We check our mobiles 85 times a day, habitually and without conscious planning. We respond to Facebook likes as rats do to sugar solution. We let YouTube’s algorithms determine what our kids watch. We choose potential life partners by swiping right. We like it when websites tell us what to buy, we converse using pictures of small yellow faces, and we have conversations with our appliances. Sure, all of these things are easy to do. But at what point does engaging with technology become too easy? Should we create user experiences that maintain a bit of friction, to remind us that we still have the capacity for complex social interactions and effortful decision making? This session won’t give you all of the answers, but it will raise some interesting questions.

1. Darker Patterns:
The problems with seemingly seamless
user experiences
Jessica Cameron
UX Scotland
Friday, 15 June 2017
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2. 2
@jessscameron
#darkerpatterns

3. 3
DARK
PATTERNS

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DARKER
PATTERNS

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There is a gap between how we
want to spend our time online and
how we really spend our time

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How often do we check our phones?
Once every 12 minutes
How much do we touch our phones?
2,617 times per day
(taps and swipes)

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Even the language we use
sounds sinister

17. Presentation title / Footer text 17Photo by Steve Parfitt on Unsplash
CLICK BAIT

18. Presentation title / Footer text 18Photo by Hoshino Ai on Unsplash
GOING VIRAL

19. Presentation title / Footer text 19Photo by Hoshino Ai on Unsplash
TROLLSTROLLS

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Why are we so susceptible to
these influences?
Let’s talk about how we make
decisions…

21. Photo by Mick Tinbergen on Unsplash

22. Presentation title / Footer text 22Photo by Koen van Ginkel on Unsplash

23. 23
This slide does not
comply with the UX
Scotland code of
conduct

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The catch is, we NEED shortcuts
and heuristics

25. 25Photo by Eugenio Mazzone on Unsplash

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27. 27https://betterhumans.coach.me/cognitive-bias-cheat-sheet-55a472476b18

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Mere exposure effect
Illusory truth effect

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System 1 thinking
“System 1 operates automatically
and quickly, with little or no effort
and no sense of voluntary control”

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System 2 thinking
“System 2 allocates attention to
the effortful mental activities that
demand it, including complex
computations”

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What does all of this mean?
We are easily swayed by things that
are easy
Especially when we are distracted
Or don’t really care about what we are
doing

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Because our mental shortcuts are
predictable…
We can be easily led into making
certain choices

35. 36Photo by Nicolas LB on Unsplash

36. 37Photo by Rahul Chakraborty on Unsplash

37. 38Photo by Rahul Chakraborty on Unsplash

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Let’s talk about ethics

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Two types of ethics
Deontological: rule-based, focuses on
actions and intentions
Consequentialist: harm- or happiness-
based, focuses on outcomes

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In reality, we are easily swayed
We give ourselves credit for past
actions
We don’t know what the overall
impact of our actions might be
We know we are not being watched
(and intentions)

44. 45Photo by Alina Miroshnichenko on Unsplash

45. 46http://iworld.com/2017/09/18/61246/waze-update-for-ios-lets-you-easily-control-spotify-from-within-navigation-app/

46. 47Photo by Nanci Makroulakis for the New York Times

47. 48
Review
1. When we are online, we are often alone
2. So we don’t think about the social impact of our
actions
3. Especially when we act without really thinking about it
at all
4. And let’s face it, we are ethically flexible under the
best of circumstances
5. What are the implications of this?
6. And what kind of world do we want to live in?

48. 49Photo by Rahul Chakraborty on Unsplash

49. 50Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

50. Photo by Josh Riemer on Unsplash

51. https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/d7yzvj/biohackers-are-implanting-led-lights-under-their-skin

52. 53Photo by Lachlan Donald on Unsplash

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“The easier it is to use Amazon,
the more powerful Amazon
becomes — and thus the easier
it becomes to use Amazon.
Convenience and monopoly
seem to be natural bedfellows.”
“It is about minimizing the mental
resources, the mental exertion,
required to choose among the
options that express ourselves.”

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“But being a person is only partly about having
and exercising choices. It is also about how we
face up to situations that are thrust upon us,
about overcoming worthy challenges and
finishing difficult tasks — the struggles that help
make us who we are. What happens to human
experience when so many obstacles and
impediments and requirements and preparations
have been removed?”

55. Presentation title / Footer text 56Photo by Morvanic Lee on Unsplash
Jessica Cameron
@jessscameron
#darkerpatterns
User Vision
@UserVision