09/18/2018

Don’t Fool Your Members With “Dark Patterns”

Avoid the click-bait behavior online marketers adore

Of all the emails I get, the ones that are my biggest pet peeve are the fake replies.

Generally, the email subject line includes a “Re:” in front of it, and the message is designed so part of text is in blockquote, making it seem like a legitimate message I forgot to respond to. But if I do a search I realize the sender has never emailed me before about this topic—or at all. It’s a trick, with the goal of getting my attention.

This is a mild variant of  a “dark pattern,” a user interface tactic intended to trick you into doing something.  These design quirks are everywhere online these days and take numerous forms. Here are a few examples, in order of “darkness”:

Please select this link to read the complete article from Associations Now.