How to spot dark patterns on the web

Every day we use all kinds of apps, websites and software. Designed to give us the optimum user experience (well, sometimes!). But if you have ever found yourself clicking on a sign-up button that ended up being an ad, or opted into something you didn’t really want to access something you needed, then you’ve already come across a dark pattern.

You might have already heard the term dark patterns or deceptive design and wondered what this was all about. If you panicked and thought this sounded too much like the dark web stuff they talk about on CSI, don’t worry, it’s not quite like that.

Dark patterns, also known as deceptive patterns or deceptive designs, are misleading tricks and marketing strategies used to get people to take action, make purchases, agree to things or provide data that they didn’t really want to.

Examples of Dark Patterns

• Free trials that upgrade to paid subscriptions without notice – forced continuity
• Hidden costs that only appear at the last minute, like at checkout or in the fine print
• Pre-selected options for opt-ins and privacy sharing, defaulting at the maximum sharing level
• Using guilt or shame as a passive-aggressive strategy to influence actions – confirmshaming
• Making subscriptions impossibly hard to exit from – obstruction techniques
• Helpful gated content such as “download our free guide” that’s actually an ad
• Websites that prevent price comparison guiding you towards a more expensive choice, without the option to make an informed price-based decision
• Additional items added to shopping carts that have to be manually removed, but were added by a pre-selected opt-in checkbox.

Are Dark Patterns Illegal?

Governments are starting to tighten the net around dark patterns and deceptive design practices. The US and EU already have legal policies in place. While Australia and New Zealand have consumer laws in place that protect consumers from unfair practices, formal legislation is already on the radar for the Australian government.

So while not formally illegal here, New Zealand consumers are protected under the Fair Trading Act from the practice of such strategies and measures.

If the interwebs are to be believed, then as far as legislation goes for New Zealand, further measures are “being considered.”

How to protect yourself from Dark Patterns

Dark pattern strategies thrive on our modern-day level of distraction. 

It’s a fact that we don’t read – we scan.

We are so numbed by the overwhelm of interacting with multiple digital interfaces that it’s hard for us to see things right in front of us sometimes – like checked tick boxes.

I mean, wasn’t that there before?

It’s impossible to be aware of the small things all the time, it is the world we live in and at the end of the day, we need to have some measure of trust in the products and programs we use.

So here are some tips to help you not fall into the dark pattern traps.

Don’t be in too much of a hurry

If you need to do something that involves your credit card like buying groceries online, purchasing a flight, paying a bill – make time to do it. Not while you are not cooking dinner with one hand and reading homework with the other. 

You will end up with a non-refundable flight to Paris, Texas instead of Paris, France. (It’s a real place and a movie!)

Read what is on the screen

Don’t just click next or continue. Review all the small print options and check what you agree to by continuing to the next step. Read the text next to check marks. If they were pre-selected when you landed on the page, go through every sliver of text with a fine-tooth comb.

Hover before you click

Use your mouse to hover over a button or link and check the link text that pops up in the bottom left-hand side of your screen before you click on it, to verify that it is where you want to go. 

Stay alert

Be vigilant when navigating new or unfamiliar websites. Be on the lookout for pressure tactics with urgent limited stock offers, auto-renewals, opt-ins and subscriptions that just don’t feel right.

Do your homework

Do some independent research on an incognito browser and read interviews from trusted sources like Google. Ask your friends, family, colleagues and neighbours if anyone else has purchased anything from a website or brand and what their experience was. 

Use hobby and travel groups on Facebook like a search engine to look up other conversations around brands and products other people might have had issues with in the past.

Check your processes

Make sure that you have not inadvertently applied dark pattern practices on your website. Make sure that your users have to opt in for newsletters and not opt out. Check that buttons link to the pages they say they are going to and that the timing of pop-ups is not distracting users from taking actions they intended to, like moving to the next page.

Report park pattern practices

The Fair Trading Act (FTA) in New Zealand protects consumers from unfair trading practices. If you have stumbled upon a retailer or service provider using these tactics, you can take legal action against them under the FTA.

The FTA applies to anyone in trade, including:

all commercial activities, trades, professions, and businesses
overseas businesses that supply goods, services, or grant interests in land within New Zealand
online sales.

The FTA applies to all aspects of the promotion and sale of goods and services — from advertising and pricing to sales techniques and financing.

It also applies to certain activities whether the parties are ‘in trade’ — such as employment advertising, pyramid selling, and the supply of products covered by product safety and consumer information standards.

All online sellers who operate as traders must make it clear to potential buyers that they are traders, including when selling through an intermediary website like Trade Me.

Fair Trading Act New Zealand 

Have you encountered anything fishy that you think might be a dark pattern? We’d love to know about it. 

Flick us an email and share your experience with us.