I confirm that I have a Learning Support Plan for

‘extension’ as recommended by the Disability and

Dyslexia Team, and agreed by the School. I understand
the deadline for my assessment has been adjusted (as per
the required School protocol) and that this should be
taken into consideration when my assessment is marked/
graded.”
2 Mohamed Ashraf Rady Ahmed

Dark Patterns and the Ethics of User Experience Design

in Digital Media

Mohamed Ashraf Rady Ahmed

University of Brighton, Brighton BN2 4GJ, UK

[email protected]

Abstract: This literature review explores the evolving field of user experience
and how it is defined and utilized in the context of digital media. Exploring the
consequences of harmful design decisions in social media and games, many of
which contradict supposed user experience design goals, that benefit stakeholders
at the cost of consumer well-being and the quality of the end product.

Keywords: User Experience Design, Dark Patterns, Ethical Design, Social Me-
dia, Video Games

1 Introduction

User experience design can take on many different tangentially related forms or defini-
tions depending on the medium. However, it can very broadly be defined as “The cre-
ation and synchronization of the elements that affect users’ experience with a particular
company, with the intent of influencing their perceptions and behaviour.” [1]. Such
elements can range from tangible objects such as packaging, to more nebulous concepts
such as audio or digital interfaces and branding; this review will focus primarily on the
digital side. With how brutal the competition in today’s market is, a “good” user expe-
rience is more important than ever to ensure user retention and success [2]. But what
constitutes a good user experience? What should user experience design’s end goal be?
This review will explore the risks of hyper-utilizing user experience design in the digital
landscape to keep users engaged for as long as possible, and the dissonance between
user-centered design and providing stakeholder value.

2 Defining User Experience Design

The original term, “user experience”, was coined by the Nielsen Norman Group in 1995
during their work in human-computer interaction interface research and development
[3]. The concept was intended to encompass a meaning larger than just aesthetic and
functional interfaces, but rather the entirety of the experience between people and sys-
tems, an experience. This experience, Norman asserts, should fill the users with positive
feelings, being a “joy to use” [4]. Achieving this would require a multi-disciplinary
 Dark Patterns and the Ethics of User Experience Design in Digital Media 3

approach involving more than just interface design, but also marketing and psychology.
The term was very readily adopted by the field of human-computer interaction and built
upon by those in the field over the years, to the point of disagreements amongst them
[5]. Over time, it had come to be interpreted as merely aesthetic interface design, fo-
cusing on the graphics rather than a whole structure [6]. In a 2007 interview, Norman
himself bemoaned this trend and criticized how overused and incorrectly utilized the
term had become [7]. In this review, the broader side of user experience design is what
will be focused on rather than just purely graphics and interface design.

3 Dark Patterns

This reality of focusing on more than functionality and aesthetics and the desire to ben-
efit stakeholders results in tapping into a user’s psychology to influence their behaviour
and has led to the rise of the term “dark patterns” [8]. Dark patterns are generally design
practices used to manipulate users into performing certain actions, that may not be to
their benefit [9]. That is not to say that all forms of such persuasive design are inherently
negative, as such practices can be used ethically if motivation and intention are looked
into, as highlighted by Berdichevsky and Neuenschwander [10]. To produce a compre-
hensive list of these practices is far beyond the scope of this review, however, Brignull
has complied various real-life examples in his “Hall of Shame” [11]. Despite this, there
is no consensus amongst academics and practitioners on what exactly constitutes a dark
pattern, with some being more blatant than others [12].

3.1 Dark Patterns in Social Media

Social media platforms are now used by over two-thirds of Internet users, or one in
three people in the world population [13]. Kaplan and Haenlein define social media as
Internet-based applications that allow for the creation and exchange of content gener-
ated by its users thus including platforms like: Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram [14].
The advent of social media brought about many benefits, from infinite access to infor-
mation, an open platform for exchanging ideas, and the ability to conveniently foster
and maintain social connections [15]. However, excessive social media usage has been
shown to negatively affect the user’s mental health [16]. These effects can include feel-
ing isolated from loved ones and society, developing a sense of self-hatred and dissat-
isfaction with one’s life, relationships, and self-image through constant comparison to
others resulting in depression, anxiety, disordered eating, and substance abuse [17]. At
the end of the day, these platforms are profit-driven despite not directly selling a prod-
uct, that is because the product is the users themselves, their data and attention, thus
having as many users as possible using the platform for as long as possible to try and
sell them things, only to then sell their data is in their best interest despite the afore-
mentioned consequences and ethical implications [18]. Examples of this include when
Instagram capitalized off of user muscle memory by moving the “likes received” button
4 Mohamed Ashraf Rady Ahmed

and replacing it with a “shopping” tab, what was before tucked away is now center
stage in the omnipresent bottom navigation bar.

Fig. 1. Instagram moving the shopping tab [19].

