This was a very insightful article. It describes Anticipatory Design as being the process of identifying what a user likes and making related decisions for them. This explains why items I search for follow me to other sites: whether I like it or not.
Light Patterns is the use of anticipatory design with GOOD intentions.. Studies by “Barry Schwartz’s Paradox of Choice” and “Hick’s Law” found the more decisions a person has to make, the harder it is to make one. Therefore, the process used is an effort to make decision making easier by reducing the number of choices. Light patterns can be helpful. However, I feel the option should ALWAYS be there to turn this process off. Presumption can be annoying and redundant. Many times I have searched on an item with no intentions of pursuing: yet, they follow me.
Anticipatory design can be used with EVIL intentions; also known as “dark patterns”. The intention of dark patterns is to trick people into choosing things they may otherwise not want. Remembering credit card information, sneaking ads into content, tricky verbiage and links, and automatic opt-in entries are a few examples. This methodology will not be used in my design. It will be difficult to stop others from using this practice since there are ways bypass if you know what you are looking for. Unfortunately avoiding these scams is not always easy or obvious.
The lines between light and dark patterns are sometimes blurred. Some options leaning towards dark patterns are meant to be beneficial. Things like auto-enrollment, simple yes/no required answers on important life choices, and apps that send reminders can be helpful. These helpful options can also be construed as dark patterns since they assume user choice. This could be a viable option if the automated responses are initially approved by the user and there is a clear way of changing that choice in the future, this could be a viable option..
Websites built around functionality and clarity is what gains user trust. My goal is to gain that trust by bringing integrity to my design and development career.
