Well – all I can say is do NOT attempt this task on your cell phone …
Once I opened it on my computer, I quickly became really good at ignoring the “extras” on the screen, but restarted a few of times after clicking the “wrong” boxes. I was getting a bit frustrated, so I even took a quick break to help my son make his breakfast! It took me a long time to get past the first screen and I still don’t really know what I put in my password that let me through.
The feeling of panic while completing this was definitely compounded by the ticking timer. From reading the Dark Patterns link in the assignment description helped me gain some insight into what would be needed – time, thorough reading and attention to misleading headings.
I was elated when I completed it – I knew some were having a horrible time getting through it! So now my competitive instinct kicked in – can I complete it faster???
After attempt #4, I did feel awesome! I was interesting to go through each page and attempt to exactly replicate what I did the previous time – I did use some random letters and numbers at times to make things faster, but the first screen was still the hardest to get through when putting in the password!
In terms of this Attention Economy, it is something that I am constantly talking about with my Foods classes – many don’t understand that companies buy space at grocery stores. The foods designed for young kids are placed lower on the shelves to draw their attention. As a parent I know I have probably spent hundreds of dollars extra at the grocery store over the past 10 years because of my kids incessantly asking for some candy, “fruit” snack or crappy toy. And it’s not the healthy kids food that’s at their eye level!
It is a bit unnerving that if you search once on your phone for a specific item, you start to see ads for it constantly on your social media sites. The amount of information that is stored, shared and used for companies to direct their advertising is scary. It’s definitely something that I will need to make sure my children understand sooner rather than later ….
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Brignull, H. (2011). Dark Patterns: Deception vs. Honesty in UI Design. Accessed from https://alistapart.com/article/dark-patterns-deception-vs-honesty-in-ui-design/
Hi Meg!
I never would have tried this task on my cellphone. That was brave. How did you read the terms and conditions that fast? Please tell me you read them. I actually did enjoy it once I got past the dreaded first page and researched Bagaar further (they sound rather nice actually). Confession, after 3 attempts yesterday and 18 semi-destracted minutes, I finally made it to the end. Then today, I tried to beat my previous dismal time. So glad I am not the only one who did this. Did you ever worry that you were going to be later stalked with products or information?
Hey Rebecca! Thanks for the comment! I did read the terms and conditions the first time I completed it (hoping that they would give me an idea of how to get past the first page!), but no hints were given! I am not worried about being stalked as I always entered a fake email!! I actually have an email address from back in high school that I use for any website that I don’t really trust! It definitely comes in handy!
Hi Meg,
That’s a really good connection between this task and supermarket marketing through dark patterns. I wouldn’t have thought of that, but it is a very similar type of manipulative design aimed at focusing our attention in a very specific way. Some website design has come under scrutiny recently, but I’ve never heard of a protest about the way supermarkets stock their shelves. Why is manipulative design tolerated in some places and not others? Is it that the manipulation of purchasing habits through hijacking the attention of children is seen as not being very harmful?
Hi Brian! Thanks for the comment and great questions. I think that maybe we are just super aware of what’s happening online these days and it’s easy to make suggestions/complaints about what’s happening online versus what’s happening in “real life” because it’s new. I think people are more aware of the “typical” advertising and manipulation techniques at groceries stores and are better able to avoid it (unless they’re hungry!).
Having a friend that works in direct sales for a popular potato chip company and he says it’s crazy how much planning and strategy comes into how his chips are displayed in a store, how many bags are out, number of flavours, etc. It’s something that I talk to my classes a lot about, as many people are so unaware of advertising and it’s impacts on food choices (whether in store, on tv or online)! I think that any advertising targeting kids is harmful, because they don’t know how to wade through what is good/healthy and what isn’t! I also think that most people think they can easily ignore advertising (especially online), but don’t know how subliminally it affects them … so much to consider!