Ask the UXperts: Dark Patterns and Persuasive Design — with Ben Tollady

Design is often about balancing the needs of the user and the business.  A big part of what we want to do is help people to achieve what they want or need – usually avoiding pain or seeking reward. There are many ways of doing this, some of which walk fairly close to (or cross) the moral and ethical line. We call those ‘dark patterns’.

Persuasive design is generally recognised as a more ethical alternative — it involves using elements of cognitive psychology in order to change user behaviour through techniques like persuasion, social influence and the formation of habits.

Next up in our Slack channel, Ben Tollady of Thirst Studios will share advice around designing ethically and where the boundaries of ethical and responsible design lie.

The Details

• Where: Our dedicated ‘Ask Ben’ Slack channel (You’ll need to request an invitation if you haven’t yet joined our Slack channel)
• When: 3 pm Wednesday 9th November PDT or 10 am Thursday 10th November AEST
  (or find out what time that is for you)

Meet Ben Tollady

 

Ben Tollady is an accomplished designer, having worked in the field of user experience and interaction design for over a decade in both the UK and Australia.

His background in industrial design translates directly to his work in interaction design for the web and he firmly believes that successful interaction design revolves around simplicity and relevance.

Ben has taught UX at organisations such as Education Services Australia and currently resides upon the faculty for Tractor Design School as an industry mentor for its UX program.

How to Ask Your Questions

If you can’t make the live session but have questions, we’d love to collect them ahead of time and we’ll ask Ben on your behalf. You can submit your questions here. We’ll publish the responses (along with the full transcript) in the days following the session.

Here are a few questions to get you thinking:

1. Can you give us some real life examples of dark patterns or unethical design in action?
2. What are some of the cognitive biases that we can take advantage of as designers to be more persuasive in our work?
3. Do you think it is our job as designers to call our other people if we believe they are designing irresponsibly?

How does Ask the UXperts work?

These sessions run for approximately an hour and best of all, they don’t cost a cent. We use a dedicated public Slack channel. That means that there is no audio or video, but a full transcript will be posted up on here in the days following the session.

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by Sarah Hawk via UX Mastery