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Deceptive, Disruptive, No Big Deal: Japanese People React to Simulated Dark Commercial Patterns

Katie Seaborn, Tatsuya Itagaki, Mizuki Watanabe, Yijia Wang, Ping Geng, Takao Fujii, Yuto Mandai, Miu Kojima, Suzuka Yoshida

TL;DR

This work investigates how Japanese consumers perceive and react to deceptive UI patterns by exposing $n=30$ participants to a simulated e-commerce site embedding eight DP types derived from OECD and Japanese sources. The study uses concurrent think-aloud protocols, pre/post affect measures, SUS usability scores, and a novel deceptibility metric to quantify deception and response across DP categories. Key findings show substantial variation in noticeability and deception, with several patterns (notably Alphabet Soup and Misleading Reference Pricing) highly deceptive, while others are more disruptive yet less likely to be noticed, and mood generally worsens after exposure. The paper provides a scalable methodology for interactive DP evaluation and highlights implications for designers, regulators, and future cross-cultural UX research in Japan and beyond.

Abstract

Dark patterns and deceptive designs (DPs) are user interface elements that trick people into taking actions that benefit the purveyor. Such designs are widely deployed, with special varieties found in certain nations like Japan that can be traced to global power hierarchies and the local socio-linguistic context of use. In this breaking work, we report on the first user study involving Japanese people (n=30) experiencing a mock shopping website injected with simulated DPs. We found that Alphabet Soup and Misleading Reference Pricing were the most deceptive and least noticeable. Social Proofs, Sneaking in Items, and Untranslation were the least deceptive but Untranslation prevented most from cancelling their account. Mood significantly worsened after experiencing the website. We contribute the first empirical findings on a Japanese consumer base alongside a scalable approach to evaluating user attitudes, perceptions, and behaviours towards DPs in an interactive context. We urge for more human participant research and ideally collaborations with industry to assess real designs in the wild.

Deceptive, Disruptive, No Big Deal: Japanese People React to Simulated Dark Commercial Patterns

TL;DR

This work investigates how Japanese consumers perceive and react to deceptive UI patterns by exposing participants to a simulated e-commerce site embedding eight DP types derived from OECD and Japanese sources. The study uses concurrent think-aloud protocols, pre/post affect measures, SUS usability scores, and a novel deceptibility metric to quantify deception and response across DP categories. Key findings show substantial variation in noticeability and deception, with several patterns (notably Alphabet Soup and Misleading Reference Pricing) highly deceptive, while others are more disruptive yet less likely to be noticed, and mood generally worsens after exposure. The paper provides a scalable methodology for interactive DP evaluation and highlights implications for designers, regulators, and future cross-cultural UX research in Japan and beyond.

Abstract

Dark patterns and deceptive designs (DPs) are user interface elements that trick people into taking actions that benefit the purveyor. Such designs are widely deployed, with special varieties found in certain nations like Japan that can be traced to global power hierarchies and the local socio-linguistic context of use. In this breaking work, we report on the first user study involving Japanese people (n=30) experiencing a mock shopping website injected with simulated DPs. We found that Alphabet Soup and Misleading Reference Pricing were the most deceptive and least noticeable. Social Proofs, Sneaking in Items, and Untranslation were the least deceptive but Untranslation prevented most from cancelling their account. Mood significantly worsened after experiencing the website. We contribute the first empirical findings on a Japanese consumer base alongside a scalable approach to evaluating user attitudes, perceptions, and behaviours towards DPs in an interactive context. We urge for more human participant research and ideally collaborations with industry to assess real designs in the wild.
Paper Structure (22 sections, 3 figures)

This paper contains 22 sections, 3 figures.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction and Background
  2. Methods
  3. Participants
  4. Procedure
  5. Materials and Activity
  6. Website Simulation
  7. DPs
  8. Tasks
  9. Data Collection
  10. Questionnaire Instruments and Measures
  11. Observation Checklist and Deceptibility Metric
  12. Semi-Structured Interview
  13. Data Analysis
  14. Results
  15. Deception: Ability, Noticeability, Trickery, and Deceptibility (RQ1)
  16. ...and 7 more sections

Figures (3)

  • Figure 1: Screen shots of the website: the homepage (left), check-out page (middle), and acceptable use policy page (right).
  • Figure 2: A participant experiences an unintentional premium membership sign-up after making a purchase (left) and an unnecessary location disclosure request pop-up (right).
  • Figure 3: Deceptibility metric scores for classes (left) and cases (right).