How sites fool users: when the answer is "no" is not accepted
Consumer credit managers in well-known Russian banks automatically add insurance to the contract. The buyer will know about it only when he signs a pile of documents. It will take a lot of time to remove the “tick” - so he will agree on these 10% of the amount distributed for a year. The same strategy is used by various sites, including LinkedIn, which paid $ 13 million for their mailings throughout the contact list.
Briton Harry Brignall helps companies make user-friendly interfaces. And he has a professional hatred for sites that manipulate people and force them to do what the user in their right mind does not want to do. These techniques he calls "dark patterns". Users are forced to subscribe to the newsletter, share information in social networks, download files.
An online store can automatically add products to a user's basket - a subscription to a magazine or travel insurance, which is then difficult to remove. British usability consultant Harry Brignall named the roach motel trap for cockroaches in another technique: the site can be easily and quickly registered, and the procedure for deleting an account is so obscure that it becomes impossible for most users.
Sites for booking hotel rooms can fool the user: “Only two rooms are left at this price!” The developers use the same technology in Russia - only here we are talking about apartments in new buildings. If the deficit really exists, then such statements are quite acceptable. If not, then it is a hoax that encourages the buyer to spend money here and now.
"Persuasive" technology used for a long time, and not only on the Internet. In countries where citizens need to officially refuse organ donation, the percentage of donors is correspondingly higher than in the USA, where at the stage of obtaining a driver's license you can choose whether to become a donor or not, or in Russia, where willful expression is required in the presence of witnesses or notarized ( “ On the basis of the protection of the health of citizens in the Russian Federation ", article 47, paragraph 6 ). For example, in Austria donors - 90%, and in the USA - 15%.
But the techniques that encourage people to do good and help doctors save lives are used to get benefits. Marketers and designers know that the user is more likely to bring the transaction to the end, if he has already put in some effort and time. And that many buyers will click on the "Next" button on the machine, without even knowing what they are subscribed to.
A friend of mine asked me several times to stop inviting her on LinkedIn. This social network for professionals sends invitations to the entire contact list of your mail. To disable this option, you need to delve into the interface, the convenience of which the resource is no different. If you receive many invitations from your friends to register on the site, you can ask LinkedIn Help on Twitter to add your address to the “Do Not Contact” list. LinkedIn has already paid $ 13 million in 2015 for its mailings .
Ryanair low-fire automatically added travel insurance to user purchases. To disable the insurance, it was necessary to find a drop-down menu. After buyers began to publicly complain about this practice, the company had to insert a clear check-box. Such methods of work help to earn in the short term, but spoil the attitude to the brand - namely, further earnings depend on the reputation.
If the application by ordering a taxi offers to send friends invitations with free rides, and the user himself can go for such a newsletter at no additional cost - then the company and the buyer will win. But sometimes only the company has the benefit.
In early 2016, Fabletics.com offered a $ 25 discount on products for VIP members. When making a purchase, the user saw the value at a discount, highlighted in red, and the price without discount was marked in gray. Only at the bottom of the page in small print said that membership costs $ 49.95 per month. And the money will be withdrawn monthly, if on the 5th you don’t call the company and do not unsubscribe from the membership. Now the site Fabletics does not work in Russia.
Amazon offers a strange way to log out of your account. The user must click on the button “Not% name%? Sign Out ”, that is, to say that he is not the person he is. A trifle that may cause confusion to the user.
Please tell in the comments about your experience on a similar topic: where did you encounter adding insurance to airline tickets, when portals sent letters to your contacts that you didn’t know from which sites you couldn’t delete your accounts, and so on.
Briton Harry Brignall helps companies make user-friendly interfaces. And he has a professional hatred for sites that manipulate people and force them to do what the user in their right mind does not want to do. These techniques he calls "dark patterns". Users are forced to subscribe to the newsletter, share information in social networks, download files.
An online store can automatically add products to a user's basket - a subscription to a magazine or travel insurance, which is then difficult to remove. British usability consultant Harry Brignall named the roach motel trap for cockroaches in another technique: the site can be easily and quickly registered, and the procedure for deleting an account is so obscure that it becomes impossible for most users.
Sites for booking hotel rooms can fool the user: “Only two rooms are left at this price!” The developers use the same technology in Russia - only here we are talking about apartments in new buildings. If the deficit really exists, then such statements are quite acceptable. If not, then it is a hoax that encourages the buyer to spend money here and now.
"Persuasive" technology used for a long time, and not only on the Internet. In countries where citizens need to officially refuse organ donation, the percentage of donors is correspondingly higher than in the USA, where at the stage of obtaining a driver's license you can choose whether to become a donor or not, or in Russia, where willful expression is required in the presence of witnesses or notarized ( “ On the basis of the protection of the health of citizens in the Russian Federation ", article 47, paragraph 6 ). For example, in Austria donors - 90%, and in the USA - 15%.
But the techniques that encourage people to do good and help doctors save lives are used to get benefits. Marketers and designers know that the user is more likely to bring the transaction to the end, if he has already put in some effort and time. And that many buyers will click on the "Next" button on the machine, without even knowing what they are subscribed to.
A friend of mine asked me several times to stop inviting her on LinkedIn. This social network for professionals sends invitations to the entire contact list of your mail. To disable this option, you need to delve into the interface, the convenience of which the resource is no different. If you receive many invitations from your friends to register on the site, you can ask LinkedIn Help on Twitter to add your address to the “Do Not Contact” list. LinkedIn has already paid $ 13 million in 2015 for its mailings .
Ryanair low-fire automatically added travel insurance to user purchases. To disable the insurance, it was necessary to find a drop-down menu. After buyers began to publicly complain about this practice, the company had to insert a clear check-box. Such methods of work help to earn in the short term, but spoil the attitude to the brand - namely, further earnings depend on the reputation.
If the application by ordering a taxi offers to send friends invitations with free rides, and the user himself can go for such a newsletter at no additional cost - then the company and the buyer will win. But sometimes only the company has the benefit.
In early 2016, Fabletics.com offered a $ 25 discount on products for VIP members. When making a purchase, the user saw the value at a discount, highlighted in red, and the price without discount was marked in gray. Only at the bottom of the page in small print said that membership costs $ 49.95 per month. And the money will be withdrawn monthly, if on the 5th you don’t call the company and do not unsubscribe from the membership. Now the site Fabletics does not work in Russia.
Amazon offers a strange way to log out of your account. The user must click on the button “Not% name%? Sign Out ”, that is, to say that he is not the person he is. A trifle that may cause confusion to the user.
Please tell in the comments about your experience on a similar topic: where did you encounter adding insurance to airline tickets, when portals sent letters to your contacts that you didn’t know from which sites you couldn’t delete your accounts, and so on.