Readymag Blog

Dark patterns are online user experiences that are intentionally designed to trick users into taking unintended actions. These actions rarely benefit the user, but rather serve the owner of the site or app — almost always for financial gain.

For decades we’ve been taught that user-centricity is the key to good design. But now the philosophy is showing vulnerabilities. We need approaches that are less narrow, less transactional, and more able to cope with the diverse, systemic challenges the 21st century has in store.

As designers, we are not set apart from systems of inequality, acting from the outside in. We shape and mold; we create cause and effect. Immy Robinson, an Innovation Lead at British charity Shift Design, speaks on what can be done to generate and multiply power through community relationships.

Here are some ideas and tips for those looking to instill design and organisational ethics in their companies.

The tumult of 2020 transformed the way people live and interact with each other. This encompasses all the common social norms — including patterns of behavior, communications, and attitudes. Now people often speak of the ‘new normal.’