The manipulative power of design

[@michaelleube3080]

Hello, Thank you so much for quoting me in this important video! I agree with absolutely everything said here. Designers: Take what you do very serious!

[@cynzyyy]

Thank you so much for watching! I LOVED your talk

[@PaulMoody]

After 35yrs as a UX’er (1983 Atari -> Google 2018, now retired) there are many areas of software that don’t rely on UX manipulation. Business software for example, or just about any “for pay” software that doesn’t measure success by engagement or have a freeimum model. Of the 100’s of products I designed, my least favorite were at Google where we measured success 100% by engagement - just about anything was okay if it got user to spend more time on it (except Search, speed to answer was key). My favorite were at Lotus/IBM where we measured success by ease of getting work done, efficiency - things that actually made people happier at work. While not sexy or cool, maybe you should consider a more meaningful product space, one that isn’t engagement driven. It’s surprisingly satisfying to know you’re actually improving people’s lives.

[@Mikasks]

haha michael lube

[@andorjeen]

@@PaulMoody as an ux designer for about 20 years, with a bunch of AAA companies and currently auditing companies you mentioned and providing them with step by step instructions how to be more ux mature and more effective (like saving several millions yearly). I will say that this romantic stuff about “be honest with the user and put users interest above commercial” - is so far from reality. Most of the people are pretty simple and even stupid, sorry fir being so straightforward. And its because of biological reasons. Brain just don’t want to spend energy for new neurons paths. It’s evolutionary backed. So if you’re starting to put morale and fool proof in your product, just imagine - you made best kitchen knife in the world. Every second household worldwide has it. So, crimes with your knife involved rise into a stratosphere. As a conscious manufacturer and designer you stop manufacturing, lay off, let’s say 30000 people (ruining their life), and go broke. It’s nonesence even in your unicorn reality. Yes we can manipulate, yes sometimes it’s not fair. The balance is - to find a company producing the product you proud of and manipuletr woth something you personally value as worth doing that.

[@RaihanaZoqratt]

I love the fact that you strip App design agenda bare naked and spread awareness to design with good intentions for users. I feel inspired watching this. Thank you!

[@CroyJohnson]

Hey Cynthia Zhou! I'm a video game developer, and it's getting really dark. The predatory design in some games is insanely high, especially when aimed at children. Parents and consumers in general should be well-educated; videos like yours and the comments other designers left are incredibly valuable.

[@WarjoyHeir]

Same experience here. It's a really tough space since it is your goal to make the game engaging but at the same time when you do that you create tools for abuse. What is key for me is that as designers we always keep in mind that the transaction between the user and the product is fair. That we never take their time away without giving them something worth that time in return. Whenever you start taking more time and giving less value it becomes abusive for me.

[@CroyJohnson]

@@WarjoyHeir Very well put, I completely agree.

[@filsd]

I fully agree! But I don't think it's worse in children's games, in these it's just easier to understand the manipulations. "Adult" games manage to be much more insidious in their design, if only because the games are more complex and bigger.

[@ramayudanto]

As a UX professional myself, I often think about this a lot. It's becoming a double edge sword when we have the power to shape people's life, especially with social media and stuff. Thank you for putting words on things that I can't describe! Definitely deserve a lot more views & subs with this level of writing and production quality!

[@cynzyyy]

I’m happy to hear that you also have these thoughts and I’m not alone in this! I do think us designers have overlooked influences on people and thus overlooked responsibilities.

[@simoncallelaverde]

Wrong … As a Classic Publicist (learning things like Persuasion, Visual Semiotics, Psychology, Sociology for 5 years), UI Designer as well, Front-end Developer and CURRENTLY taking a course in UX Research in London … This is the ONE thing UX Researchers don’t do, don’t know about, and shouldn’t do … We as UX shouldn’t call ourselves Product Designers, UNLESS we have another background You need a background e.g. in Persuasive Technologies, Psychology, Human Computer Interaction, or so … and know about design, semiotics, etc To be able to do this and create this BIG products! UX Researchers should be the voice of the people only, and stick to their Research, not go any further with the Product or Design Then a Product Designer, (which SHOULD NEVER be interchangeable with UX), a UI, and a whole team should design the product That’s why the industry is SO WRONG And UXs are the only ones who call themselves Product Designers

[@simoncallelaverde]

Do you even know E.g. why Mac Donalds was choosen the colours it has? It is for many reasons, and colours don’t represent a state without a context Red is NOT passion, red is NOT violence, yellow is NOT euphoric, just in some contexts…….. One of the things Mac Donalds colours together with many other elements All Your Life people, is they create a sense of “rush” You don’t want to be there tooo long, you eat and leave So they can keep selling This was done by Psychologists and Publicist millennia ago, when UX wasn’t even a thing E.g. if the restaurant is more blue, browns, warm lights, it will keep you there for longer And this is just 1 of a thousand examples I could give In a Cinematographic Shot, do you know what putting a roof above someones head could mean? Or why in this violence-toward-mothers commercial the guy is coming from upstairs? Or what does Nike’s logo going to the right means? You would need to analyse a thousand examples, ads, commercials, and brands to understand And working in Digital since 9 years ago, I could also give SO MANY similar examples UXs don’t even know this, and they don’t even know why they can’t stop scrolling social media

[@jennywang5029]

As a UX design student at Georgia Tech, there're a lot of classes that teach ethical design, which I appreciate. Designers at a corporate company can form groups that start conversations about ethics or join activities for example reading about ethical design papers once in a while. Those groups can help product designers have a voice.

