Deceptive Patterns
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Linguistic Dead-Ends and Alphabet Soup: Finding Dark Patterns in Japanese Apps

Author
Shun Hidaka, Sota Kobuki, Mizuki Watanabe, and Katie Seaborn
Date
29 Sept 2023
Publisher
titech.ac.jp
Focus
HCI & Psychology
Category
Academic Scholar

Popular Japanese mobile apps have malicious design elements called dark patterns or deceptive user interface designs, researchers from Tokyo Tech have found. A new class of dark patterns, called ‘Linguistic Dead-Ends,’ of types ‘Untranslation’ and ‘Alphabet Soup,’ was also discovered.

Popular Japanese mobile apps have malicious design elements called dark patterns or deceptive user interface designs, researchers from Tokyo Tech have found. A new class of dark patterns, called ‘Linguistic Dead-Ends,’ of types ‘Untranslation’ and ‘Alphabet Soup,’ was also discovered. The researchers found an average of 3.9 deceitful design elements per app and uncovered how language and culture influence the presence and impact of these manipulative practices in digital design in Japan and across the globe.