IVE Research — Adelaide University

Patterns in the Dark

Dark patterns are deceptive design tactics found in 95% of top social media services. This resource documents, categorises, and demonstrates the full landscape of deceptive practices in online interactions.

95%

of top social media services contain dark patterns

157

unique deceptive patterns identified and categorised

40%

of Australians report annoyance when using a website

The Typology

The IVE Deceptive Patterns Typology catalogues 157 unique dark patterns organised using the Leiser model. Patterns are divided into two categories based on how they undermine consumer autonomy: Information Asymmetry, where commercial entities exploit gaps in what consumers know, and Free Choice Repression, where they impose barriers on consumers' ability to act in their own interest. Click any segment to explore patterns in that category.

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Active Misleading Actions Misleading Presentation Delaying Provision Passive Misleading Omissions Misleading Information Information Asymmetry Hiding Information

Restricting Specific Users Free Choice Repression Forced Acceptance Undesirable Restriction Restricting Specific Actions Pressure Imposing Undesirable Imposition

The Scale of the Problem

"Even when the general public is familiar with the deceptive tactics of the services they use, they are still influenced into performing the actions that the nefarious design intends."

— Bongard-Blanchy et al., 2021

"28% of respondents had felt manipulated by a website, 17% had felt pressured into buying something, and 25% felt they had shared more information than they wanted."

— Consumer Policy Research Centre

"Social media companies have mastered how to tap into our pleasure and addiction drives in a way that is wholly to their benefit and the detriment of the service user."

— Patterns in the Dark

"If left unchecked, AI could lead to hyper-personalised and exponentially more effective deceptive patterns — making the problem much worse and much more difficult to control."

— Patterns in the Dark