Playing the game User Inyerface was much more challenging than I anticipated, as you can see from the time it took me to complete it. I actually attempted the game one time before but was unable to complete it and I think, looking back on that, it was because I was very tired and not very engaged in what I was doing at the time. During my second attempt, I tried to be more present and focused in what I was being asked to do. The game is a good example of attention economy and I felt that firsthand.

There were many things about the game that left me feeling very frustrated but also allowed me the opportunity to think about the fact that my internet usage is very rote in memorization and that I rely on a certain algorithm or way that website interfaces work that allows me to breeze through the simple process of setting up a username and password and completing tasks that prove I am not a computer.

Some of the things that I found the most frustrating were:

• The countdown pop-up that told me I was running out of time (this made me anxious and afraid I would not get through the process)
• Having to delete the greyed out words before I typed my own answers (this is usually done for me on websites when I click to type)
• Not knowing where exactly to click to move forward (the word that I needed to click to move forward on the first page was written in all caps but I wanted to click the underlined word or the large green circle)
• Having to unclick to accept the terms (this is not the case in every other website I have gone to)
• Age scroll (I was unable to put in my actual age of 34 because it would not scroll properly so I could only get 33)
• Identification questions (example: the website asked to identify bows but that included traditional decorative bows, bow and arrows, as well as a bow as a greeting

In Brignull’s article (2011), it is stated that websites and businesses can “Ensure default options benefit the business, even if this means some users convert without meaning to”, this is just one of the things I thought about when going through the game. A website could easily manipulate me into doing something that would benefit them as they are relying on my lack of attention and my reliance on websites to keep the same format throughout regardless of if they are connected or not.

Brignull also brings up the point that business could add small processing fees that rely on customers to not abandon the checkout process, ” Even if customers notice this, they probably won’t bother dropping out as the cost is too small to justify going through the checkout process on another site.” (2011) I have personally noticed this when shopping on Amazon. Recently I decided to cancel my Amazon Prime membership in an effort to defer myself from shopping mindlessly. When going through the checkout process, I noticed that the default is now changed to paid shipping even though my order qualifies for free shipping and often times the date of delivery is the same or a one day difference. Although I am more aware of this as I do pay attention to the total cost of my items, this could easily manipulate many others into paying a shipping fee without having to.

References

Bagaar. (2019). User Inyerface [web game].

Brignull, H. (2011). Dark patterns: Deception vs. honesty in UI design. A List Apart, 338.