Lecturer: Thomas Eßmeyer
Fields: Human Computer Interaction, Psychology
Content
The design of online content is increasingly governing and disrupting our choices, while the truthfulness of content becomes harder to assess. A root lies in the design of user interfaces, which are often driven by commercial incentives conflicting with users’ agency and their best interests. In a time of generative AI and LLMs, where the design process is frequently offloaded to automated systems, it is all the more important to understand the ethical caveats of modern technologies before they leave our labs. This course will discuss how deceptive design and dark patterns shape our behaviour and expectations, leading to consequences from frustrations to actual harm. We will catch up with the current state of the art behind this research domain, take an excursion to regulatory protective measures, and discuss paths forward to develop human-centred technologies. Below is a preliminary structure for this course, which will be accompanied with interactive elements. This structure might be subject to slight changes:
Session 1 introduces the concept of dark patterns in the context of human-centred design.
Session 2 discusses the cognitive mechanisms and biases at play and risks through generative AI and LLMs.
Session 3 addresses both legal and organisational responsibilities when people are harmed.
Session 4 covers ethical caveats for the development of user interfaces and what we can do better.
Literature
- Colin M. Gray, Cristiana Teixeira Santos, Nataliia Bielova, and Thomas Mildner. 2024. An Ontology of Dark Patterns Knowledge: Foundations, Definitions, and a Pathway for Shared Knowledge-Building. In Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642436
- Ana Caraban, Evangelos Karapanos, Daniel Gonçalves, and Pedro Campos. 2019. 23 Ways to Nudge: A Review of Technology-Mediated Nudging in Human-Computer Interaction. In Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300733
- Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein. 2008. Nudge: improving decisions about health, wealth, and happiness. Yale University Press, New Haven.
- Arunesh Mathur, Jonathan Mayer, and Mihir Kshirsagar. 2021. What Makes a Dark Pattern … Dark ? Design Attributes, Normative Considerations, and Measurement Methods. In CHI’21, 18. https://doi.org/10.1145/3411764.3445610
Lecturer
After successfully completing a BA in Digital Media and an MSc in Computer Science, Dr Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) received a PhD at the University of Bremen. In his work, Thomas focuses on user wellbeing and countermeasures to unfair and deceptive design practices, often referred to as Dark Patterns.
Affiliation: University of Bremen
Homepage: https://thomasessmeyer.com/