What is Evil UI/UX Design?

UI UX Design should be for everyone. In an era where our attention lifespan is just going downward, we should get the information we desire from a design in only a few seconds and not overwhelm our users. 

We are always on the run and searching for the next big thing to start. Our phones are always in proximity, and our attention levels go down with every passing day. We are always looking for the next thing to capture our attention, and it seems like we are becoming increasingly addicted to technology and innovation. 

Recent studies show that the average American spends more than 8 hours a day on a certain device, whether working on a laptop all day, checking to see the location you are heading to, or answering your phone all day. 

Since 2000, our attention span has decreased drastically by more than 50%. Before 2000, our attention span was found to last 12 seconds; however, since then, the duration has continuously decreased. 

The study made by Microsoft found that in 2015, the attention span was down to 8 seconds, and in 2022, it was even lower to only 5 seconds, leading us to have an attention span shorter than that of a goldfish, which lasts 9 seconds. 

Other studies show that the average worker checks his email about 30 times an hour, and the average user picks up his phone. Even more so, the average page visit on a website lasts around 10 to 20 seconds. 

So, next time you design your next UI UX project, keep in mind all those details and how they can impact your user's interaction with the design. 

Decide whether or not your design is accessible, if it speaks without saying anything, if it's deductible, and whether or not your users will have a flawless experience in your design and an overall accessible experience. 

Accessibility is the key to the gate that anyone desires. It is what makes a user experience good and what we all should think about in the design process. After all, we are creating interfaces for humans, not for unknown creatures. UI UX design should be accessible to anyone, follow familiar criteria, and be inclusive of everyone’s needs. 

In the UX design world, accessibility ensures that we design web pages and apps that allow our users to navigate them smoothly. At the same time, web and app design can spark joy and deliver the necessary information without using a secret password. We need to do our research, understand our audience, and respond to their needs.

Now that we have an idea about the overall effect technology and this society have on our attention span, it’s safe to say that constant exposure to information has made us feel more tired and overwhelmed than before. 

Nowadays, kids are constantly on their tablets from the youngest age and are exposed to as much information as they can get. And designs are becoming increasingly addictive, causing us to feel more and more stuck to our screens. 

Web and app designs can catch the user's attention and have algorithms that can generate more content you are interested in. Look at Youtube and how they keep us wathcing. This design principle is also called personalization. We all have seen it, and I am not the only one who has clicked on a video and then been bombarded by all the similar content the algorithms could have found. 

So, developing and designing a UI/UX that can help us build up engagement between the user and the platform. Addictive behavior is a more and more concerning and inevitable fact that is becoming the new normality when incorporating Deceptive Patterns in our design. 

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What are Deceptive Patterns? 

Deceptive patterns can also be dark patterns. They are used in designs to convince users to sign or accept something without being fully aware of what they are getting involved in or signing. We can encounter trick wording, sneaking, or even obstruction of the true message in this category. 

However, incorporating this in your design is not the best thing you can do as the law forbids its usage in the EU and the US.

Those practices have been observed in big companies such as Amazon, Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Samsung. Some of those deceptive patterns can be found in accepting some conditions, even the optional ones, without them being mandatory. So, when you approve the new terms and conditions and see those endless lists of conditions, you could be agreeing to the ones that are not mandatory. 

A study on how we interact with smartwatches showed that although we would have expected those tiny gadgets latched to our wrists to be more discrete and easier to ignore than an actual smartphone. 

The truth has proven to be the total opposite. We tried using smartwatches to slow down our phone interaction. Now, when talking about notifications, both a smartphone and a smartwatch have the capability to send us those. 

However, the buzz we receive from a smartwatch will prove to be more obvious and win our attention more quickly than a phone would have. The human-like effect we get when receiving a notification that grabs our wrist can trigger FOMO. 

The evil UI UX design can be triggered even by hooks and create more notifications that promise to connect devices via the Web and IoT. Disguised ads are also encountered in evil UI UX design as they can blend easily. There are many ways designers can integrate misleading information into the design, one being in the basket at the checkout. 

Another manner in which evil design takes place is with the help of confirm-shaming. Here, the designer makes the user feel bad for exiting the design. So, next time you think about convincing your users to do an action they would have never done deliberately, don’t include it.

We at uinkits understand the importance of great user experiences and creating amazing UI designs. That’s why we’ve developed a Figma UI Kit with design components that include these essential UI elements that enable you to design intuitive and user-friendly interfaces effortlessly.

“You press the button, we do the rest.” – Kodak.

Inspired by this iconic tagline from Kodak, we believe in simplifying the design process for you. Our Figma UI Kit, uinkits, is a complete design system with UI components that allows you, as a UI UX designer, to create your products as quickly as pressing a button.

Our design system includes UI components, icons, variables, cards, buttons and everything you need for your design process. All you have to do is take your UI design component needed, and you’re ready to use it in your designs!