This paper focuses on persuasion and user autonomy education. With the rise of persuasive features in interactive systems which are aimed at increasing revenue, gathering user information and maximising user engagement, users’ autonomy has been argued to be an ethical concern within persuasive UX design. Thus, the researchers test a framework to educate design students on the ethics of persuasion from the perspective of user autonomy. Findings showed that following this, their critical attitudes towards persuasive design increased. Based on this among others, they propose future directions for integrating ethics into user experience design.

This paper aims to conceptualize user autonomy within the context of dark patterns. The authors systematically review 151 dark patterns from 16 taxonomies to understand how dark patterns threaten users’ autonomy. They demonstrate through this analysis that implications for autonomy arise along four dimensions, because autonomy itself can be understood as subsuming several distinguishable concepts: agency, freedom of choice, control and independence. They argue that assessing whether a design pattern qualifies as ‘dark’ should account for the sense in which autonomy is threatened, as individuals’ rights and expectations of autonomy vary between contexts and depend upon the interpretation of autonomy. It aims to contribute to the development of the normative lens of individual autonomy for the evaluation of dark patterns and persuasive design.

The authors begin the article by examining dark patterns and their prevalence based on extensive earlier research. It first discusses how behavioural economics can help us to understand the workings of dark patterns (the ‘old’), and how digitalization has changed the costs and benefits behind their implementation and exploitation (the ‘new’). They discuss how economics can inform ongoing policy discussions on appropriate regulatory responses, and how it can help to assess the effects of the use of dark patterns. They also assess two key developments in the digital space which have made dark patterns much more pervasive: minimal costs and vast gains. The effectiveness of competition policy and a healthy competition process as effective tools in curbing dark patterns are also assessed by the authors. Lastly, the article addresses important issues such as auditing and A/B testing for dark patterns, as well as using data on consumer outcomes to identify dark patterns as promising avenues to be explored in the further research and study of dark patterns.

This article develops the notion of 'dark contracts'. The first part explains the concept, and documents multiple non-transparent contractual mechanisms and instruments that consumer contracts often incorporate. It delineates how firms design and employ non-transparent tools in almost every possible contractual juncture: from the nature, scope, and language to performance and change to dispute resolution, conflict management, and termination. The article also examines the far-reaching implications of dark contracts and the ways in which they affect not just consumers, but also regulators, market forces, and societies at large. Lastly, it considers the transparency approach and the pros and cons of their application in consumer contracts.

This research reveals how dark patterns work, namely which vulnerabilities and biases they exploit. From a broader perspective, it would also allow readers to understand how techno-regulation (i.e. regulation through technology) can nowadays be used to influence individuals’ behaviour and autonomy through design. It examines the existing literature of dark patterns and acknowledges how dark patterns exploit biases, heuristics and vulnerabilities as well as the economic reasons behind dark patterns.

Online vendors often employ drip-pricing strategies where mandatory fees are displayed at a later stage in the purchase process than base prices. In this article. the researchers discovered after thorough analysis that disclosing fees upfront reduces both the quantity and quality of purchases. At the same time, detailed click-stream data analysed by the authors show that price shrouding makes price comparisons difficult and results in consumers spending more than they would otherwise.

Online services pervasively employ manipulative designs (i.e., dark patterns) to influence users to do different things. In this article, the researchers investigate whether users were aware of the presence of dark patterns and if so, their ability to resist them. The researchers discover however, that being aware does not equip users with the ability to oppose such influence. They further find that respondents, especially younger ones, often recognise the ”darkness” of certain designs, but remain unsure of the actual harm they may suffer. Finally, they discuss a set of interventions (e.g., bright patterns, design frictions, training games, applications to expedite legal enforcement) in the light of their findings.

Addressing the root causes of (un)sustainability entails fundamentally changing our ways of living. This requires going beyond technology and behaviour-oriented approaches common under the umbrella of sustainable development (SD). More fundamental change is required to increase the possibility of realizing ecological and psychological well-being. Here, such change is conceptualized as ‘characterological change’. Next to SD another domain is introduced: characterological development (CD). The potential role of design-interventions in CD is explored in this article. Two studies were conducted, a literature study and experts interviews, covering the fields of Design for Sustainable Behaviour, Persuasive Technology, Practice-Oriented Design and Philosophy of Technology. The literature study shows that current research and interventions predominantly fall within the domain of SD, leaving character and related notions largely unaddressed.

In this paper, the authors present a novel solution expanding the Advanced Data Protection Control (ADPC) mechanism to bridge current gaps in user data and privacy control. Their solution moves the consent control to the browser interface to give users a seamless and hassle-free experience, while at the same time offering content providers a way to be legally compliant with legislation. Through an extensive review, they evaluate previous works and identify current gaps in user data control. They then present a blueprint for future implementation and suggest features to support privacy control online for users globally.

HCI research has extensively studied nudging user behaviour and how corporations have often used this as an avenue to influence user information disclosure. In this paper, the researchers test the effect of norm-shaping design patterns on information divulging behaviour. Primarily their findings indicate a key mechanism by which norm-shaping designs can change beliefs and subsequent disclosure behaviours.