To teach you how to use dark patterns in interactive design

How to skillfully use the dark patterns in interactive design, we need more thinking and learning. Do not mind the user scold you rogue, that means you rascal's not clever. Today this good article takes you to see which looks very stupid actually very ingenious interactive design, the case all is from the domestic website/app, very has the reference.

Some operations are very easy to achieve, some operations Ming but not to take a few steps; the location of the icon in accordance with the design rules and user habits to design, and some icon position is contrary to the rules and user habits; Why is that? Did the designer lose his head? Or is it intentional? There are those that we can learn from and draw lessons from? This article, in my personal opinion, discusses the dark pattern in the design.

Let's look at some interesting examples first!

　　One, why click is equal to join the shopping cart?

We are most familiar with, but also the most preconceived shopping app is Taobao, Taobao is also the earliest most universal to cultivate the user's use habits. For example, when you buy goods and enter the shopping cart settlement, the shopping cart will also recommend the other baby to you, the purpose of the business is to allow users at the last minute to see more goods, and achieve greater turnover. But because the user in the shop to enter the shopping cart, it means that the user's behavior has ended the purchase of goods, is about to enter the payment process, in order not to arouse the user's aversion, the recommended product is clicked after viewing details, rather than directly add shopping. and the millet shopping cart, is clicks namely joins the shopping cart, but does not enter the detail, this and the user's use habit is contradictory.

Why does millet do this? This is a highly commercial interaction, with a clear goal of achieving higher turnover. What we call the Diablo model is that developers are interested in using certain design patterns that are inconsistent with the user experience to induce a user to perform an action. And Millet is very clever, he recommended the goods, often cheap and intimate, users accidentally click to join the shopping cart, the turnover has not increased too much, and delete is a bit of trouble, the user will think: Anyway, more than 10 Yuan, buy it! Using the dark mode, the user spends money that is unplanned, The millet company has also gained greater benefits.

Of course, Taobao store a wide variety of complex, it is difficult to recommend a combination of purchase and difficult to add in the same business settlement is that it can not directly add a shopping cart the biggest reason. This needs to be considered in the light of the actual app, my advice is: if the commodity category is single, and all in the same merchant checkout, you can recommend Low-cost goods directly into the shopping cart, such as an app called oxygen, is Lingwen chest, in the checkout, recommend some hidden bra straps, Unit price is not high and most users need, click to join the shopping cart, is a more consistent with user expectations of the interactive way.

　　The cancellation of the payment page why is the icon in the upper left corner?

You can observe the location of the app closed and canceled because the mainstream user is accustomed to use the right hand operation, so close, cancel all is on the right side of the screen, or the top right of the picture, this is more to observe some of the app.

But in the payment of this operation, the cancellation icon is placed in the upper left corner (as shown below)

Why violate the user's habitual operation? This is definitely not a designer's fault, it's his caution machine. Imagine a user's payment process, when the user enters the payment page after the suddenly some regret, hesitate to buy, or to pay, if the icon placed in the upper right corner, the user's habitual click to cancel the probability of greatly increased; Similarly, when the user cannot find the cancelled operation at the first glance, the probability of cancellation is reduced. Of course, for large payments, users will still be careful to find the cancellation icon to cancel, but for small payments, it will be a big push. This point, in the micro-letter of the play reward is particularly prominent, when the user into the page, 1 yuan small dozen rewards, in the case of the simple cancellation can not be habitual, users will think: Anyway, just 1 yuan, paid on the bar!

It is therefore recommended that if the app involves the payment process, it is recommended that the cancellation be placed in the upper-left corner instead of the upper-right corner

Three, cancel the subscription why so troublesome?

I believe you must have the same trouble with me, the mailbox assorted mail too much, but rarely is really valuable, many are advertising mail. Recall why you will receive these ad mail, in a certain site registered when the use of this mailbox, you think just fill out a mailbox as an account only, the result of the business is simply rough default you subscribe to the ad mail, then is a steady stream of ad mail. But canceling subscriptions is not that simple.

Look at the columns of Jingdong! It really can put the popularity of vomiting blood.

As shown in the figure above, a simple unsubscribe operation has gone through: Click Unsubscribe icon-Enter the subscription page click Subscribe-Enter QQ account and password login-Subscribe successfully-unsubscribe. A process that feels absurd and wonderful is right. But Jingdong has reached its own goal-a strong kidnapping of the user's mailbox to push advertising mail, and difficult to unsubscribe.

China Merchants Bank unsubscribe in another way to prevent users from canceling subscriptions, that is playing Hide-and-seek. Look at the picture, compared to the eye, can you find out where the unsubscribe is at first glance?

Of course, the way of Jingdong is too strong, investment hide-and-Seek way also some rogue, we can be more subtle, such as canceling subscriptions by recommending a user to a friend they might need, but it's also a bit of a bad thing, but the process is a lot simpler, and it's not going to make the user too objectionable and get another potential user.

Looking at a few examples, let's summarize

From different angles, there will be great differences in the way we look at the problem. In my concept, dark is not equal to darkness, Diablo is secretly dark meaning, and here I would like to explain it as: hidden under the scheming, it is not a derogatory word.

In the eyes of users, this is a disgusting design, it violates the user experience as the center of the design concept, with a less useful, or another user aversion or even disgust to achieve a certain business purpose.

In the eyes of developers, this is a persuasive design, a white lie, a means to achieve business purposes.

The design is not right or wrong, only suitable unsuitable, we as product designer, is to meet the commercial purposes of the premise of a good user experience design, talk about users do not discuss the interests, such as the Aerial Building pavilion, overnight, so how to skillfully use the dark mode of interaction design, we need more thinking and learning, do not mind the user scold you rogue, That means you're not a smart rascal.

Welcome attention to my micro-signal: Interactive notes, not regularly updated.