A Game of Dark Patterns - Designing Healthy, Highly-Engaging Mobile Games

Jacob Aagaard; Miria Emma Clausen Knudsen; Per Bækgaard; Kevin Doherty

doi:10.1145/3491101.3519837

A Game of Dark Patterns - Designing Healthy, Highly-Engaging Mobile Games

Jacob Aagaard, Miria Emma Clausen Knudsen, Per Bækgaard, Kevin Doherty

Technical University of Denmark

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Article in proceedings › Research › peer-review

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Abstract

Gaming is a more accessible, engaging and popular past-time than ever before. Recent research highlights games as strikingly effective means of capturing and holding our attention-so effective, some argue, to the point of deleterious effect. An impassioned CHI2021 panel discussion directed these efforts towards the ethics and adoption of dark patterns. And yet, we know little as to how dark patterns are perceived and arise in the design, development and use of games. This paper seeks to address this knowledge gap by recounting findings from a design-led inquiry comprising interviews and workshops conducted with mobile game players, designers, developers, and business developers. We contribute an understanding of how dark patterns arise in the development, use and commercialisation of mobile games, their effects on players and industry professionals, and means for the consideration, negotiation and navigation of these strategies for gamer-engagement by design-in support of healthier, highly-engaging game experiences.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Number of pages	8
Publisher	Association for Computing Machinery
Publication date	27 Apr 2022
Article number	438
ISBN (Electronic)	9781450391566
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3491101.3519837
Publication status	Published - 27 Apr 2022
Event	2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Virtual from New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, New Orleans, United States Duration: 30 Apr 2022 → 5 May 2022 https://chi2022.acm.org/

Conference

Conference	2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Location	Virtual from New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center
Country/Territory	United States
City	New Orleans
Period	30/04/2022 → 05/05/2022
Sponsor	Association for Computing Machinery
Internet address	https://chi2022.acm.org/

Keywords

Dark patterns
Development
Engagement
Games
HCI
Wellbeing

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10.1145/3491101.3519837

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title = "A Game of Dark Patterns - Designing Healthy, Highly-Engaging Mobile Games",

abstract = "Gaming is a more accessible, engaging and popular past-time than ever before. Recent research highlights games as strikingly effective means of capturing and holding our attention-so effective, some argue, to the point of deleterious effect. An impassioned CHI2021 panel discussion directed these efforts towards the ethics and adoption of dark patterns. And yet, we know little as to how dark patterns are perceived and arise in the design, development and use of games. This paper seeks to address this knowledge gap by recounting findings from a design-led inquiry comprising interviews and workshops conducted with mobile game players, designers, developers, and business developers. We contribute an understanding of how dark patterns arise in the development, use and commercialisation of mobile games, their effects on players and industry professionals, and means for the consideration, negotiation and navigation of these strategies for gamer-engagement by design-in support of healthier, highly-engaging game experiences.",

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Aagaard, J, Knudsen, MEC, Bækgaard, P & Doherty, K 2022, A Game of Dark Patterns - Designing Healthy, Highly-Engaging Mobile Games. in Proceedings of 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems., 438, Association for Computing Machinery, 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, 30/04/2022. https://doi.org/10.1145/3491101.3519837

A Game of Dark Patterns - Designing Healthy, Highly-Engaging Mobile Games. / Aagaard, Jacob; Knudsen, Miria Emma Clausen; Bækgaard, Per et al.
Proceedings of 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Association for Computing Machinery, 2022. 438.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Article in proceedings › Research › peer-review

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A Game of Dark Patterns - Designing Healthy, Highly-Engaging Mobile Games

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Keywords

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