Let’s Stop Using The Term “Dark Patterns” in UX Design

The term “Dark Patterns” may sound familiar to you if you work in User Experience or web design. If you’re a regular Joe or Jane, you’ve surely encountered them while you surfed the interwebz or tried to unsubscribe from the 1 millionth email your university has sent you begging for money

Wired Magazine describes as this

“The term “dark patterns” was first coined by UX specialist Harry Brignull to describe the ways in which software can subtly trick users into doing things they didn’t mean to do, or discouraging behavior that’s bad for the company. When you want to unsubscribe from a mailing list, but the “Unsubscribe” button is tiny, low-contrast, and buried in paragraphs of text at the bottom of an email, it’s a strong sign the company is putting up subtle roadblocks between you and cancellation.”

I recently just ran into a “dark pattern” where I signed up for what I thought was a free credit score check. I awoke this morning to a 30 dollar charge on my bank account.. That’s been going on for several months!

It got me thinking about a topic that has been quietly bubbling under in the user experience design world, especially among black and brown UX designers. What makes everything “Dark” so bad? The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice, right?

The only thing good associated with the color Black in popular culture is when a company is profitable and “in the Black” (instead of being in the red hence the name of…