Gray Patterns in UX: where do we draw the line between helpful vs. harmful design?
By categorizing everything into “dark” vs. “light” patterns, we oversimplify the user experience as evil vs. moral. The reality is not always this simple.
In Netflix’s The Social Dilemma we learn how closely data and web design work together to shape our decision-making. The film presents a fictional account of an American family whose kids are ruined by their social media addiction. The design of the social media accounts play a big role in their addiction, with functions such as the “like” button, red notification signs, and infinity scrolls keeping them starving for more digital junk.
These types of addictive designs are often referred to as dark patterns. If you work with UX you might already have heard about dark patterns, in which the goal is to trigger the user to take action for the benefit of the company, rather than the user. Such work is often seen as evil and sinister, and most designers want to stay away from it. However, few designers ever reflect upon gray patterns in design.
It’s not always black and white.
A gray pattern (defined in my own words) is when a design can create a good, helpful experience for one user, while simultaneously manipulating another user to take action against his/her own will. The balance between helpfulness and harmfulness is blurry as hell here. Adding to that, many designers are not aware of their contribution to the gray pattern, and many users have no idea that they are partaking in it either.
Confusing right?
Think about “recommended for you” sections on the bottom of an article for example. This type of design can be helpful for users but it can also make them stay longer on the site than they intended to. Some users might see this design as dark, but those who find these sections helpful, might see it as light.
Therefore, where do we draw the line between helpful design vs. harmful design?
In the following sections, I will present four common gray patterns that most of us have encountered, all of them in the blurry intersection between helpfulness and harmfulness. The purpose is to take the discussion beyond light vs. dark patterns, and create an awareness of the often complex user experience we encounter everyday, one that is neither black or white.
Without further ado, welcome to the world of…gray.
1. Netflix Autoplay
Yes, the same company that brought you The Social Dilemma, is also using triggers to keep you hooked to their platform. With Netflix autoplay, the word “Binge-watching” has taken on another level.
By default, the autoplay setting is already chosen for you when you set up your account, so you have to make an effort to uncheck it if you want it out of your life. But..is that what you want?
Personally, autoplay makes my life easier. After a long day at work, I just want to unplug, sit back and relax while watching my favorite shows. When one episode finishes, I actually don’t want to make an effort to click on the next one. I want to preserve time and energy and let Netflix do the job for me.
At the same time, I’m aware of the precious hours I’m giving away to the platform, hours I could have spent productively elsewhere. I’m also aware of the manipulative moves being used to keep me staying “just one more episode,” while the dopamine in my brain keeps me high with pleasure.
Studies have found correlations between binge-watching and depression. So, while the autoplay is making my life a bit easier, it might also be a source of harm to other users, and maybe even to me.
Is the autoplay design helpful or harmful?
2. Forbes Magazine’s “See also” section
Similar to Netflix's autoplay, the “read more” sections of daily newspapers and magazines encourage users to stay on their platform as long as possible — and Forbes is no stranger to using this method.
While the company’s click-through rate increases with this design, one could argue that it’s also helpful to its readers. If I click on an article about “investment in startups” for example, I will most likely also be interested to read more about stocks, dividends, and savings (as seen on the image). Thus, when I’m in the mood to gain more knowledge in this field, instead of having to dig through a bunch of irrelevant articles to find what I want, Forbes just hands it over to me.
Forbes gets their clicks, and I get the articles I’m interested in so all should be happy and well then.
But wait a minute. I also recall all the crazy amount of hours I totally wasted when drifting through articles that I don’t remember a word of anymore. Honestly, after clicking through my 18th article in a day on “savings”, am I still reading for knowledge? or am I just entertaining myself with another platform, binge reading while fooling myself into thinking I’m doing something productive?
Probably the latter.
3. These push notifications from Kohl’s and Linkedin
Push notifications are mainly used by companies to attract traffic to their content so they can gain more visibility. I have a love-hate relationship to them. On one hand, they sometimes provide helpful information, and on the other hand they’re extremely annoying and only distract me in my daily work.
So how should we interpret these notifications from Kohl’s and Linkedin?
The first notification by Kohl’s could be helpful because who doesn’t want a discount? Furthermore, if I have an intention to buy something specific and I find it on discount at Kohl’s, then it’s an even bigger win for me. However, if my intention is not to buy anything but I end up doing it anyway, then this design is only harmful to my well-being.
The second notification from Linkedin Jobs is a bit trickier. I want to know if someone has viewed my job application, so this is arguably helpful information. But the purpose of this innocent-looking design is to encourage me back to the platform, where I will probably get distracted by checking my feed, messages, contact requests, etc.
Keep in mind that I do have the choice to just ignore and even disable notifications altogether, but then I might miss out on information I do want to partake in. Information overload thus becomes the price I choose to pay for getting the information I want.
Still, are these designs helpful or harmful?
4. Amazon’s recommendation section
The cousin of “Read more”, though this one is heavily data-driven. From Amazon to Instagram to news articles to online fashion stores…the personal recommendation section knows no limits.
When searching for a good book to purchase, Amazon is quick to give me recommendations of similar books that might also interest me. I often use this section of their page to compare and research books in the same category, before deciding on my final purchase.
Of course, the reason behind Amazon’s recommendation section is not for me to compare different books, but to buy more. I confess I have fallen for this trick one or two times, but overall it hasn’t been a problem.
However, I also have friends who are serious shopaholics, and always end up buying several items, when all they wanted was a nice pair of jeans.
Is this type of design helpful or harmful?
Conclusion
By categorizing everything into “dark” vs. “light” patterns, we oversimplify the user experience as evil vs. moral. The reality of user experience is not always this simple. As the examples above presented, we often move around in a gray zone, not being completely sure if a design is for us or against us.
Perhaps, instead of asking for what is right or wrong, we should ask if the outcome of the individual matches what he/she wants to achieve. But, since everyone have their own intentions and definitions of achievement, not all user experience can be interpreted the same way.
When creating a good design we need to be as friendly as possible to the users and keep their best interests in mind. Sometimes this means going against company business goals, but sometimes it means company business goals and user experience can go together, creating a win-win situation for both.
In situations where the border between helpful vs. harmful design is impossible to draw, we might need to accept that not all user experience can be clustered into the same black and white categories.
With the rise of machine learning and algorithms, gray patterns should be something of the past in the future, as no single individual will have the same user experience when entering a site. For now though we have to do our best to serve users, testing and tiptoeing around gray patterns, hoping we can make it all light and bright one day.
This article was originally published on my blog. For more reading check out my blog page https://tashina.se/blog/