[@cynzyyy]

I love that!

[@rramath]

Being a designer for 4+ years now, I am realizing the balance between business profit & user experience on the ethics front will always be a constant struggle (more on the early career side of things). Obv, you need tremendous leadership support here, and this is where your design leadership makes or breaks your experience working on projects. Few things I have tried - 1. When being forced to add a dark pattern for eventual business profit, sharing past/academic research on the negative outcomes & potential effects on society, reputation & even long-term business impact helps (some numbers). 2. Having alternative solutions that don't follow the dark pattern but still help move some business metrics. 3. Saying "NO" to building something for the business & having your manager/director/design VP to back you along with it. (This one felt hard) 4. And when leadership support fails, looked for a new job where leadership does care about it! (obv easier said than done, but gaining experience & going to a place where ethics is valued from the top-down & seen as a business strength/goal is always worth it)

[@cynzyyy]

This is great! Thanks for sharing

[@joechip1232]

I'm not a UX designer, but a friend of mine briefly worked for a major bank designing mobile apps, and apparently the entire point of the apps was to collect as much information about the users as possible so they could use it to design products and to sell it to other companies. He quit as soon as he got another job.

[@andrewtran9870]

I'm a gen z studying software engineering, but for quite a while I've thought that social media and the companies behind them are quite unethical. To make it worse, the issue is relatively unknown. Many of my gen z friends don't even think about the way they use social media and why they use it. Sometimes leading them into spending unhealthy amounts of time on the app, or subconsciously consuming unhealthy beliefs/expectations. However, to hear a similar perspective from a UX designer themself was quite nice. It makes me glad to know that UX designers are atleast thinking about it, and even more glad to know some are actively going against it by raising awareness and refusing to work with corporate companies.

[@Bonyari_Boy]

There’s only so much designers can do. You could try ‘nice’ design that doesn’t aim to suck in huge amounts of users’ time, but the product would only get overtaken and pushed out by products that do have that aim. The whole environment has to change, the whole system has to change, and realistically that is something that can only be done through government regulation. It’s not a change that individual designers can effect. If there were laws on what kind of tactics social media platforms are allowed to use to keep users engaged, or even some kind of legally mandated duty of care towards users imposed upon them, we would see a big shift towards an internet that is more healthy for us all.

[@ezyderaaf]

I'm 30 seconds in, and I can definitely tell your channel gonna go big! Keep at it!

[@preshiofficial10]

Fr!

[@Mr.MattSim]

It was this exact darkside of design that caused me to choose architecture over graphic design when I applied for college. Fast-forward 25 years, and now I do UX/UI, but I steer toward technical projects for the same reason. One resource I found very helpful on this subject was the book "A Unified Theory of Information Design" (Amare, Manning, 2013), in which they define "unethical design" as the misalignment of communication expectations. The book is a bit technical and academic, but profound! For anyone wanting a deeper dive of the technical content (and better graphics, LOL), pair it with "FireSigns" (Steven Skaggs, 2017)

[@cynzyyy]

Thanks for the recommendations!!

[@carlosleon521]

I'm a Graphic Designer and a Frontend Developer, and this year I delved for a couple of months into UX, thinking it was a nice mix of both.. and yeah! there's a lot of cool aspects to it, but sadly I ran into dark patterns, and read a bunch of anecdotes about companies encouraging them over what would be best for the users and I think it's quite sad how these aspects are so present in marketing adjacent careers, I've honestly grown disenchanted by this with graphic design.. always making stuff for people to profit off of, I'd like to feel like I'm doing something good for others, not just manipulate them into buying a product over another. Anyone reading this who thinks similar, I recommend the book "Design after Capitalism" by Matthew Wizinsky, it's really interesting.

[@cynzyyy]

Added to my reading list, thanks for sharing!!

[@n.a.k5947]

This is amazing thank you for taking the time to share this. I am in strategic partnerships in a tech company and I work with the UX UI team all the time. it's amazing the insights they have about customers, down to where their eyes fall on the screen, for how long, what is the best place to put a certain button (trigger) etc. We tend to be mad at this OTHER team or people that make the world confusing and chaotic but most often we all play a role in it.

[@cynzyyy]

Yeah, it's crazy the amount of data we have insights on. It really makes me think that there are some scary things that can be happen, if they end up in the wrong hands.

[@calebzmeyer]

I’ve always been a firm believer that making the correct decision for the benefit of your users/customers is ultimately the correct decision for your business too. At least, in the long term. A lot of the companies that were named in the video have definitely come under fire in recent years for their questionable practices. Rightfully so. Hopefully these companies continue to pay steeper and steeper prices for their abuses. 🙏 It’s good to find a kindred spirit that seemingly works according to a set of principles. It’s the right way to go about being a professional. Keep it up!

