Epilogue

The topic of deceptive patterns has evolved rapidly, and it now sits at the intersection between applied psychology, design and law. The next wave of progress needs to incorporate expertise from all three worlds. We need to work together.

In an effort towards this goal, the deceptive.design website is now a collaborative project. Dr Mark Leiser, Dr Cristiana Santos and Kosha Doshi have joined the deceptive.design team, bringing expertise in legislation and regulation.¹

The new website joins the dots between deceptive patterns, laws and enforcement. The idea is that when someone reads about a deceptive pattern, they’ll be able to also see the laws that pattern breaks in the US or EU, and any legal cases or enforcement actions that have happened, including the size of the fines and the outcomes. The intention is to equip designers, engineers and other employees with new, more powerful materials in the fight against deceptive patterns in their workplace. Instead of going to their boss and saying, ‘This is a deceptive pattern. We shouldn’t use it or we’ll be named and shamed’, they will now be able to say...

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Since 2010, Harry Brignull has dedicated his career to understanding and exposing the techniques that are employed to exploit users online, known as “deceptive patterns” or “dark patterns”. He is credited with coining a number of the terms that are now popularly used in this research area, and is the founder of the website deceptive.design. He has worked as an expert witness on a number of cases, including Nichols v. Noom Inc. ($56 million settlement), and FTC v. Publishers Clearing House LLC ($18.5 million settlement). Harry is also an accomplished user experience practitioner, having worked for organisations that include Smart Pension, Spotify, Pearson, HMRC, and the Telegraph newspaper.