Fighting the dark side:a scoping review of dark pattern mitigation

Abstract. As technology plays an ever-greater role in the everyday life of people, during the last decade there has been a rising concern about designers using their knowledge of human behaviour to design interfaces that trick users into doing things against their best interest. These design patterns are known as dark patterns, and the human-computer interaction and design communities have condemned their use. Informed by research, lawmakers have also started to form regulations against them. This thesis aimed to first introduce what the current state of dark pattern research is, and then answer the research question of how the usage of dark patterns could be mitigated. To answer the research question, a literature review in the form of scoping review was conducted. In scoping review, 28 articles that considered dark pattern mitigation were found to be relevant to the research question. Thematic analysis was used as a qualitative analysis method to identify common themes in articles. As a result, dark pattern mitigation tactics could be divided into seven different themes: company actions and economic value, regulating dark patterns, raising public awareness, tools for users, designing for the well-being of users, educating designers and developers, and enhancing dark pattern research. Mitigation tactics or propositions were then introduced in more detail under these themes. The results of the scoping review demonstrate that there is no one specific weapon to be used in the fight against dark patterns. On the contrary, different techniques from different fields need to be used together to effectively identify and mitigate dark patterns

Understanding and supporting app developers towards designing privacy-friendly apps for children

The integration of digital technology in contemporary society has led to children being exposed to and using mobile devices at younger ages. These devices have become an integral part of their daily routines and experiences, playing a crucial role in their socialisation and development. However, the use of these devices is not without drawbacks. The underlying infrastructure of many of the apps available on such devices heavily relies on a vast and intricate data-driven ecosystem. The proliferation of mobile app developers and numerous third-party and fourth-party entities heavily relies on the collection, sharing, transmission, and analysis of personal data, including that of children. The breach of privacy resulting from the extensive data tracking is prevalent and has detrimental effects on children, including the loss of autonomy and trust. In this thesis, we investigate this problem from the perspective of app developers. We begin by conducting a critical examination of the privacy landscape of popular children's apps in the UK market. In conjunction with a systematic literature review, we develop a research-driven method for evaluating privacy practices in mobile applications. By applying this methodology to a dataset of 137 'expert-approved' children's apps, we reveal that these apps extensively tracked children's data, while providing insufficient user-facing support for children to manage and negotiate these privacy behaviours. This finding raises the crucial question of barriers to designing privacy-friendly mobile apps for children. To explore this issue, we first conduct a mixed-method study with developers of children's apps, comprising 134 surveys and 20 interviews. Our findings show that while the developers are invested in the best interests of children, they encounter difficulties in navigating the complex data-driven ecosystem, understanding the behaviour of third-party libraries and trackers, as well as the pressure to monetise their apps through privacy-friendly alternatives. In light of these findings, we carry out a Research through Design approach to elicit latent needs from children's app developers, using a set of 12 ideas, generated through a workshop with design expert, aimed at addressing the identified challenges. These ideas are evaluated with a sample of 20 children's app developers to uncover a set of latent requirements for support, including a demand for increased transparency regarding third-party libraries and easy-to-adopt compliance checking against regulatory guidelines. Utilising the requirements gathered from the developers, we develop a web-based application that aims to provide transparency about the privacy behaviours of commonly used SDKs and third-party libraries for app developers. We ask a sample of 12 children's app developers to evaluate how features in our application may incentivise developers to consider privacy-friendly alternatives to commonly used SDKs, how they may plan to use it in their development practices, and how it may be improved in the future. The research in this thesis casts a crucial new perspective upon the current state of privacy in the mobile ecosystem, through carefully-designed observations and attempts to disrupt existing practices of app developers for children. Through this journey, we contribute to the HCI research community and related designers and regulatory bodies with fresh and original insights into the design and development of privacy-friendly mobile applications for children

The Cost of Playing the Game: Modeling In-Game Purchase Intention and Investigating Purchase Behavior of Mobile Gamers

