User experience design is the process of enhancing user satisfaction by improving the usability, ease of use, and pleasure provided in the interaction between the user and the product. It encompasses traditional human–computer interaction (HCI) design, and extends it by addressing all aspects of a product or service as perceived by users. User experience is any aspect of a person's interaction with a given IT system, including the interface, graphics, industrial design, physical interaction, and the manual.
01
The Elements of User Experience cuts through the complexity of user-centered design for the Web with clear explanations and vivid illustrations that focus on ideas rather than tools or techniques. Jesse James Garrett gives readers the big picture of Web user experience development, from strategy and requirements to information architecture and visual design.
- Jesse James Garrett
02
Bakken & Baeck is a small agency based in Norway. You can scroll through the pages and portfolio work by using the navigational keys on the keyboard. They also focus you in on what you’re to see, which helps you maneuver and know where you’re going on this website.
- 15 web sites with excellent UX, 2014
anti patterns
An anti pattern is a frequently used, but largely ineffective solution to a problem. The term was originally used to refer to a pattern gone wrong. Just as a viable pattern describes the way from a problem to a valid solution, an anti pattern describes the way from a problem to a poor solution.
03 anti patterns in software design:
Ambiguous viewpoint: Presenting a model, usually object-oriented analysis without specifying its viewpoint.
Big ball of mud: A system with no recognizable structure. Inner-platform effect: A system so customizable as to become a poor replica of the software platform. Input kludge: Failing to specify and implement the handling of possibly invalid input. Interface bloat: Making an interface so powerful that it is extremely difficult to implement. Race hazard: Failing to see consequence of events, that can sometimes interfere with each other. Stovepipe system: A barely maintainable assemblage of ill-related components. Magic pushbutton: A form with no dynamic validation, or input assistance such as dropdowns.
A Dark Pattern is a type of user interface that appears to have been carefully crafted to trick users into doing things, such as buying insurance with their purchase or signing up for recurring bills.
Normally when you think of “bad design”, you think of the creator as being sloppy or lazy but with no ill intent. This type of bad design is known as an “anti pattern”. Dark Patterns are different – they are not mistakes, they are carefully crafted with a solid understanding of human psychology, and they do not have the user’s interests in mind.
04 bait and switch
In this dark pattern, the user sets out to do one thing, but a different, undesirable thing happens instead. This is one of the oldest tricks in the book, and it is very broad in nature – many dark patterns involve some kind of bait & switch.
In the example, hostels.com accurately puts hotels.com phone number underneath the hotel in question. This might surprise the user who was expecting to directly contact the hotel, especially as the phone number was alongside the address of the hotel and visually identical. I took several prints from different hotels in Lisbon. You can see this for yourself in Hotels.
05 forced continuity
The user signs up for a free trial on a website, and in doing so they are required to enter their credit card details. When the trial comes to an end, they automatically start getting billed for the paid service. The user is not given an adequate reminder, nor are they given an easy and rapid way of cancelling the automatic renewal.
In the example is shown a list of steps to follow just to unsubscribe. You have to spend more money to send a letter to unsubscribe, and call the help center bute, where is the number? You can see this pattern in CreditExpert and you can find multiple tutorials for unsubscribing in WikiHow.
Are you sure you want to cancel your subscription?
Here is your bill, tank you for choosing our service's.
Type: Full price ticket. Ticket price: US$ 29.00 x 1 Facility charge: US$ 3.00 x 1 Convenience charge: US$ 4.00 x 1 Ordering Processing Fee: US$ 6.00 x 1 Ticket fast delivery: US$ 4.00 x 1 Last minute seat change caution: US$ 5.00 x 1 Taxes: US$ 11.00 x 1 Other fees: US$ 6.00 x 1
Total: US$ 68.00 x 1
06 hidden costs
A hidden cost occurs when a user gets to the last step of the checkout process, only to discover some unexpected charges have appeared, e.g. delivery charges, tax, etc.
In the example is presented a bill with real charges. Try this pattern at TicketMaster.
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07 trick questions
This is one of the most used dark patterns. The user is required to respond to a question which, when glanced upon quickly appears to ask one thing, but if read carefully, asks another thing entirely. This pattern works because it is normal for users to employ high-speed scan-reading on the web. Steve Krug says: ”We don’t read pages. We scan them.“
In the example is a mix of trick questions, in negative and positive form, asking you in different ways to make different choice's for the same result.
This website is a documentary investigation work in web and interaction design for my master's degree in Comunication Design in the Faculty of Fine Arts, Lisbon. After some research I discovered dark patterns.org and investigated UX and UI design, good design, bad design, anti patterns and of course dark patterns. This website documents all this and makes a comment on the moral values in design. Most of the texts are from darkpatterns.org. I made the interactions.