[@cynzyyy]

I also believe that making the correct decisions for the benefit the user is the best strategy to keep your users in the long term. Unfortunately, due to the quick cash you can earn in the tech industry, few companies are thinking long-term (more than 30 years), and thus, users get roped into their short-term marketing design decisions that are really not that sustainable for our health in the long run. Thanks for checking out this video!

[@thejohnfish]

Great video Cynthia, couldn't agree more! Very salient topic right now as media consumption continues the shift towards social consumer apps.

[@cynzyyy]

Thanks for watching! Glad another creator is able to stumble upon this

[@MrAbrman]

This is a incredibly structured video of well curated information. Very engaging. Good work!

[@martinmeldrumatsenshu6397]

This is the second of your you tube videos I have seen. Both brilliant! But I believe this one is one of the most important I have ever seen, on you tube, for so many reasons. One, you are helping so many people, including designers, understand how they can be manipulated and also be used to manipulate other people and how that activity can have bad effects on their own health. I hope this video reaches millions.

[@harshitjain3232]

Great video..especially to an aspiring UX Designer !

[@bryanlane7208]

This is so true, and a big reason why I can't ethically take most jobs. Not only UX design, but almost anything that has to do with the internet is designed to manipulate people. I admire your perceptive ability and honesty, and I wonder how you can justify your job to yourself. I mean that in the most compassionate way possible, and am genuinely curious.

[@avijit-dey]

I completely agree with you. I have also sensed these dark patterns or manipulative side of design. You put it all these in words with research. Since some people do fear of losing the job they love, we must take responsibilty as long as we can.

[@cynzyyy]

yeah! and it also helps if we put it out there for the users themselves to realize as well

[@RyanHoworth]

Where I work we collectively as a team of designers always stand for the voice of our clients and users. We always fight for the clients first. It's been great that the whole team is aligned to this mentality. We also do fun workshops seeing how bad we can make UX patterns with Dark patterns (really really fun, and eye opening). Then we would have a retrospect to make sure we are not using those patterns :D

[@pozkose]

Love the topic! That's why I switched to the service design as a Product Designer. Now I'm not thinking from marketing perspective but just solving user's problems.

[@_zurr]

I've been struggling with life over the past half-decade at this point, and one notable aspect has been my time as a design student. Over time I've noticed this being a common issue in UX design. Thanks for making me feel that I'm not just going crazy.

[@qv1a]

4:45 another good example is that when you upload a video and come back to it after a day or so, the first thing you will see is the likes, comments, etc notifications, they made it this way so you will come back every single time just to see how many likes you get or how many comments, which will induce (like you said) the FOMO. I'm also very thankful for the KZbin algorithm that makes me find this channel, nice content!

[@cynzyyy]

Yes, and I admit I used to do that all the time!!

[@qv1a]

@@cynzyyy Me too lol

[@mrtecimen]

the idea, editing, production quality; everything is top tier in this video. great content

[@Zireno207]

Great video, subscribed halfway through haha. Just the other day I thought about exactly what you mentioned about Twitch. Can't wait for more! :)

[@faus585]

This is such a good video!! I'm in college and still deciding on what kind of career I would like to go into, and I am really drawn toward UI/UX design, as many of my skills and interest seem very perfectly fulfilled by it. Yet, I am faced with this exact dilemma-- I love tech, yet the industry seems so interested in turning people into products, and I have trouble reconciling these two aspects of my current career path...

[@cynzyyy]

I hope you don't shy away from tech because of it, because I still genuinely believe it is an awesome industry to be a part of, and we need people like you who are conscious of these things :)

[@Trizzer89]

The algorithm is has more effect than design in terms of mental health. If the algorithm feeds trash videos, you will feel bad no matter what the designer does

I think permaculture as a method of design can be a really good reference on how to include ethics when thinking about this. Im a permaculture designer and having a holistic framework go first completely shifts the outcome of the systems, in my field the results are very evident and far more measurable but the same principles apply.

[@cynzyyy]

Oh I gotta look into this!

[@sharanjhaveri6324]

I love UX design. I'm a doc by training but I think you're the first person I've come across who talks about Design, specificaly about the psychology behind it. I loved your video. UX manipulators lol. The friendship video is the next thing im watching. The solution - Buy a dumb phone. Literally saved my life

[@binarylion]

I'm working on building a product. Glad the algorithm worked in favour! All the best on your journey! Watching from Botswana 🇧🇼

[@cynzyyy]

All the best on building your product!

[@MakeProgrammingFunAgain]

Hi Cynthia, I just stumbled upon your channel in my KZbin feed. I just wanted to let you know that I like the way you expose the bad sides of social networks. Please go on making your content! Greetings, Close Friend

[@calebcedrone8930]

Beautifully put together. There’s a couple of things that come to mind, especially when dealing with the tech world & UX design. First, I wonder if there is cultural influence at play in what drives dark patterns. I have worked for US companies and now an EMEA one and I can say there are different approaches to design based on these regions. I’m interested in exploring how culture plays into the choices designers make. Maybe it is GDPR law, but EMEA companies seem to take a more ethical approach to design. (Open to reading if anyone has a good suggestion, or knows of any studies on the topic) The second thing that comes to mind is what I call “lazy” design. Or using manipulative tricks on end users to force addiction or even go as dark as data mining (theft). Brilliant designers don’t need to rely on manipulation because their design speaks for itself. It’s enjoyable to use, and you want to go back to it. Not because you have FOMO or because WW3 was trending again today, but because the design fades away and lets the end user enjoy it. It’s why looking at something like the Metaverse vs. Bruno Simon’s portfolio feels drastically different. One is designed out of love and attention to detail. The other is over engineered to be a cash cow through manipulation. Anyway, long tangent, but really got the hamster wheel spinning with this video.

