When CX Deceives: Leadership, Dark Patterns, and Ethical Responsibility

Photo by Олег Мороз on Unsplash

Dark patterns have been all over the news lately.

Last week, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube were held liable for negligent design choices (think infinite scroll and autoplay) that harm customers’ mental health. Over the past few years, we’ve also seen:

• Epic Games’ $520 million fine due to deceptive game design choices, its sludgy approach to customer service, and violations of a children’s privacy law.

• Amazon’s $2.8 billion settlement over hard-to-cancel Prime subscriptions.

• HP’s public shaming for deliberately frustrating its call center customers.

• Adobe’s class action lawsuit over deceptive subscription renewals and hidden termination fees.

Dark patterns are different from ethically acceptable, legitimate persuasive design; they cross a line into misleading or pressuring customers, entering squarely into how customers experience a business. Dark patterns exploit customer friction, fatigue, or confusion to steer customers’ behavior in ways that benefit a company, not the customer.

A Fundamental CX Ethics Issue

Ethics hasn't historically been part of the CX practitioner or consultant's talk track. Ethics isn't considered a technical competency in CX. But these cases demonstrate that it shuold be. CX practices and principles must expand to include moral responsibility, not just business efficiency or customer retention.

One big thing to keep in mind, though: you may hear that dark patterns are a digital phenomenon, but dark patterns aren’t limited to screens.  

Ever been to a casino? Casinos have been using dark patterns for decades. Floor layouts, lights, sounds, and even the placement of ATMs are all meant to keep people playing and spending longer than they might intend.

Dieselgate: The Mother of All Dark Patterns

Remember Dieselgate? It was the mother of all dark patterns.

In 2015, Volkswagen admitted it had installed software in diesel vehicles to cheat emissions tests, a move that turned out to be the impetus for customer deceptions at the point of sale, on a massive scale. It was a multi-year conspiracy tied to aggressive sales goals.

Government evidence suggested multiple company leaders knew about it, and court cases since then have continued to hold those leaders accountable.

What It Looks Like for CX Leaders to Care About Dark Patterns

Dark patterns are everywhere; they emerge wherever organizations can influence behavior for their own gain. Research suggests dark patterns don't show up in customer charters or codes of conduct.

They’re almost never part of CX maturity models. Maybe they should be.

So, what now? 

At a minimum, recognize that dark patterns don't design themselves. People design them, and leaders are ultimately responsible.

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