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”I am Definitely Manipulated, Even When I am Aware of it. It’s Ridiculous!” - Dark Patterns from the End-User Perspective

Published: 28 June 2021 Publication History

Abstract

Online services pervasively employ manipulative designs (i.e., dark patterns) to influence users to purchase goods and subscriptions, spend more time on-site, or mindlessly accept the harvesting of their personal data. To protect users from the lure of such designs, we asked: are users aware of the presence of dark patterns? If so, are they able to resist them? By surveying 406 individuals, we found that they are generally aware of the influence that manipulative designs can exert on their online behaviour. However, being aware does not equip users with the ability to oppose such influence. We further find that respondents, especially younger ones, often recognise the ”darkness” of certain designs, but remain unsure of the actual harm they may suffer. Finally, we discuss a set of interventions (e.g., bright patterns, design frictions, training games, applications to expedite legal enforcement) in the light of our findings.

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cover image ACM Conferences
DIS '21: Proceedings of the 2021 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference
June 2021
2082 pages
ISBN:9781450384766
DOI:10.1145/3461778
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License.

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Publication History

Published: 28 June 2021

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Author Tags

  1. consumer protection
  2. dark patterns
  3. digital nudging
  4. online manipulation
  5. user experience
  6. user interface

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  • Research-article
  • Research
  • Refereed limited

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  • Luxembourg National Research Fund FNR

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DIS '21
Sponsor:
DIS '21: Designing Interactive Systems Conference 2021
June 28 - July 2, 2021
Virtual Event, USA

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Overall Acceptance Rate 1,158 of 4,684 submissions, 25%

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