For more information: http://uxmag.com/articles/dark-ux-the-elements-of-the-video-gambling-experience This is a presentation I gave in La-Salle University (Barcelona) on April 12th about Videogambling Design and deceptive user experience. I include some of the most used dark patterns in the business and the tricks companies use to keep gamblers playing for longer sessions. Its material is complementary to the deceptive UI designs in www.darkpatterns.org.

1. The elements of
Videogambling Experience
La Salle Bonanova
April 2013
Technology Ethics

3. gambling, playing, surfing…
What are their needs or goals behind them?
pleasure, fun, challenge, learning, communication, status, etc.

4. +
Let me introduce you to…
THE VIDEOGAMBLING MACHINE!

6. How can we understand videogambling?

7. I am going to give you a lot of control…

9. How does a
relationship
start?

10. videogambling is seduction

11. Disney
princess + Pamela
Anderson
=

12. Bingo Fire Fortunes of Ra Zozzle
Perla del Caribe Gypsy Moon Jolly Roger
Seven & Stripes Time Machine Lucky Lady’s Charm
Super Slots Gold Fish Doctor Cash
Private Eye Viva las Vegas Moto Money
Cleopatra Caribbean Reef Hot Wild
Party Games Triple Chance Princess of the Amazonas
En busca del Tesoro Mayan Magic Circus
Magic Sphinx Sirenas Dragons
El golpe del Siglo Hot Sevan El Tesoro de Java
Lucky player Texas Bingo Super 7 Reels
Mysterion Ruleta Duendes Casino Loco

13. Tension and release

14. And you are going to get a lot money!

15. ‘…is what was Rome to the pilgrim’
Robert Venturi, architect

16. videogambling is deception
missinformation?
dark patterns?
….keep cleaning!
playing!

17. darkpattern#1
Easy in, difficult out

18. darkpattern#2
the Jackpot is always rising

19. Proportional Jackpot

20. Community Jackpot

21. Losses Disguised As Win

22. darkpattern#3
Near-Misses: almost winning?

23. “Interior Design? The Best!”
Friedman, Architecht

24. videogambling is the grey zone

25. “the state in which people are so involved in an
activity that nothing else seems to matter; the
experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it
even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.”
Is videogambling ‘flow’?
Csikszentmihalyi

26. Once in the zone, gambling addicts play
not to win but simply to keep playing.

27. darkpattern#4
Auto-play Button
“My body was there,
outside the machine”

28. Is it any useful to know
the math?
Different players,
different Math

29. darkpattern#5
credits are not money (!)

31. End of the
Relationship

32. THE END

34. Natascha Schull’s Comparison

35. design asymmetry

36. design asymmetry
Designer Longer play
wants Tougher play
from Users Loyal play
User
=
Escape
needs (?) Reality:
from VG no-Time
win-Money
=
User
is promised Entertainment
from VG win-Money

37. beat the commercial rival

38. Best User Research In Town!

41. K.O.

42. in technology design & emotions…
awareness

43. References
THANK YOU
darkpatterns.org
marcmiquel.com

44. In case you want to know more
- Natasha Dow Schüll. “Addiction By Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas” (2012)
- Jesse James Garett. “The Elements of User Experience: User-Centered Design for the
Web” (2003).
- Bill Friedman “Designing Casinos to Dominate the Competition. The Friedman International
Standards of Casino Design™” (2000).
- Donald A. Norman "Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things“ (2005).
- L.Clark, A.J. Lawrence, F.A.-Jones and N.Gray. “Gambling Near-Misses Enhance Motivation
to Gamble and Recruit Win-Related Brain Circuitry”. University of Cambridge (2008).
- Robert Venturi “Learning from Las Vegas” (1977).
- George Lakoff “Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things” (1990).
- K.A.Harrigan, K. Collins, M. J. Dixon “Addictive Gameplay: What Casual Game Designers Can
Learn from Slot Machine Research” (2010).
- J. Parke, M. Griffiths “The Psychology of the Fruit Machine: The Role of Structural
Characteristics (Revisited) (2005)
- J. Spenwyn, D.J.K. Barrett, M.D. Griffiths. “The role of Light and Music in gambling Behaviour:
An Empirical Pilot Study” (2009).
- Candice Jensen. Winning While Losing. University of Waterloo (2011).
- Gary Loveman. “Diamonds in the Data Mine” (2003)

45. Questions to think about…
• Should I tell what I am doing with user
information as a designer?
• Am I responsible for the unexpected
uses of my designs?
• Are honest the brands we like?