Tags – Dark Design
Do you find a pop up annoying?
I am sure, like most people, you are annoyed by a pop up.
However, most pop ups are not annoying enough to make you leave; you end up just doing enough to get rid of the pop up and continue using a site.
If you are not convinced, let me give you an example.
If a pop up was to give you a discount code on your favourite clothing website, chances are that the pop up will bring some excitement.
However, and sadly, that is not the case with pop ups.
“Dark design” practices continually push the use of a pop up as a cookie banner. And most people, instead of spending time to choose how much information they are willing to share, simply click on “accept all”. You just want to get over with it and move on to what you need.
But what happens then?
Instead of just accepting the minimal acceptance to continue browsing functionality, you have accepted to be tracked across the internet and be sold with targeted advertising.
As a consumer, you are getting manipulated.
But that’s just the beginning of the problem.
Dark Design Practices
Dark design is the practice of using web features to trick and/or deceive users.
As you can imagine, dark design has proven to be highly effective psychologically to draw more money and time out of consumers.
Further to that, we are starting to see more complex patterns that stem out of dark design practices.
“Accept all” is just a small example. Next time you see a pop up, just compare the size of each of the options. I am willing to bet that the size of the “accept all” button is going to be considerably larger than every other option you will have.
On the other hand, an option such as “manage settings” is knowingly made daunting. And even if you choose that option, you will be greeted by marketing jargon that not even most marketers understand, let alone the common user of a website. Plus, if you choose such an option, the design will try to consume as much time of yours as possible, with the intention to make you give up on doing so ever in the future, if not there and then.
In the case of more established businesses, the dark design practices get more fine tuned.
Have you ever noticed that you can get sucked into an endless stream of content.
I am not just talking about binge watching.
More specifically, I am talking about free websites, e.g. Facebook and YouTube. These websites are designed with the sole purpose of keeping you on them as long as possible, with high doses of advertisement.
Where To Draw The Line?
In all fairness, I do not blame these websites completely, as most of the content produced on these websites is created by people like you and me. And, the need to create that content is driven by the need to get attention.
Maybe that is just the nature of the world we live in.
For example, I would really love it if you stay longer on our website, check more content, and get in touch. That is simply how we can get to know each other, and hopefully do business together.
Maybe what we are calling dark design is simply effective design with a hint of subjectivity.
For me, what makes the whole design dark is when you are pushed into steps you do not want to take, while making you think that you are taking them.
We will draw our line there and let you take further charge.
To learn more, get in touch with us today.
In the meantime, please check our web design services.
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