[@cynzyyy]

These are great points! On the note of culture, I am definitely looking to include discussions of how culture shapes our product, society, and individual lifestyles on this channel. I think there isn't a lot of research into the relation between culture and design, but the effect of culture on individual development is a burgeoning field in psychology, and studying a lot more into it.

[@joy_0109]

I just dipped my feet in the ux design world and I'm glad I saw this early on. I will try to keep this mind when I make designs. Thank you

[@narutomoonkun]

As someone with formation in tangible product design (industrial design) an interesting dichotomy I found in my formation was how not ecologically mindful design practices collided often with business focused approaches. And in UX/UI, like you show here you can see the same. A broader discussion to be had is how the capitalist definition of a successful individual/society, may not be super aligned with a more humanistic definition of a fulfilled successful life.

[@henrywang9451]

As a young ux designer, this has been on my mind but I haven't found school really teaching it. Best video I have watched on UX design in a while, I hope your channel grows exponentially!

[@cynzyyy]

Thanks so much!! :)

[@AlienaCai]

Hi Cynthia, your video is awesome! I think about design ethics everyday too as a UX designer, and you've well laid out some examples. In addition, the set design, recording, editing, audio of your video is also top notch. Would love to learn from you. Happy to collaborate on a video together! ❤

[@cynzyyy]

I saw your videos a month back!! Happy to connect with a fellow designer/creator :)

[@fahmidani3947]

well said & produced. i also think this way for a certain products, not every products can have a bad impact to the users. If we can contribute our design decisions into a valuable and meaningful products that can solve people problems, then that is the opposite point of this video. Instead of manipulating them, we help them to solve their problems and giving them positive impact for their day to day life.

[@LinusBoman]

Great video on the dark side of UX, fantastic quality for such a relatively new channel. But then again you have obvious experience on twitch. Would love to hear more about that backstory someday too. In the meantime, looking forward to more content!

[@cynzyyy]

Thank you!! That video is coming soon :)

[@juzuko]

After getting an architecture design bachelor degree, I was so intrigued by UX design and was once seriously planning to pursue UX design as my career. I admire Don Norman and his philosophy on User-Centred Design, b/c I care about the human users more than money-making. But then I realized something similar to what Cynthia talks about in this video: WHY should we aim for making products more "desirable" than ever? Is what users "want" the *truly best* for them? I couldn't convince myself to do UX deisgn without thinking these questions through. So, I ended up applying to a PhD program of Information Systems to study Human-Computer-Interaction. I hope that when I gradute I can contribute a little bit to our understanding on how technologies have impacted us and perhaps what we can do about it.

[@juzuko]

And I forgot to say that I love this video! I'm especially excited to learn about the deceptive design website. Thank you Cynthia!! Look forward to your future videos.

[@cynzyyy]

Thank you so much Juzuko!!

[@jokerrifle6072]

Love it I just started learning UI/UX Design and this video was so beneficial for me !💙

[@michaelessiet5172]

As a frontend developer/UIUX designer. This really made me think, especially since I am currently working on a project that has social media features

[@annatheglitteryunicorn]

as. UX researcher I already knew all this, but watched the video anyway because it was so good! great storytelling, great content, high quality 👏If anyone wants to learn more about this topic I'd recommend checking out Center for Humane Tech podcast (they made the Netflix docu).

[@cynzyyy]

Their co-founder Tristan Harris just went on the Philip DeFranco show (if anyone watches him) to talk about how the US government can address some of these ethics issues through a new council! Here's the link for anyone who's curious: kzbin.info/www/bejne/i2qwh2efncxkeKM

[@luizaanderle]

I love love love this video! I think the more small business around, the better this would be. Small business tend to really care about their customers and clients - which wouldn’t force the designer hired by them to be unethical. Idk if that makes sense… in my crazy head it does 😂

[@cynzyyy]

Yes!! Because the scale of these businesses are small and focused , everyone working there usually understands the core mission well. Each worker also has a lot of transparency and a direct connection to the main product/service they are selling. In bigger companies, a lot of executives lose touch with the user base because they are so far up top that they don't even see what the lower level employees are building anymore.

[@WarjoyHeir]

Nice video. This is a topic close to my heart. I go over it in my head time and time again. Glad it is getting more shine because if more people aware we can actually start doing something about it and taking responsibility.

[@jaynesisong]

Well done! This is the one topic that I've been wanting to cover and you've done it with the flourish needed to entertain and educate. I'm very critical about design ethics in UX when discussing the field with peers and my mentees.

