I appreciate the dark pattern enumeration here - but, as an American, I find it strange that the Australian Government needs to get involved with this PSA.
Just half-serious here when musing: not in any practical sense, but philosophically perhaps. The bartender is in the Hospitality business, and assuming that the essence of that business is genuine hospitality, there is no dark pattern if the compliment and wink are genuine. But if they are just a marketing gimmick that the bartender pulls at every table like a used cars salesman, then it is a deception pattern.
If you're sitting at the bar, you're likely waiting to be served anyway. It might get the bartender a bigger tip, which is a transaction I'm okay with.
Countdown timers and ‘Only 4 left’ are often scams, but they should note a few sites like eBay get a pass since for simply giving true facts about the auction.
Some things can be mitigated by avoiding CSS and JavaScripts in web pages. My idea of a "computer payment file" can also mitigate some of them (such as hidden costs, especially hidden recurring costs). Forced continuity and some kind of hidden costs probably should be made illegal, though (although there are the details to be considered; the laws should not be made excessive). Someone who uses such a deception could also be given a bad reputation, independently from laws, but it would be necessary to avoid a monopoly, too. Other things could also be done, such as client software on computers to be designed better, and making that you should not require specific types of computers (or, in some cases, any computer, or any internet connection) for many important things.
My favorite “dark pattern” is when you close a tab with items in your cart and a burner email associated, then a couple days later they email a promo code.
One I had to face was, they put a tiny dot over the close button on a dialog box, so when you try to close it, you're actually clicking the dot. You really have to notice the dot to avoid it and actually click the close button.
I uninstalled the app, and left a review, but knowing the company, I don't think they'll ever fix it.
to me, dark patterns were not the means, but the goals: the cognitive patterns that are established and reinforced after all the methods have been successfully applied.
[hop]
when all those little spikes compound while you ingest global and national news and those backpacking friends from Russia, Ukraine and Cambodia come home ^^, for example ...
[hop]
and we thought Machiavelli et al wrote so we could understand, when they really just established patterns that could be matched with little effort
16 comments
[ 15.4 ms ] story [ 112 ms ] threadWe should not implement these patterns, or allow them to be implemented unchallenged.
Also, ebay mixes auction with buy it now in the same item.
CEOs, CMOs and marketers prioritize the “abandoned cart”. It’s just business.
I uninstalled the app, and left a review, but knowing the company, I don't think they'll ever fix it.
[hop]
when all those little spikes compound while you ingest global and national news and those backpacking friends from Russia, Ukraine and Cambodia come home ^^, for example ...
[hop]
and we thought Machiavelli et al wrote so we could understand, when they really just established patterns that could be matched with little effort