Free-to-play games typically have a monetization model that relies on players to purchase in-game items or virtual goods to generate revenue (Nguyen, 2015). There have been several empirical efforts to investigate purchase intention of virtual goods in video games with some focusing on quantitative models of purchase intention. Most of these studies tend to be with virtual worlds and lack the use of validated instruments to measure constructs (Hamari & Keronen, 2017). This research sought to gain a greater understanding of purchase intention of in-game content or virtual goods in mobile games through two studies. Study 1 modeled purchase intention with factors including satisfaction, addiction, attitudes of virtual goods, social motivations, continuance intention, and play characteristics. A total of 284 participants who played mobile games for at least 5 hours a week completed an online survey examining the relationships between the different constructs. Several structural equation models were generated to find the best fitting model. Results of the final model explained 66.1% of the variance in purchase intention with the factors of attitudes towards virtual goods, monetary value, addiction, enjoyment, and creative freedom. Attitudes towards virtual goods (β = .767) was the most associated factor with purchase intention in the model followed by enjoyment (β = .153), monetary value (β = .148), creative freedom (β = -.127), and addiction (β = .106). Study 2 examined purchase behavior of mobile video game players with a longitudinal diary study. Eight mobile video game players selected a game to play over the course of two weeks while logging their experience and purchases. Seven of the eight participants made a purchase of in-game content. Analyses of what game elements contributed to purchasing behavior revealed that some participants reported associated dark patterns around their purchases such as paying for enhancements, which is paying for in-game content to make characters stronger to progress in the game. Players also encountered loot boxes that provide only a chance to earn specific items in the game. These results add to Study 1 results by demonstrating that aspects of how a game is designed may impact in-game purchase intention and should be considered in future research. The combination of Studies 1 and 2 show that both psychological constructs of mobile gamers and aspects of game design may influence in-game purchase intention. Future research could replicate the model from this research in other in-game purchase intention or actual purchase behavior settings such as different types of games genres, platforms, or populations. Other areas of future research include further examination of the impact of dark game design patterns on purchase behavior in other situations (e.g., console, free to play vs. pay to play) and the development of ways to mitigate deceptive designs on player purchasing habits

Updating the art history curriculum: incorporating virtual and augmented reality technologies to improve interactivity and engagement

Master's Project (M.Ed.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2017This project investigates how the art history curricula in higher education can borrow from and incorporate emerging technologies currently being used in art museums. Many art museums are using augmented reality and virtual reality technologies to transform their visitors' experiences into experiences that are interactive and engaging. Art museums have historically offered static visitor experiences, which have been mirrored in the study of art. This project explores the current state of the art history classroom in higher education, which is historically a teacher-centered learning environment and the learning effects of that environment. The project then looks at how art museums are creating visitor-centered learning environments; specifically looking at how they are using reality technologies (virtual and augmented) to transition into digitally interactive learning environments that support various learning theories. Lastly, the project examines the learning benefits of such tools to see what could (and should) be implemented into the art history curricula at the higher education level and provides a sample section of a curriculum demonstrating what that implementation could look like. Art and art history are a crucial part of our culture and being able to successfully engage with it and learn from it enables the spread of our culture through digital means and of digital culture

Advising patients on selecting trustful apps for diabetes self-care

BACKGROUND: There has been a dramatic increase in mobile apps for diabetes self-care. However, their quality is not guaranteed and patients do not have the appropriate tools for careful evaluation. OBJECTIVE: This work aims to propose a tool to help patients with diabetes select an appropriate app for self-care. METHODS: After identifying the conceptual framework of diabetes self-care, we searched Apple US app store and reviewed diabetes self-care apps, considering both generic and diabetes-specific features. Based on an existing tool for representing the benefits and weaknesses of medical apps, we created the pictorial identification schema/Diabetes Self-care tool, which specifically identified medical apps in the diabetes domain. RESULTS: Of the 952 apps retrieved, 67 were for diabetes self-care, while 26 were excluded because they were not updated in the last 12 months. Of the remaining 41, none cost more than 15 USD, and 36 implemented manual data entry. Basic features (data logging, data representation, and data delivery) were implemented in almost all apps, whereas advanced features (e.g., insulin calculator) were implemented in a small percentage of apps. The pictorial identification schema for diabetes was completed by one patient and one software developer for 13 apps. Both users highlighted weaknesses related to the functionalities offered and to their interface, but the patient focused on usability, whereas the software developer focused on technical implementation. CONCLUSIONS: The Pictorial Identification Schema/Diabetes Self-care is a promising graphical tool for perceiving the weaknesses and benefits of a diabetes self-care app that includes multiple user profile perspectives