The Dark Side of Design

28th December 2011

Good designers know how to influence user attitudes and behaviour – they can encourage certain desired actions to be taken and can control how users interact with a site.

The problem is that this skill and knowledge can be abused – interactions can be designed for unethical purposes to trick and manipulate users into doing things they’d prefer not to.

You see examples of this all the time – one common technique is the use of radio buttons at the bottom of a form which aim to confuse you – “YES, I’d prefer not to go on the mailing list” or “NO, I do want to be contacted by other companies”.

There are also those irritating “download” sites – the ones that offer freeware software and have large download buttons. You click the link only to find that you’ve been taken to an advertisement – the “real” download button was below the one the designer wanted you to click.

The issue with these types of examples (and there are many more) is that the designers of these interactions are trying to trick and manipulate you into a certain type of action that benefits them and not you.

This manipulation can take many forms – I experienced it myself recently when trying to book a flight to Edinburgh. One particular airline had a low advertised cost that seemed a good deal – you know that taxes will be added to the final cost, but it seemed reasonable.

However, as you go through the booking process you’re then charged for baggage, choosing your seats, and then a final transaction fee is charged (on top of the original ticket price and tax). You’re also strongly “encouraged” to purchase the insurance they offer – to the point where it’s hard to proceed without buying it.

The design of this interaction is actually quite clever – there’s no doubt that it will increase sales and get more money through the door. The cost is slowly and subtly built up until you’ve put in so much effort to book the tickets that it’s not worth the hassle to look elsewhere.

But whilst this sort of approach does help businesses make more money, it can leave customers feeling cheated – you don’t feel pleased with the service you’ve received, you’re not happy with the amount you had to pay, and you’re highly unlikely to recommend them to anyone else.

It’s important to note that there’s a thin line here – obviously sites need to be optimised for high conversion – that’s just a part of doing business. But at what cost?

You might win in the short-term by cheating and tricking users, but they’re unlikely to do business with you again in the future and will probably share their experiences with others.

Try to always be open and honest. Present what you have to offer and make it easy for people to decide either way.