[@iwantanomlett]

i was gen surprised you have only ~390 followers, i can see a lot of effort put in your videos and you deliver the information very well and percise, was interesting to know all these tricks ux designers pull off. you deserve thousands and more subsribers, i hope your videos reach a wider audience

[@cynzyyy]

Thanks so much! I just hope I can share a little bit of a different perspective with others out there, whether that's 300 or 300,000 people :)

[@LinkEX]

@@cynzyyy Great to hear that attitude. Regardless, I would agree that the production quality of your video appears quite high and professional. I guess in some regards that reflects your skill as a UX designer. Either way, it looks like the algorithm favored this video. I just got it in my recommendations even though I just binged through largely unrelated art and health podcasts, haha.

[@nosauce5321]

Well done video, I love discussion around dark patterns its so fascinating to me.

[@tuix]

As an UX enthusiast I feel your video is very important. Please continue with your channel. Hope I learn many new things from you.

[@cynzyyy]

Thanks so much!!

[@danbartley1942]

Incredibly insightful, throughout my degree this was a rather taboo topic, I'm just starting in the industry and I'm glad I came across this video at the start of my career.

[@cynzyyy]

Glad you came across it too!

[@maxsoutherland]

Love it! First of your videos ive seen. But I'm gonna subscribe, and keep an eye on you!

[@factsonthefly725]

I have also faced multiple situations where I have seen that product managers care about the company's profit more than users experience

[@sudosara]

Immediately subscribed. I'm not even a designer, but the part about ethical design really struck a chord with me. If you really think about it, we face moral dilemmas like this all the time but we shrug it off because we can't afford to risk losing our job so we let the corporate greed continue. But maybe I'm just cynical...

[@vlad.das17]

I should thank KZbin for bringing me here, this is some high quality content, I just subscribed and hope to see you more often.

[@cynzyyy]

I should thank KZbin for bringing you here too! :)

[@hugoclarke3284]

Cynthia I'd argue that the issue is people using these social medias in the first place. Anything that relies on unhealthy manipulation to keep users coming back, whether it be a casino or certain types of video game, lacks inherent value. Users must learn to avoid these like they learn to avoid scam emails.

[@cynzyyy]

Thing is, most users don't even understand what the apps are doing to them, and that's why these companies keep profiting from the younger generation. So, I want to at least help them become aware.

[@ChinaCycling]

The irony that the same 'evil' algorithm than is designed to make me doom-scroll also led me to discover your very cool and under-loved channel. Keep the conversations going. 🙌

[@sheikhjubayerahmedsiam6392]

One of the most valuable video i even seen. Thanks for this valuable video. I am your new subscriber. waiting to more informative videos.

[@patchymate_]

This is such a great video pointing out the issues. I am curious though, what UX things do you wish social media companies did differently in their designs to make the experiences healthier for the user?

[@cynzyyy]

Thats' a great question. I think there is a lot to the foundational structure of social media that is inherently unhealthy. The core framework of any social media is that it strives on the attention economy, so any UX is designed around getting more attention from the user to the app. I have yet to see any apps that are not based on the attention economy, because most of them rely on ad revenue. For as long as the attention economy exists, the users are ultimately the products being sold to advertisers and the ones being taken advantage of. Some of these companies started as great tools to connect with each other, but slowly, the business model shifts to that of "how much longer can we get the user to spend on our platform." For as long as the mindset of "keep the user on our app" exists, any UX method used can induce health issues. I think now, it's up to all of us to think, how do we actually move away from this mindset.

[@ShifterzTV]

This is a very interesting topic. I’m a UI/UX Designer, currently working as a Working student at my company while I’m doing my Masters Degree in Design Management. This topic has captivated me through my whole career, so much that I recently decided to write my masters thesis about this topic. I want to thank you for this amazing video and the sources in the description since they can further my work ❤

[@cynzyyy]

That's amazing! Hope you keep it up

[@chetandivekar1813]

Hello I am from india, KZbin just recommended me this and it's correct that UI/UX is not just a design or the experience. UI/UX designers play Physiologically with the users to engage the users.Great video ✨

[@xenoliving3951]

Former Head of product at ad-tech company, founder of a local org for social good. 100% agree. I've also noticed the discussion trending towards these topics, and companies increasingly thinking about user sustainability. Dark patterns used to be way more prevalent, and the language around design is often less around creating time on app. That's only half of the problem though. Even if your company chooses not to do shitty things, they also should contribute to the wellbeing of their users, which is often rarely discussed with any scientific merit. We're also seeing increasing influence from employees in strategy decisions. This is reflected in the fact that titles are changing, with roles such as product owner being present at lower levels of organizational structures. There is an opportunity for responsibility to be advocated for by those closest to the users. So I'm optimistic, but I don't think that change is inevitable. I think it largely depends on the cultures we create.

[@Areybhaishubham]

I am a UX designer and although UX has done a great service to humankind, the incentives that support the practice of UX design has pushed it into the very unethical black hole where modern media, consumerism and clickbait economy reside. At my corporate job we are supposed to make things work for our stakeholders in any way possible and tread confidently on as many gray areas as long as they provide some sort of competitive edge

[@cynzyyy]

That is the unfortunate truth, and if you don't do it, then someone else will :/

[@Areybhaishubham]

@@cynzyyy True.. And Its becoming increasingly difficult to make people care about the big picture in this inward facing culture. Always focused in our own devices

[@Allitche]

I usually don't comment. But your videos are genius - great storytelling! Trying to be the best ethical UX-designer I can be - this is always an internal struggle.

