Dark UX Practices You Should Avoid for Successful Business

I wouldn't be writing this story if I hadn’t seen a couple of those dark UX practices a few weeks ago. But here we are, and let's see how harmful these dark UX practices can be for your business.

But before we start, let’s play a game! Leave a chosen emoji in the comment for each dark pattern you have encountered as a user in real life. Mine would be: 🥷🏼

1. Basket sneaking — Airlines are notorious for this! They will be putting insurance, charities, eco-taxes and whatnot without users' permission. This can really damage users' trust towards the business, and increase stress during checkout.

“Basket sneaking” means adding additional items such as products, services, payments to charity or donations at the time of checkout from a platform, without the consent of the user, such that the total amount payable by the user is more than the amount payable for the product or service chosen by the user. — UX Tigers

Which reminded me to check my account, and what did I find? Something I do not have the memory of adding to my account. Why? Because I haven’t used GoDaddy’s websites since 2022. 😂 Check your subscriptions y'all!

2. Drip pricing — Similar to basket sneaking, this is yet again a deception of what the real cost of a product or service really is. The example that comes to mind is when businesses do not include the VAT tax and other additional payments for processing and such until the checkout is reached.

The UX Tigers describe it as:

This covers several different cases where the full price is not revealed upfront.

Various extra fees are only revealed surreptitiously within the user experience, which used to be very common on travel sites.

A product or service is advertised as free without appropriate disclosure of the fact that the continuation of use requires later payment.

The final price is not disclosed until after the purchase, i.e., charging an amount higher than the amount disclosed at the time of checkout.

3. False urgency

Decreasing the amount of products left in stock by suggesting a feeling of scarcity or urgency, is not a great way to win customers. If anything, you, as a business owner, will lose loyal customers who do not appreciate being manipulated.

4. Deceptive copywriting

What does it mean? This is text which uses misleading or manipulative language in user interfaces to trick users into taking actions they may not intend or want to take. This practice manipulates cognitive biases and user behavior patterns to benefit the company at the expense of the user’s autonomy and informed decision-making.

Examples:

• Confirmshaming — using guilt-induced language to discourage users from declining an offer. For instance, a pop-up might say as the option to refuse a newsletter signup:

“No thanks, I don’t like saving money”

• Disguised ads — writing ad copy that closely resembles regular content, making it difficult for users to distinguish between advertisements and genuine information. This is a very common practice in social media posts, where it is sometimes hard to see which post is sponsored, an ad or a genuine share.
• Forced continuity — using unclear or misleading language about subscription terms, making it easy for users to sign up but difficult to cancel! For example, a free trial that automatically converts to a paid subscription without clear communication beforehand.

Or another example of this would be the inability to close your PayPal account, and the only “help” you get is redirection to other articles, chatbots and FAQs instead of a customer support representative that can help you.

• Trick questions — creating questions or statements in a way that confuses users, often leading them to unintentionally agree to something they didn’t want.
• Hidden costs — with the power of words, using vague or incomplete information about pricing, only revealing additional fees or charges at the final stages of a purchase.
• Misdirection — using language that draws attention away from important information or actions that may not be in the user’s best interest.

What is a topic you would like me to cover next? Comment below. ☺️

‍