University Archives

In the current digital age, users of mobile software are constantly at risk of compromising their personal information. Whether users are aware or not, their devices are tracking every movement, and software developers design features to cater to their user interface experience. This tracking can benefit users by creating a more personalized and individual user experience. However, creators will use the data collected to deceive users for their goals and profit. Deceptive design features, also known as dark patterns, are design practices used to manipulate or coerce users to make decisions that they do not have full autonomy over. These deceptive features are intentionally designed to force users in a certain direction, even if the user does not want to be led in said direction, and sometimes at the expense of the user.

The purpose of this research was to understand how mobile software application design features strategically manipulate users into revealing their personally identifiable information (PII). This paper presents a systematic literature review of forty scholarly peer-reviewed journal articles that were analyzed and thematically synthesized. Three major deceptive design features were identified in the literature: visual designs, audio designs, and psychological designs. The findings show the need for better ethical and legal considerations for protecting user privacy and increasing user awareness.