[@darknessguy4221]

haha, you're revealing our secrets too much! love your videos!!

[@deadpirates3264]

You should start doing podcasts as well. Great work !!

[@ifychamelo7030]

Great video! I did a degree in behavioural science, then recently discovered the career UX (wrote an white paper about dark patterns). In behavioural science degree we are very considerate of ethics which is a stark contrast with being in the commercial space. As you said Dark patterns are very difficult to define, making it difficult to bring about regulations to protect people from it. I think it very much so needs to be an individualistic effort to protect yourself from dark patterns given that these companies are likely to continue in favour of their business interest

[@cynzyyy]

I did a degree in Cognitive Science and we talked about similar things as well, I would love to study more into it later on!

[@akifyaldir]

Perfect production. Please continue! 🚀

[@TheVidoefan]

Shout out to you for putting this out, but ultimately it's the top execs like you said who drive these choices - if you're not ready to do the job, someone else will. This is the current world we live in, the only solution is to be aware and to step out of what doesn't feel right.

[@cynzyyy]

Exactly

[@EvanLe-ti3ms]

Cool vid! The importance and impact of "design" is definitely overlooked in our lives - anywhere from urban design to digital products, and even layouts in our living spaces. However, as a psyc student with a focus in developmental psychology, I'd probably caution on jumping too quickly on the bandwagon that digital products causes negative mental health. Studying digital products and their effects on our psychology is very new and jury is still out. While the links between negative mental health and social media are "significant" their "effects" are relatively tiny. There are many factors as well. If you've had prior depressive symptoms using social media use may predict an increase, but doesn't seem to have clear relation to causation. As well, active use (regular engagement in content) actually predicts positive mental health vs passive use (mindlessly scrolling). Lastly, while addiction has been thrown around a lot when it comes to our relationship with technology, "social media addiction" currently does not fit into any established frameworks of addictions (DSM or otherwise). Using an evolutionary psychology perspective, what may be contributing to all these mental health problems is that our brains haven't evolved adaptations to handle processing information conveyed through technology. In any case, it's capitalism and we just gotta consume to live, and companies need to find innovative ways to sell products. Don't beat yourself up too much (least that's what I tell myself).

[@cynzyyy]

This is a great perspective. I have read into the current research (not a lot albeit), and it does seem that a lot of studies conclude the need to wait and push for more studies, especially because the technological evolution happened so fast that our biology haven't even caught up to it. I'd be very curious to see what the results show in a few years. There seems to be a clear public sentiment against social media as an active presence in children's development.

[@setherichardson]

Just here to comment about how well designed.. ahem.. this video is! Great work with the pace, information, and graphics! Keep it up and I think you will have a huge channel. 👏

[@cynzyyy]

Thanks so much!!

[@saisibi6708]

I got recommended this video, and this video is just so damn good to watch. Your way of saying things is just like how anyone would converse with a friend. I instantly subscribed. This is quality content. My only request, do not pivot to other things. Many such you-tubers start out with quality content and then just pivot, cause the video wasn't achieving "their" required stats. But these things take time. So just keep doing this.

[@cynzyyy]

Thank you!! I'm not sure what pivoting to other things mean but I'm just here creating things that are interesting to me and hopefully interesting to you as well hahaha

[@kamana6435]

Just found your Channel I am a big fan of UI Design and love how we can break design down and make good products. I am so glad someone is exposing the manipulation and Ethical dilemmas raised by UX Design.

[@DilsJourney]

Really liking your content. very underrated!

[@sara9181]

You are just so brave to put it out!

[@Crasterius]

Great video. As a graphic design student i really like this kind of topics about ethics and philosophy about design. Thank you. Greetings from México.

[@cynzyyy]

Thank you! Greetings from Canada :)

[@henryclarkanimates]

Holy shit this is accurate. I have just written my dissertation on the intersect of design fundamentals and Psychology, which is heavily found in UX design and my biggest take away was the manipulation utilised by companies. I love the idea of UX and working with the user at the centre but some of the things these companies are doing, the impacts they have, are actually terrifying.

[@pelangos]

Very nice! Subscribed Yes, never help market anything that goes against your morals!

[@Dragos.Murarasu]

Sometimes, Yt’s algorithm gives me gems like this video ❤️ Love it

[@NoeHernandezPe767]

Although I’m not a designer “by degree” (my major was art history), I work for an app development company as (somewhat of) a UX and micro copy expert, and I’ve noticed how the UX paradigm has always been “how can we develop digital products that people can’t stop using” with complete disregard of the user’s mental health. Fortunately some of the most recent UX trends have been advocating for emotional design and digital wellness, as UX experts we should be changing those ideas in order to empower users when interacting with apps and software. The old idea of “hooking users to the product” is now widely seem as detrimental and toxic, that’s exactly why Meta (Facebook and Instagram) is now losing users and money as a consequence.

[@cynzyyy]

Yeah! And i'm very happy we are shifting that way

[@mattlau95]

Definitely looking up that deceptive design site and following that subreddit LOL

[@dumbelina187]

really happy youtube algorithm'd me to you! :)

[@cynzyyy]

Thanks for checking out this small channel!!

