Hidden Specials

From Dark Patterns

Definition

A vendor offers a "special" for an existing product or service, but makes it easy for the user to needlessly pay full price by taking the wrong path in the transaction.

Example: Papa Johns iPhone App (November 2011)

If you click on "Menu" along the bottom, and then "Specialty Pizzas" to order a large "The Works" pizza, you’ll pay $15.99 for the pizza.

However, if you click on "Offers" along the bottom, you’ll find that you can order the exact same pizza for only $8.99.

In any reputable brick-and-mortar store, the person behind the counter will make a customer aware of specials that apply to the product they are purchasing and charge them the special price. It’s reasonable to expect the same thing from technology-based transactions. However, Papa John’s makes it easy for someone to pay full price even though a special is available for them. And a person who’s fooled into paying full price will likely never know that they were fooled in the first place.