Nielsen’s heuristics are design principles used to evaluate the usability of interfaces,
with one such heuristic being “user control and freedom”, allowing the user to exit an
unwanted action or back out of a process [20]. However, when syncing contacts on
Instagram there is no option to cancel or exit out of this process [21].
 Dark Patterns and the Ethics of User Experience Design in Digital Media 5

Fig. 2. Absence of a back or cancel button to force users to continue [21]

Some common trends in social media design nowadays are features known as “infi-
nite scrolling”, “pull-to-refresh”, and “autoplay” [22]. Infinite scrolling allows the user
to effectively never run out of content, bombarding the user with a never-ending scroll
of media fostering a behaviour of unconscious consumption [23]. Autoplay allows
video content on these platforms to play automatically when viewed, without the user
needing to make a conscious decision of pressing play [24]. Pull-to-refresh is the ability
to “pull down” the scroll from the top to present new content to the user, this function-
ality has its roots in gambling slot machines preying on the same psychological weak-
nesses [25]. It is then no surprise that TikTok, a platform that entirely revolves around
these features, has experienced such rapid meteoric success [26].

3.2 Dark Patterns in Video Games

These design patterns can also be seen in the modern gaming landscape. Video games
are now a mainstream subculture, and hobby that provides entertainment, stimulation,
relaxation and more as with any artistic medium [27]. The medium has even expanded
beyond the requirement of a computer or console, with mobile games being the most
profitable platform [28]. With this rise came the “freemium” model, and a new genre
of games to dominate the market, known as “gacha” games [29]. These games are free
to play, but heavily monetize and incentivize in-game purchases of upgrades and
smaller features known as “microtransactions” [30]. These reoccurring payments have
been shown to be more profitable than simply selling a game at a fixed cost, with Elec-
tronic Arts reportedly garnering nearly $1 Billion from microtransactions alone in 2020
[31]. These purchases are incentivized through intentional design decisions. “Pay or
grind” is one such way, by portioning off progression in the game behind monotonous
tasks that take an incredibly long time to complete but allowing the player to skip these
6 Mohamed Ashraf Rady Ahmed

“grinds” by paying real money [30]. Another way these purchases are incentivized is
by selling upgrades that give an advantage to the purchaser, meaning that those who do
not spend money are at an inherent disadvantage against opponents, resulting in the free
players losing through no fault of their own skills [30]. A common practice is also pay
walling convenience, with some games intentionally designed to be unpleasant unless
said convenience is purchased, such as giving the player limited inventory space to hold
their items unless they make the purchase [30]. Even when players do decide to pur-
chase an in-game item they like, they often cannot directly purchase it. Instead, these
items are acquired through “loot box” purchases, which contain multiple items which
then gives a random one to the player, with no way to deterministically acquire a spe-
cific one [32]. This has been shown to foster gambling addictions, and problematic
spending [32]. On top of all this, microtransactions often are not purchased directly
with real currency, but rather in-game currencies which are purchased with real money,
obfuscating the price tag of these transactions, and gamifying the experience [30]. Some
games even require multiple currencies, some of which are only acquired through the
purchase of another currency with real money, and then allowing the conversion of the
purchased currency into the initial required currency for the purchase, further obfuscat-
ing the real monetary price tag of these purchases [30]. The currency purchase amounts
are also deliberately designed to force the players into spending more money than they
would need to, for example: an item can cost 500 “gems”, but the game only allows for
the purchase of said gems in quantities of 300 or 700 thus requiring either one big pur-
chase or two smaller purchases [30]. In both scenarios resulting in the player ending up
with leftover gems, that are insufficient for anything, coercing the player into another
purchase so that they don’t go to waste [33]. This design decision is reminiscent of
gambling casinos’ chips and intentionally abuses the same psychological mechanisms
[34].

Fig. 3. In-game currency purchases also showcasing multiple currencies.

 Dark Patterns and the Ethics of User Experience Design in Digital Media 7

4 Ethical User Experience Design

Ethics of design is often unaddressed or intentionally ignored in the digital media de-
velopment field, and IT as a whole [35]. Vilaza highlights certain principles to maintain
towards the goal of ethical design, those being:

• Choice
• Transparency
• Inclusion
• Well-being
• Reciprocity

Following these would ensure the well-being of users and prevent harmful practices.
User engagement on these platforms cannot be the only metric of success, and space
must be created for user disengagement for their own benefit as concluded by O’brien
[36]. King and Delfabbro discuss some methods to curb the harms of game monetiza-
tion such as:

• The ability to set limits on spending.

• Requiring purchases display real currency prices.
• Enforced timed cooldowns or breaks between purchases.
• Discontinuing the sale of competitive advantages.
• Displaying the odds for random rewards.

5 Conclusion

As shown in this review, user experience design can be very powerful in dictating user
behaviour. User experience design prides itself on being catered for the user, and fo-
cusing on user-friendliness and satisfaction, however as highlighted in this review that
is often not the case. When stakeholder value and profit are the main motivators, ma-
nipulative practices to maximize them, to the detriment of the user, reign supreme. Con-
tinued discussion of ethical design, and the establishment of ethical frameworks is nec-
essary if the balance is to shift towards the benefit of the consumer. Governments and
regulatory bodies have already begun to crack down on some of these practices, but
more work is still necessary. Those in the field of computing must understand the ethics
of their productions, and how they shape society.

6 Further work

A more in-depth analysis of different platforms would yield further insight and benefits.
As would conducting more studies and research to produce empirical quantitative data.
So, would exploring and redefining the intended goals of user experience design.
8 Mohamed Ashraf Rady Ahmed

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