[@josephigiraneza2422]

I am a design student, so I sometimes have more time to reflect on these topics. One thought caught my mind when you pointed out how you felt streaming on Twitch. I realized the best way to improve the user experience is to highlight what is going on on those platforms. Businesses are there to make money and addictive products the other way around will bring them to bankruptcy. Our Job as UX Designers is to maximize the potential of a service or product (Of course with the customer's best interest in mind. Otherwise they will leave). To find balance users have to tap in and call out shitty practices but encourage better experiences. This way we can assure that no one is being harmed in the process. The more the public is educated about UX the safer people will get. Remember some decisions are just for a better experience and it becomes dark or manipulative when the user is not aware of it. Maybe in your next episode try to invite a user with no idea about UX and walk them through a selected product and ask them about their experience. From there we can improve UX without changing the product. Because people will know how to skip or go around those dark patterns. I am sorry for the long comment! Cheers!

[@cynzyyy]

Exactly! The next step is to bring awareness to the end user so they can start calling us and the companies out on it

[@DouglasHewitt]

Been thinking about these topics a lot, and agree with what you're saying; really glad you are putting this out here and articulating the issue so well. It's a complicated problem to tackle, the more I think about it the deeper it goes. I really think for us as a society to make real progress in solving this, we need to improve and change our underlying economic model, capitalism. We need a GDP that considers happiness and health, not just dollars. (Also how about that dark design pattern that KZbin has got every creator doing a "hit that subscribe button" shill at some point in their video? ;)

[@cynzyyy]

Yes, that would be the ideal, unfortunately, not exactly the most workable model in application, but we can at least start thinking about it

[@DouglasHewitt]

@@cynzyyy Well, what is helpful is remembering the only reason our current system exists the way it does is because of people. The dollar only has value because enough people say it does. So, to channel that Steve Jobs idea that once you realize everything in life was just made up by some other person, then everything in life becomes possible to change. I think one small step we could move capitalism forward is more equitable distribution of ownership. Imagine if KZbin creators were not just paid in dollars but paid in KZbin stock for their contributions? Thats real value, thats a more equitable distribution, and at some point when there's enough pressure for change it will be designers who can create the specifics to make things like that happen, but they gotta be thinking about these bigger pictures to do that (IMO). And a shared ownership model might open up different priorities than just getting people as addicted as possible because driving the most ad revenue is no longer the goal because revenues are more equally distributed. It's like Hunger games, we gotta remember who the enemy is. Agreed though, it's a long road ahead, maybe multiple generations for this kind of change, and no easy answers along the way. I just find having a direction is helpful, so like you said a starting point to discuss and think about.

[@apex_xd8907]

I'm a graphic designer, but i am involved in a lot of the processes that contribute to this issue. I think in general, things like increasing retention and making users come back obviously weren't malicious intentions at first. But with social media specifically, these become a big issue when the content that they are keeping you in for is in itself, harmful.

[@ughabi]

Thanks for sharing with us!

[@tylerm6747]

If it's free (all social media), you're the product. Advertisers = Customers, Users = Product. Great video! Highly recommend Cal Newport's - Digital Minimalism

[@cynzyyy]

Read Cal Newport's other book, but haven't read this one yet!

[@jenni_panda]

Finally a video like this! This should be an important discussion for everyone working in tech/design field imo. We didn't touch on one topic about this in design school which is insane! This is something I'm very wary of as a junior breaking into the field now, and I feel it's best to stay away from big companies to avoid becoming some burnt-out UX evangelist who's forced to serve the business's metrics only. Also, this is a problem of capitalism lol, so who do we want to serve?

[@cynzyyy]

That's really surprising that no one talks about this in design school! Every other profession usually has an ethics course that's mandatory for them to even become a working professional

[@itsyaboi227]

Wonderful video! I'd love to learn more about this subject. Do you know about any other resources on this subject?

[@cynzyyy]

Yes! Lots. Depending on what you're specifically looking to understand, there are a lot of great UX design resources. uxplanet.org/ is great for easy and intuitive articles about the fundamentals and latest trends. If you're looking specifically to learn more about the ethics of design or dark patterns, you can check out www.deceptive.design/. Someone also mentioned www.humanetech.com/ to check out for ethical technology development.

[@JohannesIppen]

Great Video Cynthia!

[@cynzyyy]

Omg!! Thanks for watching. I got really inspired from your TED talk :)

[@dimalagoda]

I believe that role of designer is to create a care for users and their needs and make a balanced win-win for user and company. I strongly believe that users subconsciously feel even the smallest manipulations, and it leads to negative associations with a product. As well as they feel the smallest care and appreciate it, and it leads to deeper connection to product and even more success for a company, than with manipulative tricks.

