Dark Patterns: Evil Design Patterns

I’ve looked at design patterns many times before: persuasive patterns, anti-patterns and interaction patterns. The missing link: dark patterns.

According to Harry Brignull–the designer who really started the discussion on this topic–dark patterns can succinctly be described as “user interfaces designed to trick people” or “dirty tricks designers use to make people do stuff”.

Brignull first wrote about this type of design pattern back in July 2010, followed shortly by a dark patterns presentation for designers and researchers (29m 27s) and, more recently, a presentation aimed at brand owners and marketers (25m 29s).

All of this leads to the Dark Patterns wiki: a listing of the most popular methods companies use to trick people through their user interfaces, including:

via Kottke

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