Dark Patterns are sneaky interface design patterns that trick users into doing something they otherwise might never do. Like share their contacts, or register for a service, or give an app permission/access unintentionally.
The video embedded below does a great job explaining this, and shares some terrific (terrible?) examples. If nothing else, just watch the incredibly great lengths Amazon goes to to hide the “delete my Amazon account” option.
If this interests you, take a few minutes to scroll through the Dark Patterns Hall of Shame.
[Via Kottke]
I don’t think I’d put “delete my Amazon account” in the same category as “trick people into granting permissions” (or the worst, “fake download button”).
(Frankly, the more I think about it, the more I think Amazon has made the difficulty of deleting your account [or “an account”, because of the griefer/impersonation/badly thought out joke case] about right for the gravity and potential cost of the action.
Rando Website Account? Who cares?
Amazon? I mean, if someone deleted mine, I’d be out of access to probably over a thousand dollars worth of Kindle content and the like.
It should be hard to delete an Amazon account. Heck, it might be the case that it should be harder than it already is to really delete one.)
It’s all of a piece, as a permitted collective “standard” for manipulation and obfuscation. That both you and I choose to make use of Amazon doesn’t make their account-deletion process any less despicable.
I pretty much search for a solution before I start poking around. “Delete Amazon Account”