Author Archives: Alex Beattie

Screenshot of Apple's ScreenTime app. The "Today" tab is highlighted the time is presented on a bar graph with usage statistics listed.

Dark Patterns, or Shades of Grey?

Auto-playing videos. Bottomless social media newsfeeds. Accentuated “I consent” buttons. The internet may appear as a Choose Your Own Adventure, but some pathways and actions are more enticing than others. Persuasion has become part of the online furniture and is largely by design; central to the architecture of user experience (UX) is the use of behavioral and social psychology to make particular aspects of digital products or services engaging and easy to use. (read more...)