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Started by Hannah Kim (@hannahk_ux) ·

dark patterns got their name in 2010

I knew the examples (prechecked boxes, fake timers, cancellation mazes) but not that someone had been naming and cataloging them since 2010.

5 sources · 31 min down the hole

How I got here

Started with
“dark patterns ux examples”
Ended at
“dark patterns at scale 11k shopping websites study”

The Trail

  1. “dark patterns ux examples” (google.com)
  2. Dark pattern (en.wikipedia.org)

    Harry Brignull coined it in 2010 with a 'name and shame' pattern library

  3. Deceptive Patterns — spreading awareness since 2010 (deceptive.design)

    his catalog. he renamed them 'deceptive patterns'

  4. “ryanair travel insurance country dropdown dark pattern” (google.com)

    the opt-out was apparently hidden inside the country of residence list

  5. “dark patterns at scale 11k shopping websites study” (google.com)

    2019, ~11,000 sites crawled, 1,818 dark patterns found

Keep going