HCI researchers are increasingly concerned about the prevalence of manipulative design strategies in user interfaces, commonly referred to as “dark patterns”. The line between manipulation and persuasion strategies is often blurred, leading to legal and ethical concerns. This paper examines the tension between persuasive UX practices and manipulative designs. UX/UI design professionals (n=22), split into eight focus groups, conducted design activities on two fictitious scenarios. We qualitatively analysed their discussions regarding strategies for influencing user behaviours and their underlying reasoning. Our findings reveal a combination of classical UI design strategies like sticky interfaces and incentives as their most common practice to influence user behaviour.
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Ethical Tensions in UX Design Practice: Exploring the Fine Line Between Persuasion and Manipulation in Online Interfaces
The tension between persuasive UX practices and manipulative designs is examined, revealing a combination of classical UI design strategies like sticky interfaces and incentives as their most common practice to influence user behaviour.