Dark patterns

How it works

A dark pattern is a design choice that works against you on purpose. Not a bug, not clumsy design: a screen built and tested so that you do what the business wants while believing you chose it. The UX designer Harry Brignull coined the term in 2010 and keeps a catalogue at deceptive.design; he now prefers “deceptive patterns”, since the trick is deception, not darkness.

The family is large, but its members are easy to recognise once named. Roach motel: easy to get in, hard to get out, like the subscription you joined in one tap and can cancel only by phone, on weekdays, after a “retention offer”. Confirmshaming: the decline link reads “No thanks, I don’t care about my health”. Pre-ticked boxes: travel insurance, a newsletter, a donation, already selected for you. Drip pricing: the ticket costs 19 euros until step four, when the “service fee”, “payment fee” and “seat fee” appear. Fake urgency: countdown timers that restart. Misdirection: a huge “Accept all” and a grey “Manage settings” that hides “Reject” three clicks deep. Trick questions: a double negative in a checkbox.

This is not a fringe practice. When EU consumer authorities checked 399 online shops in January 2023, 148 of them (more than a third) used at least one manipulative practice; 42 ran fake countdown timers and 54 steered users with visual design or wording. Hungary’s competition authority, the GVH, reported the same year that hidden manipulation in online shops was spreading. The law has started to bite: the EU’s Digital Services Act (Article 25) bans platforms from designing interfaces that deceive or manipulate users; pre-ticked boxes for extra charges have been void under EU consumer law since 2014; Germany has required a one-click cancellation button since 2022. Some patterns are now illegal. All of them are still live.

Example

@zsofi_tries_to_cancel, 5h Joined NovaFit in 10 seconds last January. To cancel: log in on desktop only, Membership > Options > Other, read three offers, click “I understand I’m losing my benefits”, then wait for a confirmation email that takes 48 hours. The “Stay” button was green. The “Cancel” link was grey, tiny and below the fold.

@pricewatch_hu, 4h Also check the checkout: “Premium cancellation protection, 2.99/month” was pre-ticked.

Notice that every step is technically possible. That is the design: nothing is forbidden, everything is tiring, and your tiredness is the business model.

Why it works on you

• You are on autopilot. Interfaces train habits (big green button means “continue”), and a dark pattern cashes the habit in. Reading every screen would take all day, and the designers know it.
• Shame is a lever. “No, I don’t want to save money” makes a reasonable choice feel foolish. It is a small emotional hijack with a conversion rate attached.
• Sunk cost. Three screens into cancelling, giving up feels like wasting the three screens. That is why there are three screens.

What to do

On the screen: slow down wherever the layout suddenly changes: a new price, a tick you did not tick, a button that moved. Read the grey text; the grey text is where the truth lives. Reload the page: a timer that resets is a fake scarcity prop. Before subscribing, find the cancellation instructions first. If you can’t, don’t.

When you are stuck: screenshot everything, then complain (in the EU, to your national consumer authority; in Hungary the GVH handles these cases) and dispute charges you never agreed to with your bank. Companies drop the maze remarkably fast once a regulator asks about it.

In a comment section: name the pattern, not the person. “This is confirmshaming”, with a link, beats “scammers”. The catalogue is public, and shops hate appearing in it.

Don’t confuse it with

• Good design that nudges you towards a safe default, such as a confirmation step before deleting your account, protects your interests, not the company’s.
• A real limited stock or a real deadline is not a dark pattern. The trick is a deadline that is a prop.