[@cynzyyy]

I agree! And I would love to see more consumers realize when things are “manipulative” or “caring” because it helps us build a better product too

[@deansolecki]

I like your video, and I don't think you've said anything that isn't true, but I think you didn't follow through to the end of the thought; if the purpose of a company is to make money, then that is what matters. I'm an engineer, and the same problems exist in our case, or customer service, etc. The point of the company is to make money. It is not about saving the world, or making something amazing; it's about making money. So I think there is a bit of moral hazard in suggesting to people that they have agency where they don't. I don't make the best product for the customer; I make the best product for the company. When it comes to creating a product I always push for business and customer alignment (in terms of objectives; the user wants to do something, the business wants the user to do something; can we make something that aligns these wants?) because this tends to work better: for the company. It's a happy coincidence that it works better for the customer, too. But ultimately, we are on a planet with limited resources that we are destroying at a rate that might aptly be labeled "genocidal." And we're doing so because the oligarchy wants more wealth. That is the "top line" conclusion. And as individuals we don't have a lot of input in the matter. My rent is 2k/month. I work or I die of exposure. Those are my choices. So sure, pick the lesser of evils (and I try to do so; I wouldn't work for a defense company, or Nestle, etc,) but ultimately it isn't irresponsible designers or engineers not doing their due diligence, but rather a system specifically designed to amass wealth for oligarchs at the expense of everyone and everything else that is ultimately the problem. Our individual choices are not going to change that without a fundamental restructuring of society and ignoring that falls into the neo-liberal, "have your cake and eat it, too" mentality. Either we're against what capitalism is, and what it does, or we're happy to watch the world burn, as long as it burns for our own bank accounts. For a while I struggled with the idea of being in tech because it seems like I'm doing exactly that. But if you take a step back it's even more dire; if I work AT ALL I'm part of that system; the cost of keeping myself alive is one the world pays, and without ending capitalism that will always be the case, whether you're an engineer, designer, garbage collector, or youtuber.

[@koxg1408]

Hi! Im a junior UX designer at my first job where i got this chance to be designing apps which are used mostly inside other copanies (those apps are not downloadable from an app store, rather provided by a company to it's employees to help them work). Thanks to this I belive I have not experienced much bad ethics in my designs. Honestly, the topic of those apps isn't my favourite (its pretty formal and "boring" you could say, those apps are not used by me personally or any of my friends etc.), but I really enjoy that the apps are almost only designed for the users wellbeing. I would look forward in my future carrier to hitting this kinda jobs. big up! my english might miss some syntax but yea here it is : - )

[@cynzyyy]

Designing apps for internal use is actually an awesome job that tends to be overlooked! It's great because your user base is directly accessible to you (in the company) and you can iterate designs by just talking to your colleagues. Thanks for sharing your story!

[@robwitt2431]

I think this was a really well done video! I major in UX rn, and one of my professors actually specializes his research into identity these Dark Patterns!

[@cynzyyy]

That's awesome! Excited to see how much his work will impact or change the UX trends

[@robwitt2431]

@@cynzyyy It has so far! his work is often cited when identifying that particular method dark patterns use! His name is Dr. Colin Gray

[@parveezsaligh9248]

Ohhh I love this. You are awesome in bringing something so intricate to light .. 😊

[@AbdussalamPopoola]

I saw this video a while back, saved on my watch later. Now, 5 minutes in... I gotta say, you edit so well. I'm learning UX Design as well, thanks for sharing insight on this topic. Edit: Just finished the video, excited to hear your Twitch story. I have this feeling you knew this video would blow up 😅🔥🔥🔥. (It's that good)

[@cynzyyy]

Thank you for coming back! And no, I really did not expect it to do as well as it has, because it's such a niche topic. I'm really happy it's being shared to more people and you all think it deserves the attention it has gotten.

[@shahmi94]

cant agree more, and you put my thoughts to word eloquently. The more I learn about UX design, the more hideous I see apps like Tiktok. We do design based on accessibility, desirable and usable. Maybe now we have to put some morality in these core principles. Sub for morality.

[@Make_it_Make_Cents]

Ahh you got me... here I am watching this thinking its a 3m+ youtube channel... then noticed only 240. This means you content is quality asf for it's subscriber count and its only a matter of time, till the audience joins. So cheers to me for being early ;)

[@cynzyyy]

hahaha maybe one day! welcome as an early viewer ;)

[@Make_it_Make_Cents]

@@cynzyyy Thank you! Only feedback is, get a mic clip. The holding the mic, makes it feel too formal. And can take attention away from what you're saying.

[@cynzyyy]

I knowww 😭 I have one, but when I clip it on, my audio echoes way too much (because of my room set up) and the quality significantly reduces. I’m still trying to figure out how to make my audio better

[@Make_it_Make_Cents]

@@cynzyyy Umm interesting... actually going to be starting a channel myself soon, so thats an interesting problem. Here's an idea you can try - Record as you did, but without the mic in hand and don't worry about audio. - Then record audio only, pretty much repeating the things you said or same script if you're a script person - Then sync the audio with the video later, cutting out the empty spaces. More work I know... but I guess it gives the illusion of great mic. EDIT: Extra tip. If you choose to use that method, you can use some tool to dictate what you said, so when you re-record, you can just read your dictation. If you don't use a script that is.

[@AaronAsherRandall]

I love this channel!

[@marykirmo]

You are such a fantastic storyteller and presenter.

[@Jupa]

This is a great video Because of this I will now binge watch all of your other videos This is a light pattern a good one a wholesome one. Good video!