Recall the moment when you signed up for a new service on your favorite e-commerce platform. The process was streamlined, efficient – just a few clicks and voila, you were in! But then, after some time, you decided to cancel the service. Suddenly, the user interface that was your trusted guide became a maze, with each exit seemingly leading to another corridor of confusion. Frustrated, you wondered: "Did they design it this way on purpose?"
Such experiences resonate with many of us, thanks to something known as "Dark Patterns". Dark patterns are manipulative elements in user-interface design intentionally meant to mislead users. They trick us into taking actions we never intended or into overlooking information that, had we noticed it, would have led us to make different decisions. The big question is: Are popular platforms, like Amazon.com, guilty of employing such dark patterns?
Consider the recent case where the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a suit against Amazon.com. The FTC alleged that Amazon had purposefully designed their subscribe/unsubscribe flows for its Prime service to ensnare customers into unwanted subscriptions and then prevent them from easily finding their way out. It's important to note, however, that the FTC does acknowledge that Amazon has recently improved its UI to be less misleading. The legal action thus pertains to Amazon's past design, not its current one.
According to FTC, customers were led through a multistep process with ambiguous wording that made it unclear what clicking the "Continue" button would actually mean.
Users were further confounded by pop-up screens that made unsubscribing appear detrimental, or suggested they would lose benefits immediately if they chose to cancel.
Additionally, customers were offered irrelevant options designed to distract and confuse, such as "Continue to Cancel" or "Keep my Benefits".
Have you ever encountered these types of patterns? How did it impact your user experience? It's essential to understand that our experiences, our journeys as customers, should be respected, not manipulated. This is why transparency, simplicity, and respect are critical pillars of customer experience (CX) design.
The best CX designs foster trust between a business and its customers. They place a high value on clarity and the customer's right to make informed decisions. User experience should be a delightful journey, not a deceiving labyrinth.
This recent incident with Amazon serves as a reminder to all businesses - big or small - about the responsibility they carry in creating ethical and user-friendly designs. A design that respects the customer's journey will always triumph over one that tries to manipulate it.
As we look towards the future, let's reimagine the world of customer experience. Let's envision a world where respect for the user's journey is the golden rule of design, where dark patterns are a thing of the past, and every interaction is crafted with care and understanding of the customer's needs.
Imagine what that world would be like. Exciting, isn't it? Read more here