Misdirection / false visual hierarchy
Visual salience steers the player toward the provider-preferred option.
- Code
- I3
- Category
- Informational / interface
- Severity
- Medium
- Evidence
- ModerateRecognised across mobile-app dark-pattern studies.
- Purpose served
- Serves businessPrimarily serves the provider's revenue, retention, or data — the most suspect.
- Mechanism family
- Interface interference
- Platforms
- Mobile / F2P · PC / console
- Player costs
- Autonomy / choiceFinancial
- Modes
- Manipulative
- Target Audience
- developers
- Tags
- misdirectionvisual hierarchydefaultsserves businessdeceptive communicationconsent underminedmonetary pressurecognitive pressurevulnerability exploitation
- Also known as
- false hierarchy, salience steering
How it works
Color, size, and placement make the spend or opt-in button dominant while the alternative is muted.
Why it can be harmful
It biases choices by exploiting attention rather than informing it, quietly redirecting decisions.
Examples in the wild
- A game shop modal with a bright 'Buy' button beside a greyed-out 'No'
- A pre-highlighted most-expensive in-game currency pack
Illustrative genre examples to aid recognition — not allegations about specific titles.
References
- King, J. (2023). Investigating players' perceptions of deceptive design practices within a 3D gameplay context. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction (CHI PLAY). doi.org/10.1145/3611053 · citing patterns
- Di Geronimo, L.; Braz, L.; Fregnan, E.; Palomba, F., et al. (2020). UI dark patterns and where to find them: A study on mobile applications and user perception. Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. doi.org/10.1145/3313831.3376600 · citing patterns
- Gray, C. M.; Santos, C. T.; Bielova, N.; Mildner, T. (2024). An ontology of dark patterns knowledge: Foundations, definitions, and a pathway for shared knowledge-building. Proceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642436 · citing patterns
Related patterns
Bad defaults / preselection
The provider-preferred option is already selected or treated as the normal path, so inaction becomes consent, spending, or data sharing.
Accidental-purchase / default-to-purchase UI
Purchase is the default or easily mis-tapped path, so spending happens without express, informed consent.
Feedforward ambiguity / unclear consequences
The interface fails to make clear what a button, prompt, or action will actually do before the player commits.
Language inaccessibility / complex copy
Important purchase, privacy, odds, or consent information is presented in language the player cannot reasonably understand.
Trick wording / misleading copy
Confusing, ambiguous, or expectation-violating wording makes the player take an action they did not mean to take.
Comparison prevention
Making it hard to compare prices, odds, or options so players can't judge value.