Dark Pattern

Definition

A user interface designed to trick you into doing something you didn't want to do, like subscribing to a newsletter, sharing your data, or accidentally buying insurance for your insurance. The Sith Lord of web design.

Example Usage

"Is this a dark pattern or just bad design?" is a question that keeps UX researchers employed and users enraged across the entire internet.

Related Terms

Beginner

mouse-over

That magical moment when your cursor hovers over a clickable element and something happens—a tooltip appears, colors change, or the UI generally acknowledges your existence. Web developers use this event to create interactive experiences that range from helpful to downright annoying. It's the digital equivalent of pointing at something without touching it.

💻 Tech / IT

Beginner

adware

Software that's technically free but spiritually expensive, serving you ads like an overeager waiter pushing the daily special. It's the business model equivalent of "I'll work for exposure," except the exposure is literally advertisements plastered across your screen. Some variants moonlight as spyware, because why stop at annoying when you can be creepy too?

💻 Tech / IT

Beginner

geek

Someone deeply knowledgeable in technical or niche subjects, particularly computers and technology. The modern geek has evolved from social outcast to cultural icon, thanks to the internet proving that obscure knowledge and coding skills are actually superpowers.

💻 Tech / IT

Intermediate

Rollback

Reverting to a previous version of the software because the new version set something on fire, either literally or figuratively. A rollback is the "undo" button of production, and pressing it is always accompanied by a mixture of relief and shame.

💻 Tech / IT

Intermediate

Pipeline

An automated sequence of steps that code goes through from development to production, or a visual representation of your company's hopes and dreams flowing through stages of increasing disappointment. When the pipeline breaks, everything stops.

💻 Tech / IT👥 Human Resources

Beginner

stand-up

A daily meeting where developers stand and report what they did yesterday, what they'll do today, and what's blocking them, all while desperately wanting to sit back down. It's the morning roll call of tech workers.

💻 Tech / IT

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