I found this game to be very frustrating to navigate. It took me quite some time to move through the steps. Initially, I missed quite a bit of the fine print. In addition, statements were worded in complicated ways. I quickly realized that I had to read the instructions slowly and carefully. Sometimes I read them over multiple times before moving forward. On the very first screen, there was a green circular button with the word NO. I was naturally inclined to click on it because it was green and generally green means GO. I wasn’t exactly sure where to click to proceed. I noticed that I had to click the word here to move on. When selecting a password, I was confused because the fine print included words like “should”, “must”, and “require”. It took a long time to scroll through the Terms and Conditions. Though I didn’t enjoy it, I think that this part of the website design serves as an effective way to get users to pay closer attention to the terms of agreement. I’m not sure about others, but I tend to skim through this section. The “hurry up your time is ticking” box that continuously surfaced after some time was a nuisance. It made me panic and feel rushed as I worked through this task. On the last page, it was difficult to determine which pictures were of a bow. I realized that a bow could be construed as a gesture, a ribbon, or a bow used in archery. Because the instructions lacked clarity and specificity, it took me a very long time to reach the end of this game. If online shopping required this much effort and patience, I can only imagine the outcome!
This game reminds me of the Ted Talk from this week’s resources titled “How a Handful of Tech Companies Control Billions of Minds Every Day”. In this Ted Talk, Tristan Harris suggests that the goal of tech companies is to compete for our attention and the best way to gain attention is through the use of persuasive techniques. Sites like YouTube want to maximize the amount of time spent so they use tactics like autoplay to keep viewers engaged. After playing this game, I am reminded that the Internet is not evolving at random. Websites are very carefully designed with user accessibility in mind using techniques that draw us in.
Harris, T. (2017). How a handful of tech companies control billions of minds every day. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/tristan_harris_the_manipulative_tricks_tech_companies_use_to_capture_your_attention?language=en