displayed as other authentic content or navigation buttons, registrations, and sliders. Disguised ads are used to baffle users and make them click on the ad. The most common tactic used for disguised ads is ‘download’ buttons. On many software, movies, and even song downloading websites, you must have seen a number of download buttons. They are just put there to confuse users and the actual button exists somewhere between the fake download buttons. 

Forced Continuity 

Forced continuity starts nicely and peacefully. You are landed on a website and have found the perfect service there. Now you’ve decided to sign up for a trial but while signing up, you are asked the credit or debit card information. This won’t be a big deal for you if the company has mentioned that it is a free trial. But, here comes the ‘forced continuity’ part. Out of blue, you’ll get to see that the company has not stopped their services even the trial period has ended. This makes you think that there must be some error from the company’s side, and hence, you will continue using the service. After a month, you will get to see that the company has deducted a fee without warning. In such condition, you’re forced to continue a particular service.

Roach Model

Well, roach model is somewhere connected with forced continuity. It usually when you sign up to a service for a particular period. Now, getting out of that service becomes very difficult. You will be not given an easy way to cancel the subscription. Have you ever asked to call the customer care service to cancel the subscription, If not, then you haven’t experienced this type of dark pattern. 

Confirmshaming

Confirmshaming basically occurs when a design makes a user feel guilty for a particular action taken by the user. It is most commonly used to convince users to sign up for the newsletter. Some of the most common statements that are used in confirm shaming is - “I don’t care about children’s health”, “I would rather not keep up-to-date”, “I am not interested in getting more knowledge”, and more. 

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For a business, yes, dark patterns of User Experience are useful. But are they really worth it, considering every business wish to build an emotional connect with users? Well, I leave the conclusion up to you. If you want to keep yourself aware with such web design and development insiders, then Auxesis Infotech is the place for your daily dose of information. Besides bringing such amazing blog posts, they are also one of a highly-recommended web agency.