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Every week, we’ll explore a topic in design. In this edition, we’re talking about dark patterns in UI/UX!

Dark patterns refer to user interface elements that prompt users to take an action that benefits the company. They deceive, misdirect, shame, or obstruct the user’s ability to make another (less profitable) choice. Here are some common types of dark patterns, which as designers, we should avoid.

When a company initially shows a low base price for a product or service, but then reveals additional mandatory fees throughout the checkout process. It often surprises the consumer because all these surcharges are only disclosed at the last step.

This pattern emotionally manipulates users into taking an action they would not otherwise have taken by making them feel guilty or ashamed about declining an offer.

This is when designers use deceptive design techniques to draw a user’s attention away from what they want to hide or toward a different action. It’s basically tricking users into making unintended choices, like buying something they didn’t mean to.

A roach motel is a dark pattern where users can easily enter a situation (like signing up for a service), but finds it very difficult to leave. For instance, it makes cancelling a service or deleting an account overly complicated.

My proudest design moment was my intern project in London with Careology, a consumer and B2B healthcare startup supporting oncology patients. I collaborated closely with the product team to improve the UX/UI of their patient-facing app, and the highlight was a week-long design sprint where the US and UK teams came together to rethink the experience. By applying the human-centered design process and building rapid prototypes, we presented a vision to the CEO that meaningfully shaped the product roadmap for the rest of the year and led to hiring an additional PM dedicated to this work. I also reduced design-to-development handoff time by consolidating disparate components into a scalable design system that could support the company’s fast growth. This upgrade helped accelerate workflows for Careology’s major collaboration with Evolent, the largest healthcare system in the US. Overall, I felt I made a real impact while being deeply supported by my team. And living in the UK reminded me how much I enjoy building a life in a new place. I can genuinely see myself returning in the future.

That’s all for this week!

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See you soon,

Clément & Sia @ CUxD