Dark Patterns - User Interfaces Designed to Trick People

Does it count if there's no user interface? Amazon has my email address, I've been a customer since the late-nineties. They keep inventing new email lists and signing me up for them. Each time I get a new "newsletter" it says something like, "You got this message because you're subscribed to the 'Tablet News' newsletter." I click the unsubscribe link to remove myself from it. Along with the unsubscribe link there's a link to my subscriptions. When I go there…

The worst mainstream example of this I know of is PayPal. Their entire business is predicated on steering you away from using your credit or debit card (better for you) to a direct bank withdrawal (better for them). Bank withdrawals carry a risk of overdraft fees, have fewer consumer protections, and lack the rewards programs and other benefits of cards. But they cost less for PayPal. Merchants don't pay any less though -- it's how PayPal makes money. Each and…

It's interesting to talk about the ethics of this sort of thing because the rabbit hole is very deep. I think it was P.T. Barnum who can came up with the idea of making customers walk though the gift shop to exit his circus. I think of that every time I walk though an airport that does the same thing on entry or exit from its international flights area. That's an example of user interface design, isn't it? And, what…

For those that care: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0061854549/ ( Predictably Irrational, Revised and Expanded Edition: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions ) Basically, the forces of darkness muster and arm themselves; those seeking the light must be diligent.