Dark patterns or Roach Motel as he calls it, is terminology coined by Harry Brignall to describe ways in which interfaces trick or deceive users into doing what they never intended to do in the first place. According to this — users are manipulated into doing things that benefit the company. As a designer I can admit, all dark patterns are not designed with malice. And as a designer I can also admit this pattern and convention is here to stay.
A few weeks ago I talked about Instagram, a photo and video sharing social networking service that focuses on visual based content. This is a product for me that is easy to use and intuitive but at the same time evokes intangible emotions in me while making it desirable. This is a product that provides multiple options of engagement for its users through stories or posts.
I want to do a deep dive into its Usability, Learnability, Accessibility, Ethics and Dark patterns.
Usability and Learnability
For the most part their layout uses design patters and has visual consistency which allows its users to easily learn and use this product. Their most simple functions being comment, share, post and save are simple minimalist icons for the convenience of its users. But have you realised how it is increasingly more complex due to their new features and add on services that may not be intuitive to new users. Swiping left to create a post, story or a reel is one such function that a novice Instagram user would not be aware of. The product heavily relies on the user to recall what they did previously to post content rather than immediately recognising where to go. For me, being an everyday user, it’s not hard to learn, but for a novice it could potentially frustrate the user especially since their main purpose is to share visual content. But the upside is it has helped clear up some valuable real estate on the home page.
Accessibility
“See translation” is probably one of my favourite functions Instagram added to their bucket. Not that I have had many opportunities to use it, but allowing other users from around the world to tap into posts, allows them to communicate and engage with various content posted.
Ethics
I think being able to report inappropriate content is another feature Instagram has managed to address. There is a lot of illegal content, coded hashtags and fake news that gets posted and what Instagram does is it regulates this by allowing people to report this and then issues a warning or a post removal of content action. For the most part this works, but there are some users out there that create multiple accounts since creating a new account is accessible and then repost what was issued as a warning. This is a vicious cycle that Instagram is probably going to have to address.
Another such instance is the public and private profile feature. Instagram needs to focus more on their error messages and prevention. It would be useful to alert a user like me that converting my profile to a public account would also mean an all access pass to all existing follower requests.
Dark Patterns
Their most recent established reels feature allows users to view numerous videos from different users. Its very similar to their competitor TikToks layout and both features are displayed similarly on the bottom navigation bar making them easily accessible. I think the two features being similar is no surprise given the need to keep up with the fat paced evolution of technology use patterns out there in the industry. The only downside to this would be to get all its users who have taken years of muscle memory to master the art to now adjust to the new navigation bar system.
For me this is still an application that exemplifies Learnability, Efficiency, Memorability, Errors and Satisfaction. To me it remains a product I know I will be hooked to for a while, and I am looking forward to seeing how they continue to grow and make their product easier while remaining a top contender within the visual content application sector
