Strategic Balance b/w Deception & Loyalty

Here’s why relying chiefly on deception as a strategy would not really yield…

• Have you ever been tricked into agreeing to something that didn’t appeal to you in the first place? How did that make you feel?

• How would you feel when you had to say a blatant “YES” to something just to advance to the next step over one of those online forms during sign-up?

• Do you actually READ & AGREE to the T&C or just scroll vehemently to the end of the form to find the AGREE / CONTINUE button there?

---

Barring the last point referring to the terms & conditions, the others could stand as a classic example of a Dark Pattern.

There are a few dark patterns that have been employed pretty regularly & from a long time towards driving some point home, especially when one is looking to invoke a decision in favor of oneself usually against the will of the users. Such arm-twisting, arm-bending methods of deception have been regularly used ever since the internet / internet products took the world by a storm.

Definition:

“Orgs. using a few elements at the UI-level / the presentation layer over digital / internet products so as to trick the users into making decisions that they may not have done otherwise is commonly referred to as a DARK PATTERN”

If you look at the visual above, it clearly says you get a 10% EXTRA OFF when you sign up to receive text messages with an option to sign-up vide the [CTA = “SIGN-ME UP”] at the bottom. There may be some who may genuinely click on that button & fill out the details in order to bag that extra 10% discount. But, what about the way out from this screen here? What about the option to OPT OUT from the messaging list in case one doesn’t want to be on it or perceives it as totally irrelevant?

If there’s a header bearing the text “GET EXTRA $15 OFF” expecting you to put your e-mail address there, under which is a big blaring button “OK, LET’s GO” when the option that reads “NO, I DON’T WANT THE E-MAILS” tucked away somewhere below in ridiculously small font making it near impossible to spot on repeated glances, that could well classify as a Dark Pattern.

There are many such dark patterns you may have come across, some common ones being:

The first question that ought to strike you as a product manager heading an XfN team is, is it really worth it? Empathizing with your users towards factoring their emotions, how they’d feel when they come across such stuff camouflaged well amidst the content they already have paid for, could go a long way in helping you figure out & earmark the best experiences you want to offer.

Image Credits: Pinterest

You don’t want anything coming in the way of the experience (UX & CX) of your users hampering the very loyalty you strived to build all throughout your lifetime.

So, dark patterns are entirely bad, are they not?

There ought to be no doubt in your head that it is totally bad.

For starters, they hamper the UX in a big way. They could also give out a negative impression / vibe amongst your existing user base & could lead to brand image dilution given how quick those reviews & ratings could get impacted.

If it is eyeballs you want on your product, there are multiple ways that are ethically perfect to employ so as to not only evince interest but at the same time help you maintain a reputable brand image in the market.

Also, please don’t forget, bait could work once as for humans, not always. We aren’t fish after-all, are we? Going by the theories written & documented about the evolution of life, we have come a long way from single-cell beings & our collective intellect has grown at an alarming rate.

We live in a more transparent world today & anybody can go online & cross-check offers / prices against competition. Not only that, they could also compare prices for the same product across various geographic locations. And if there’s a severe variation in price & that is due to any other reason than the local taxes, you may find yourself in the firing line from your very own loyal customer base.

💡 Did you know:

“There are websites that offer the historic price of any given article across online channels / ecommerce sites / apps from the time it was listed, offering more than a basis comparison of how deep the discount was over that said period in time”

In an era where your product ought to do the talking entirely, dark patterns could act as a total dampener rubbing the users on the wrong side & evading all loyalty away. They are the last thing you should be looking to employ.

How then does one approach the problem?

The answer to it lies in one simple thing, that is to “MAINTAIN TRANSPARENCY”!

Always ensure you maintain a supreme degree of transparency in your product offering (WYSIWYG - what you see is what you get) & not to mention the pricing bit. If you want to give away some deep discounts, ensure you strategize, brainstorm internally arriving at a legible & acceptable categorization helping you label that well, like seasonal / festive discounts say, “Halloween discount” / “Deepavali discount” / “Black Friday Sale” / “Cyber Monday Sale”.

And make sure you clearly earmark the selection of products that qualify for a discount so as to avoid any misconceptions / confusions amongst your user base.

---

In conclusion:

The last thing you perhaps want to do is to break the trust your loyal customers / users have shown in you. Please analyze, brainstorm & step very cautiously when it comes to throwing discounts & when doing it with a high degree of transparency is advisable, deception shouldn’t even come close to being considered a front-runner of a strategy & is best avoided.

---