Special thanks to Jen Weber for editing and the DC ACM for providing thoughts and feedback!

It’s Halloween season, so let’s discuss the spooky dark patterns at my favorite department store: Target.

On two recent trips to Target, I noticed a recurring dark user experience (UX) pattern. The first time, I hoped it was a fluke. After seeing it weeks later, and asking other people’s anecdotal experiences, the old saying about fooling someone twice came to mind.

What’s a Dark Pattern?

A dark pattern is a user interface carefully crafted to trick users into doing things they might not otherwise do

from Dark Patterns: inside the interfaces designed to trick you

Here’s one of a few examples from The Boston Globe:

See the “Close” button in the top-left? Without the red box around it, you probably wouldn’t see it right away. The intent of making “Close” difficult to see is to get the user thinking it’s mandatory to connect with Facebook or enter an email. The reality is that those actions are totally optional.

Whether the user interface is on a computer screen or in the physical world, a dark UX pattern is designed to fool… and typically to get something valuable from you. Here’s a hall-of-shame of examples.

What did Target do?

Target features promos where you can buy X items to get a $Y gift card for free. On my most recent Target trip, these “free $5 gift card when you buy 4” signs were all over the personal care section.

Free $5 when you buy 4* — identical headlines!

I needed toothpaste and deodorant, but after seeing the free $5 deal, I added soap and an extra deodorant to get the gift card. Seemed simple, because the signs made it very clear I’d get $5 for free.

The design of the promo worked; I bought more than I intended.

Checkout line blues

After all my items were scanned by the cashier, the total price came up with no mention of a free gift card.

I asked the cashier about it, mentioning I did my best to follow instructions on the signs, and that this was the second time in about a month this has happened. The cashier calls over the on-duty manager. 😳

The manager says this happens a lot. ( 🚩 I’ve stuck a flag here, because we’re coming back to it later)

After a little more chatting, she authorizes me to get the $5 gift card.

I’m glad I got the gift card, but the whole experience made me feel like I did something wrong. This is the first time in my life I’ve had a conversation with a manager in a store’s checkout line. I’m confident Target, the clerk, and the manager did not want me to feel like I did something wrong.

Why didn’t I just shrug and walk out the door without my gift card? It was only $5, after all. But since the exact same situation happened two weeks earlier, I felt I should speak up. (So much so that I blogged about it 😅)

Cause of the confusion

Did you notice why I didn’t get it? At first glance, the tags all look practically identical… but look closer:

Read the fine print

Everything is the same — the number of lines, the line length of text on each line, the font color— except for the brands, which I underlined in red.

I had unintentionally purchased items from a different set of eligible products, even though they were both labeled “free $5 when you buy 4.”

Is this really a Dark UX Pattern?

Reading the fine print is important when signing a contract like a bank loan… but should it come into the experience of trying to wisely shop for deodorant & toothpaste? I’d argue no.

What makes this a conclusive case of a dark UX pattern is the 🚩 I mentioned earlier: the manager-on-duty said they experience this complaint frequently, at least for multiple weeks.

If a store’s behavior is resulting in many customers struggling to get the advertised deal, and the store does not change its behavior for many weeks, that fits the definition of tricking customers.

The one-line fix

My frustration was due to different groups of products not being obvious. Here’s one simple way to indicate a difference:

Color!

If colored ink is too expensive for these tags, a different, big black & white logo could be printed on similar tags:

Black & white logos!

I was told different Target locations are subject to different state and local laws, so certain tweaks may be necessary… but I think either of these potential solutions is superior to the easily misunderstood situation in the store now.

I reached out to the Target press relations team for comment, and they have listened to my concerns and my ideas, including clarifying that their goal is to continue to simplify their offers based on guest feedback. Watch this space for any further follow-up from the company.

Have you experienced this at your local Target? Do you think I should just be a more careful shopper? Have you seen similar issues at Wal-Mart or other big retailers? Let me know!