Backfiring and favouring: how design processes in HCI lead to anti-patterns and repentant designers

Abstract

Design is typically envisioned as aiming to improve situations for users, but this can fail. Failure can be the result of flawed design solutions, i.e. anti-patterns. Prior work in anti-patterns has largely focused on their characteristics. We instead concentrate on why they occur by outlining two processes that result in anti-patterns: 1) backfiring, and 2) favouring. The purpose of the paper is to help designers and researchers better understand how design processes can lead to negative impacts and to repentant designers by introducing a richer vocabulary for discussing such processes. We explore how anti-patterns evolve in HCI by specifically applying the vocabulary to examples of social media design. We believe that highlighting these processes will help the HCI community reflect on their own work and also raise awareness of the opportunities for avoiding anti-patterns. Our hope is that this will result in fewer negative experiences for designers and users alike. CCS CONCEPTS • Human-centered computing → HCI design and evaluation methods.

“Are You Still Watching?”: Exploring Unintended User Behaviors and Dark Patterns on Video Streaming Platforms

“…Our work therefore initiates a discussion on the close correlation between ease of usability and dark persuasive patterns. We have come across many features in online video streaming platforms that have detrimental efect on the digital wellbeing of a user and might evolve into dark patterns employing backfring or favoring techniques as mentioned by Widdicks et al [61]. These UI features are functional and helpful to use, but after prolonged use, transition into compulsive habit-forming designs.…”