FTC study finds ‘dark patterns’ used by a majority of subscription apps and websites

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The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) conducted a study into the use of manipulative design techniques:


Through my research, I had begun questioning the ethics of certain subscription strategies, but I was still taken aback to hear the majority of websites and apps offering services used at least one dark pattern, and most used more. How can we ensure a system that prompts self-growth in regards to the customer and not the business?

I had read a few articles on subscriptions attached to Apple’s App Store, but this was the first mention I heard of a lawsuit the U.S. Department of Justice launched against them for being a monopoly. Once this clears up, will we see a bunch of super apps rushing to the platform?

When thinking of how I could accidentally implement some of these dark patterns into financial planning, I made note to be cognizant of how incentivizing action can easily turn into nagging. I found that the concept of forced action related to my research of BMW’s heated seats or Apple Music, in which there is a demand set by the business for the customer to complete before accessing functionality.

I also have to be very mindful of interface interference, for how I lay out and provide information will influence a customer’s decision. If my goal is to enhance their own way of living, how does the interface reflect that? Is it manually customizable, or does it automatically personalize itself based on their data? How would we know this data is not compromised by dark patterns and informed by manipulative business tactics, rather than customers’ freewill?


References

Perez, S. (2024, July 10). FTC study finds ‘dark patterns’ used by a majority of subscription apps and websites. TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2024/07/10/ftc-study-finds-dark-patterns-used-by-a-majority-of-subscription-apps-and-websites/?guccounter=1