Month: March 2025

The website is filled with many manipulative elements and dark patterns. I actually went through this website before when I was doing my Bachelor’s in Design. Still, I had forgotten how frustrating it was to complete.

Some of the main dark patterns I noticed were:

• Hidden close buttons
• Confusingly coloured toggles/confirm buttons
• Misleading language

Other poorly designed UI elements included:

• Opposing checkboxes
• Misaligned or hidden objects
• Placeholders that do not disappear

It was annoying to get through the website, and I got caught a few times by the intentionally bad design. It sort of made me think of older websites, at a time where websites were not so optimized – except on purpose.

In addition, it made me reflect on the state of the internet today. I often forget how the internet “truly” looks, since I have ad-blockers and many other extensions to enhance my browsing experience. When I see an older family member without adblock use the internet, I am shockingly reminded of how the internet looks to those users, and I am appalled. This website reminded me of the shock I experienced when seeing webpages full of popups and advertisements.

Dark patterns exploit gestalt principles, which are psychological guidelines that control how we perceive and interpret web-based design (Interaction Design Foundation – IxDF, 2016). Dark patterns are embedded in everyday life and many online applications. For example – McDonalds kiosks used to show sizes from large to small, assuming you might click the leftmost option. In addition, websites like Temu place countdown timers, stock indicators, and offer “limited time discounts” to pressure users into completing their purchases. These are unethical ways to get users to spend more money. fern (2024) discusses how the kiosks make more money than cash register purchases using bundling and creative psychology on consumers.

References

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

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

fern. (2024, July 30). The $2.1 Billion McDonald’s Machine. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKX6EhDrgqQ

Interaction Design Foundation – IxDF. (2016, August 30). What are the Gestalt Principles?. Interaction Design Foundation – IxDF. https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/gestalt-principles

I was very pleased and surprised to learn that I was part of the largest community when looking at the Palladio data. As someone who studied music for many years, I really enjoyed the previous task, and had spent considerable time deliberating which songs to keep in and out of the limited ten.

Through looking at the data, I also learned that I had “correctly” chosen 6 out of the most popular 10 songs. Despite this having no real value, it was interesting to reflect on the sense of accomplishment this made me feel, despite having no real meaning.

The largest community contained 5 people and 22 total songs. Of those songs, 8 of them were not shared amongst any of the 5 members. For reference, the remaining communities consisted of:

• 4 people, 17 songs, and 6 solos
• 3 people, 18 songs, and 9 solos
• 3 people, 17 songs, and 8 solos
• 3 people, 19 songs, and 12 solos
• 2 people, 14 songs, and 11 solos

Despite the breadth of these statistics, the actual intention behind each persons’ decision remains unknown. Null choices can not be interpreted using this data, and even using the communities grouping can be misleading. For example, in my community, there were 8 songs that had “no connection” (they were displayed as solo nodes). Even though there were no connections in this community, some of these songs were in the top 10 most popular choices for the entire class, but by looking at just our community, you wouldn’t believe this to be the case.

If you read my notes on the curation assignment, you’d know that I had many considerations including: “country of origin, length, genre, and if the song was instrumental or vocal” (para 1, 2025). Sadly, this analysis is lost through this data, as it is for every member who participated.

Still, there are some data points that instill curiosity. For example, Jamie, Joan, and David all selected less than 10 songs. I wonder what their reasoning was for their decision making. Did they have a hard time deciding? Did they decide that they didn’t need 10 options to create a well-rounded set? We may never know.

Much like real life, these groupings show individuals with like interests, but also obscure much of the total picture. In one group, it may seem like a particular song was horribly unpopular, but if you explore other groups, that song may be very well-represented. Although looking at similarities can join us together, it can also create divide and alienation. It is important that we continue to challenge our assumptions about the communities we are in, and continue to seek outside information.

References

Wong, T. (2025). Task 8: Golden record curation assignment. ETEC 540 Tristan Wong. https://blogs.ubc.ca/twong540/task-8-golden-record-curation-assignment/