Dark patterns and deceptive design

What are dark patterns?

Dark patterns are interface practices that mislead or obstruct people in making choices, including unwanted purchases, recurring payments, or data sharing. The related term “deceptive design” focuses on these effects on user choice.

Documented forms

The FTC’s 2022 staff report examines practices such as obscuring important terms, making cancellation difficult, and confusing or obstructing privacy choices. Harry Brignull’s Deceptive Design also catalogs interface patterns.

Examples of dark patterns

• Confirmshaming: Wording that pressures users by making refusal sound shameful.
• Hard-to-cancel subscriptions: Signing up is easy, but leaving requires obscure or obstructive steps.
• Hidden costs: Important charges are obscured until late in the transaction.
• Trick questions: Confusing wording makes the consequences of a choice hard to understand.
• Hidden trial conversion: A prominently advertised free trial turns into a recurring paid subscription, while the amount, billing schedule, or need to cancel is buried in hard-to-notice terms. The FTC report discusses this pattern. The problem is the obscured commitment: a trial with clearly explained charges, informed agreement, and a usable cancellation process is a different arrangement.

How to assess an interface

An interface should be assessed using its actual wording, choices, defaults, and steps. A visually prominent button is not sufficient evidence of deception on its own. Nor does an inconvenient process alone establish its designer’s intent.

Example: obstructing cancellation

Imagine signing up in two clicks, then finding that cancellation requires a phone call and repeated attempts to reach someone. The difference in effort is worth investigating. What was promised? Can people complete the cancellation? What charges continue while they try?

The interface alone does not reveal every reason for the process or settle legal liability. Describe the practice and its effects instead of treating all friction as proof of deceptive intent.

Why deceptive design matters

A person should be able to understand what they are agreeing to and how to decline or leave. Look at the complete choice process, including the words, defaults, and cancellation steps. More sign-ups and fewer cancellations can look successful while leaving people with products they did not knowingly choose or no longer want. Evaluate the user’s understanding and ability to act, as well as the business’s conversion rate. Different patterns can work in different ways, and whether a particular practice violates a law depends on the facts and applicable rules.