ugc platforms
13 patterns tagged with this topic.
Accidental-purchase / default-to-purchase UI
Purchase is the default or easily mis-tapped path, so spending happens without express, informed consent.
Can't pause or save
Designs that prevent safely stopping — no pause or save, or progress lost (or attacked) when you leave — so players can't quit on their own terms.
Forced registration / data disclosure
Access to play, rewards, or social features is made conditional on creating an account, linking an identity, or sharing unnecessary personal or contact data.
Bad defaults / preselection
The provider-preferred option is already selected or treated as the normal path, so inaction becomes consent, spending, or data sharing.
Creator tipping & crowdfunded content
Routing real money to creators or crowdfunding unreleased content, where prosocial “support” framing lowers price scrutiny.
Encourages anti-social behaviour
Designs that reward or normalise toxic, aggressive, or anti-social behaviour in order to drive engagement.
Impersonation / disguised system-as-friend
System messages are styled to look like communication from a peer.
Involuntary social ranking / identity labels
The system assigns relationship labels, closeness ranks, or social-cluster positions to people from behavioural data they did not choose to make socially meaningful.
Language inaccessibility / complex copy
Important purchase, privacy, odds, or consent information is presented in language the player cannot reasonably understand.
Monetised social status
Visible status is sold to exploit peer comparison and the desire to belong.
Reciprocity
Giving the player or their friends a free gift to create a felt obligation to give back — by spending, playing, or recruiting.
Social obligation / guilt
The design leverages teammates' dependence to compel continued play or spending.
Trick wording / misleading copy
Confusing, ambiguous, or expectation-violating wording makes the player take an action they did not mean to take.