Whelp, this was a frustrating 22.5 minutes. Particularly during those first two screens, I felt like some sort of lab rat in search of the cheese. Whether it was clicking on the interactive green coloured “No” button to no avail, or hovering over each word in search of hyperlink, this User Inyerface game truly mastered many of the “Dark Patterns” described in Brignull (2010). I especially enjoyed the password/email form. It is the epitome of everything I dislike about filling out online forms. Whether it was the not automatically over writing the sample text, the multiple boxes required to input an email, and the incredibly specific requirements needed for the password (I honestly had to google “Cyrillic character”), made the task almost humorous in nature. I think I have been traumatized by filling out one too many online forms through the government of Canada websites. It almost felt like a flashback to using the web back in the 90’s, prior to the creation of web design software like WordPress or Foursquare, when companies were forced to design sites through html, particularly the smaller companies who couldn’t afford professional designers.

But in all seriousness, I believe Dark Patterns pose a major issue to our society. Brignull (2010) discusses the deception used in purchasing things such as Apple’s Mobile Me, Audacity or DVD rentals, which are all examples on the less significant side of everyday purchases, but with the shift of many important things to an online platform, i.e banking, insurance, and education, the stakes are far greater. Deceptive UI design surrounding someones health insurance, could lead to grave consequences. It is nice to know that there is at very least an online community like Deceptive Design reviewing the integrity of the UI of websites. I quite enjoyed the websites Hall of Shame feature.

Brignull, H. (2011). Dark Patterns: Deception vs. Honesty in UI Design. Interaction Design, Usability, 338.