Last week I attended Web 2.0 Expo in New York to give a talk about dark patterns in user experience. This talk was somewhat the sequel of a talk I gave at SxSW earlier this year about “behavior design,” or the ability for technology to influence us so we live healthier, better lives. Just as we can use the web to improve our lives, though, the same persuasive techniques can be used against us.

This talk came about in part because of the concerns about my SxSW talk: there’s a fine line between persuasion and manipulation, and it’s important to figure out where that lies. I was inspired to frame the talk in the way that I did because of Harry Brignull’s site that collects and categorizes “dark patterns,” or techniques that are carefully crafted to work against a customer’s interests.

To the user, though, it might be hard to tell the difference between a UX designer’s mistake and a dark pattern. Many dark patterns exist to fulfill specific business goals that may make sense within the company, but through a lack of opt-out feature, or poor defaults, the execution is botched such that it results in negative perceptions of the company.

Compounding things further, some companies may actively use dark patterns, because they’ve successfully made a case that they will increase profit. And that may be true: profits, after all, are easy to directly measure, far more than customer goodwill. Companies may also implement dark patterns passively, through incoherent business strategies, strategic issues, or internecine fighting between stakeholders. In my talk I listed a handful of ways that we can determine goodwill, like repeat transactions from the same customer, which might work towards solving this problem. I also listed some ways to avoid dark patterns from happening in your product.

If you’re interested in learning more, I’ve posted the talk’s slides to my website.

Earlier this year, Roundarch sent a team to the SXSW Interactive Festival, a yearly gathering of digital creatives, visionary technology entrepreneurs and everyone in between. While there, members of the Roundarch team were asked to give their perspective on industry and technology by Level 3 Red Couch, an online video site that interviews industry leaders. Here’s Roundarch Engagement Director Saurab Bhargava’s take on where the industry is and where it is headed.

South by Southwest 2009 (SXSW) is right around the corner.  Several folks from Roundarch are heading down for the interactive portion of the show (March 13-17).  We are all getting excited to interact with some great minds in the design and emerging technologies space.  There is always such buzz around SXSW because there are so many opportunities to share innovative ideas, learn about really amazing new technologies, get a feel for the next trends in the industry and have a great time in the process.  I am especially excited Roundarch will have a booth this year because it will give us an opportunity to share some of the really impressive projects we have had the opportunity to work on recently.

The great thing about the interactive portion of the conference is that it covers everything from web design and usability to innovative technology business models and digital creativity.  SWSW is such a popular event because it is a five day festival of panels and conversations/discussions that trends away from the standard lecture circuit, making it much more interactive, and generally a great time.  As passé as it is to say, it’s truly an out-of-the-box thought process, limit-pushing environment.  And because of that, it makes for a very electric and exciting time.

There will be a whole crew from Roundarch at the event: Dave Meeker, Adam Flater, Pek Pongpaet, Saurab Bhargava, Mark Ferry, Paul Buranosky and myself.

Dave Meeker is one of our foremost thought leaders in the User Experience space; he knows more about the UX world than anyone I know.  He always has great ideas and can keep you entertained and excited even with a topic you may not have been interested in before (yes, his passion is that high).  He and Adam Flater will be showing some demos of Merapi.  Also, Adam Flater will be speaking on a panel with Chuck Freedman of Ribbit to demo the use of Merapi to capture audio in Flex.Check it out…very cool stuff and really impressive live demos.

Pek Pongpaet is one or our interactive developer/UX guys and has a few projects in the works he is planning on unveiling at SXSW.  I haven’t even seen them yet, but they are guaranteed to impress, I can’t wait.

Saurab Bhargava will be showcasing our innovative work with Avis.  There are many aspects to the project including an iPhone app, but this site shows a whole new way to think about car rental online, and is really improving their business and marketing strategies.

Mark Ferry will demo an app we did for a major mobile device manufacturer that is just in the process of being deployed.  This new system will diagnose and repair phones from any windows-based computer with an internet connection.  The solution is expected to save the company a fortune on administrative costs while also improving overall customer service. He will be at the Roundarch booth throughout the event and the Microsoft Silverlight booth at the following times:
Sunday, March 15th 2-4pm
Monday, March 16th 2-4pm

We also will be showing a few interactive timelines we did for The History Channel and some of our work we did for the USAF, both of which have amazing visuals and UX.  These have really redefined what a timeline can be, and have a nicely integrated CMS system to support it.

Please hit up Paul Buranosky if you want to plan a visit during the event or just stop by our booth (#611).  A group of us will be blogging throughout the event too, so be sure to check back for updates.