This barely appears as a problem if you were to wade through the brands involved.  Its almost a practice.

Ironically some us do tend to do these ourselves. Some just evolve into similar patterns .

We’re talking about using psychology in user interfaces . We’re talking about sneaky practices some websites use online to get you to opt in and pay more. The author of this here article decided to name practices – Dark Patterns. It sounds good and I don’t mind. After all these dubious patterns tend to show up all over the place. They are legal or atleast a grey area. They are not breaking the law. They are designed deviously with an understanding of human psychology.

Quoting 90percentofeverything Blog

Low cost airlines that put insurance in your basket without you asking.

Social networking sites purposefully make it hard for you to shrink your social graph or move your content into private realms. I’m looking at you, facebook.

Email sending systems that require you to log-in (using a long forgotten password) in order to unsubscribe. (This is actually forbidden by the revised CAN-SPAM 2008 rules, but it’s widely ignored)

Systems that ask for your email / twitter credentials on the grounds of finding you friends, but then send messages as if they are directly from you, without your express consent.

Supermarkets (in the real world) that prevent you from comparing products on price, by putting items in different sized bundles.

To understand and see real world examples,

Check out the Dark Patterns Wiki here.

or type http://wiki.darkpatterns.org/wiki/Home into your Browser

In some cases the trick ups the conversion by a lot. Personally I never recommend tricking people . Respect your customers. Understanding your ideal customer and giving them what they want will give you everything you’ve ever wanted.

Happen to know any similar dark patterns or sites that use these clever techniques ?

Once again we’re not looking for obvious scams. We’re not looking for scams . We’re I’m looking for techniques used by known or branded products and services that trick users into doing things.  Just out of curiosity and the need to not be ordinary of course.

The Psychology of Scams

Today’s post isn’t related to Internet Marketing Alone. You hear it everywhere. Scams . Is Somethings Someone a Scam ? Scammers.  Everyone I know (Literally) has received an Email from scammers. Some of them have fallen for these scams as in they thought it was genuine. Today’s post will help You  better understand these Con men and con men in general. In the end you’ll definitely know how to pull off a scam and what you need to do for one to work.

A Must Read for Everyone.  They come off as ridiculous at times. But falling for One of these isn’t Fun. We don’t want to fall for a Scam Good or Bad. Do We ?

The Report was commisioned by the UK Government’s London Office of Fair Trade and originally prepared by University of Exeter’s Psychology Department. You can get it Here.

You will have to Sign up at the Site to get the Ebook. Its Worth it .  It goes without saying. You can Unsubscribe anytime you want to.  Your Information is Safe.

Once again to Get the E Book

Click Here.

( Its Free )

Edited on 2/1/2011 :  the links have changed and what not. I recommend the above resource but it does not offer the report anymore. So here’s the updated link to the PDF . http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/reports/consumer_protection/oft1070.pdf