Dark patterns are deliberate designs within websites and apps that make you do things you didn’t mean to do.
After a couple years backing up my files to both Google and Dropbox, I realised I didn’t need both services. And since Dropbox feels like it’s fallen behind as a product—for example, it’s impossible to tell the size of a folder if it has sub-folders or files in it—I decided to cancel my subscription.
I spent 2-3 minutes searching for for a way to downgrade my plan. After having no luck, I eventually went to Google for the answer. That’s the first problem: Dropbox makes it hard and confusing to even find the downgrade page.
Once I arrived at the downgrade screen, I was greeted with this dark pattern.
Solid buttons, the ones of the left that are filled in with colour, are typically used for the default action the user wants to make. For example, the ‘Buy Now’ button on ecommerce websites. This is in contrast to the ghost button on the right, which is typically reserved for a secondary or alternate action, such as ‘Cancel’.
In this instance, Dropbox reverses the expected interaction. ‘Downgrade’, the action I want to perform, is in the ghost button. Whereas ‘Change my plan’ is in the solid button.
And you know what? I actually clicked on the wrong button because I wasn’t paying close attention, and I’m so used to clicking on solid buttons to confirm my intended action.
I don’t get why Dropbox does this. It’s short sighted and feels desperate. In the long run, consumers will build negative sentiment towards companies that deliberately make decisions like this. It makes it even less likely for consumers to want to return in the future.