Dark Patterns Guide

Manipulative Design strategies that trick users into doing things they might not do otherwise.

  • 5 High
  • 25 Meso
  • 34 Low

Social Engineering

Exploit cognitive biases to increase the likelihood of a desired action.

  • Scarcity and Popularity Claims

    It pressures users to buy quickly by presenting products as highly sought-after or in limited supply, increasing urgency and perceived value.

    • High Demand It presents a product as highly sought-after or nearly sold out to pressure users into buying based on false urgency.

  • Urgency

    It accelerates user decisions by prompting immediate action through time-sensitive or limited availability cues.

    • Activity Messages Displays misleading notifications about others’ actions to create urgency and pressure users into making quick decisions.
    • Countdown Timer Displays a fake timer to create urgency and pressure users into making quick, uninformed purchase decisions.
    • Limited Time Message Creates urgency by implying an offer will end soon, pressuring users to make quick, uninformed purchases.

  • Social Proof

    Influences people to quickly follow others’ behaviors or choices, often leading to decisions based on perceived group consensus.

    • Low Stock Displays a false claim of limited product quantity to create urgency and pressure users into making quick purchase decisions.
    • Endorsements and Testimonials It presents positive opinions from others to influence decisions, even when those opinions may be unreliable or misleading.
    • Parasocial Pressure It encourages trust in a product or service by presenting endorsements from familiar figures, regardless of endorsement accuracy.

  • Shaming

    Uses emotional pressure to make users feel guilty or inadequate if they do not choose a specific option.

    • Confirmshaming Uses guilt-inducing language to pressure users into making a specific choice by manipulating their emotions.

  • Personalization

    It uses personal data to shape user experiences, influencing choices and hiding alternatives to guide user behavior.

Obstruction

Adds unnecessary steps or barriers.

  • Roach Motel

    Starting an action is easy, but leaving or reversing it is difficult.

    • Immortal Accounts Makes it easy to create an account but difficult or impossible for users to delete their account or personal data.
    • Dead End Blocks users from accessing needed information or actions by trapping them with inactive links or obstructive redirections.

  • Creating Barriers

    Deliberately complicating or restricting certain actions.

    • Price Comparison Prevention Hides or complicates price details to make it difficult for users to compare options and make informed purchasing decisions.
    • Intermediate Currency Users must exchange real money for virtual credits, making it difficult to recognize the actual cost of purchases and leading to less informed spending decisions.

  • Adding Steps

    Requires users to complete extra, unnecessary interactions before finishing a task.

    • Privacy Maze This practice makes it difficult for users to find or manage information by requiring them to go through multiple obstructive steps.

Sneaking

Hides or delays revealing crucial information.

  • Bait and Switch

    It misleads users into taking an action by promising a desirable result, but delivers an unexpected, less favorable outcome.

    • Disguised Ad Interface elements are styled to resemble regular content, causing users to unknowingly interact with advertising material.

  • Hiding Information

    Withholds or delays key details, making it harder for users to make fully informed decisions during their interaction.

    • Drip Pricing, Hidden Costs, or Partitioned Pricing Additional mandatory fees or charges are revealed only late in the purchase process, making the total cost higher than initially shown and influencing users to continue after investing effort.
    • Sneak into Basket Unwanted items are added to a user's cart without consent, causing accidental purchases of extra products or services.
    • Reference Pricing Displays an inflated or misleading original price to make a current price seem like a better deal, influencing purchase decisions.

  • (De)contextualizing Cues

    Information is presented in a way that confuses users or hides relevant details, making informed choices difficult.

    • Conflicting Information Presents users with contradictory details from multiple sources, creating uncertainty and increasing reliance on preset options.
    • Information without Context It hides or alters relevant details and options, making it difficult for users to find needed information or actions.

Interface Interference

Make certain actions easier to find or perform while confusing or hiding alternatives.

  • Manipulating Choice Architecture

    Arranges or highlights options to steer users toward a particular outcome, often making alternative choices less visible or appealing.

    • False Hierarchy It visually or interactively highlights certain options over others, making users more likely to choose them and misjudge alternatives.
    • Visual Prominence A visually dominant element draws user attention away from their intended task, increasing distraction and reducing goal completion.
    • Bundling Grouping multiple items into a single package at a special price can influence users to buy more and perceive greater value.
    • Pressured Selling Interface design highlights expensive options and obscures cheaper ones, steering users toward higher-cost purchases.

  • Bad Defaults

    Default settings are configured to favor the service provider, often exposing users to risks or unwanted actions unless manually changed.

  • Emotional or Sensory Manipulation

    Design elements are intentionally altered to trigger emotions or sensory responses that steer users toward a desired action.

    • Positive or Negative Framing This practice influences user decisions by presenting information in a way that visually distracts or emotionally steers them away from important details.
    • Cuteness Designs with attractive, childlike features increase user trust and engagement, often leading to overlooked risks or biases.

  • Choice Overload

    Presenting an excessive number of options can overwhelm users, leading to indecision, dissatisfaction, or regret.

  • Trick Questions

    Uses confusing or misleading language to prompt users into making unintended or undesired choices.

  • Hidden Information

    Relevant details or options are concealed or presented as unimportant, making it harder for users to access or recognize them.

  • Feedforward Ambiguity

    It creates a mismatch between the information given and the actions available, leading users to outcomes they did not anticipate.

  • Language Inaccessibility

    It uses overly complex or unfamiliar language to make instructions hard to understand, reducing informed user decisions.

    • Complex Language It uses obscure words and complex sentences to make information hard to understand, preventing informed user choices.
    • Wrong Language Presenting important information in a language users do not understand prevents them from accessing or acting on relevant content, leading to uninformed choices.

Forced Action

Require an unrelated step before an action

  • Forced Continuity

    Users are automatically charged for ongoing subscriptions after trials end, often without clear notice or easy cancellation.

  • Attention Capture

    Designs use psychological triggers and interface tricks to keep users engaged longer than they intended, reducing their sense of control.

    • Auto-Play Automatically playing new videos after one ends reduces user control and can lead to unintended or excessive viewing.

  • Nagging

    Repeated interruptions distract users from their intended tasks, pressuring them to take unwanted actions or make decisions.

  • Forced Registration

    Users are required to provide personal information before accessing certain features, increasing data collection and lead generation.

  • Forced Communication or Disclosure

    Users are manipulated into providing more personal information than necessary or having their data used for unintended purposes.

    • Privacy Zuckering It manipulates users into disclosing extra personal information by making sharing seem necessary or unavoidable.
    • Friend Spam The service collects users' contact information and sends unsolicited messages to their contacts, causing unwanted outreach.
    • Address Book Leeching It collects users’ contact information without clear consent, often using hidden or misleading methods for undisclosed purposes.
    • Social Pyramid Users are pressured to recruit others by making access to features or benefits dependent on bringing in new members, driving service growth.

  • Gamification

    It uses rewards, points, or progress mechanics to drive repeated engagement, often encouraging actions beyond user intent.

    • Pay-to-Play Users are led to believe certain features are included, but must pay extra to access promised functionality.
    • Grinding Users are required to repeatedly perform tedious actions over time to access features, often prompting unwanted purchases.